Six tips on how to have an amazing, stress-free honeymoon

Congratulations, you’re getting married! This is one of the most special and magical times of your life, but it can also be one of the most stressful. Planning a wedding can often feel incredibly overwhelming, and now you have to plan the most romantic vacation of your life on top of that! But it doesn’t have to feel so hectic. In fact, planning your honeymoon should be the easier part. You may even secretly be looking forward to your honeymoon more than your actual wedding. I just went through the whole wedding planning and honeymoon process, and I learned a few things along the way. Read on for my top advice on how to have an amazing and stress-free honeymoon.

1. Plan ahead

This might sound like a no-brainer, but with so much attention going towards the wedding, planning a honeymoon can sometimes be overlooked and left until the last minute. Putting it off will only make things more stressful, as you will be dealing with higher prices and limited availability, especially in this post-pandemic travel surge. To be safe, I recommend you start planning your honeymoon at least 3-6 months in advance.

2. Decide as a team where you want to go

Maybe you’ve had a specific honeymoon location in mind for your whole life. Or maybe you’ve never thought about it and are feeling indecisive with all of the endless possibilities in front of you! Whatever the case may be, make sure to discuss it with your partner and compromise if you each have different desires about where you want to go. Remember, this is not the only vacation you’re ever going to take, so even if you can’t go to your dream destination now, make it a priority to go there for an anniversary or a birthday trip in the future!

My husband and I had different opinions on this, and we went back and forth for a few months before making a decision. I wanted to go to Greece and he wanted to go to Hawaii. Somehow, we ended up settling on the Dominican Republic, which neither of us saw coming, we are so thrilled that it worked out that way, as it is now one of our favorite places in the world. So, keep an open mind because there are so many incredible options!

If you’re having a hard time narrowing down a location, I recommend going over your top three priorities with your fiancé and choosing a place that checks off both of your desires. Some of your must-haves may include having a beach, affordability, short flight, a new culture, nightlife, etc.3

3. Use a honeymoon planner

I didn’t know until I got engaged that honeymoon planners (and travel agents in general) are usually free! They get paid via commission when you book a hotel they recommend. My husband and I used a honeymoon planner from Zola. All we had to do was put down a $150 deposit which was used towards the price of our trip. She helped us narrow down a destination, sent us the best hotels in the area for us to choose from, and booked our flights, airport transfers, and activities. Because honeymoon planners are free and they take SO much of the stress and planning away, there really is no reason not to use one! Just make sure you do your research and use a reputable planner with good reviews.

4. Decide on a budget and plan a honeymoon you can afford

The honeymoon of your dreams might be a two-week stay at an overwater villa in Bora Bora, but if you can’t afford it, then there won’t be anything stress-free about it. Again, you and your partner will need to communicate about this and come up with a number you both feel comfortable with. Don’t put anything on a credit card that you can’t pay off right away. Nothing is less relaxing than spending the next five years paying off a vacation!

If you know that you want to have a luxurious honeymoon, then it is even more important to plan ahead so you have time to save. We started saving immediately after getting engaged. Even though we didn’t know where we’d be going yet, we knew we would be going somewhere and that we wanted it to be nice. We often stay in average accommodations, but we felt strongly that we wanted to go all out for our honeymoon, so we planned accordingly. You both may have to sacrifice to save and make it happen, but this will ultimately bring you closer together as this is something you can accomplish as a team.

5. Go on your honeymoon as close to your wedding as possible

Personally, I think it is so important to take your honeymoon right away. I know this won’t be possible for every couple, but I really do think the excitement starts to wear off the longer you wait. If you wait too long, your honeymoon may feel like a regular vacation. Getting married is one of the most significant and sacred decisions you will ever make, and your marriage deserves to be celebrated while it’s still fresh. You also deserve to have that intimate, romantic, uninterrupted time together as newlyweds. Plus, many couples (especially brides) may feel post-wedding blues when all the excitement is over, but having a honeymoon to immediately go on will alleviate that.

Even if your life is too crazy right now to take a real honeymoon or you’re on a very tight budget, I still recommend doing something and you can go on your official honeymoon later on Just taking a two-day trip with your new spouse is better than doing nothing at all!

6. Have a good attitude when things go wrong

This may be my most important tip of them all. According to Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong! With travel in general, it is almost guaranteed that something won’t go according to plan. This is truer than ever now with airlines having record numbers of canceled and delayed flights. You and your fiancé need to be prepared for this. Discuss what may go wrong beforehand and have a backup plan.

To be honest, I was really anxious before my honeymoon that something disastrous would happen. Because we put so much emphasis on our honeymoon and having this dreamy, romantic vacation as newlyweds, I didn’t want anything to ruin it. Ultimately, we can only control ourselves so all we can do is be prepared and have a good attitude. Having a good sense of humor will take you such a long way! If your flight ends up getting six hours delayed, you and your fiancé need to be able to laugh it off and remember that the most important thing here is that you’re on this adventure together as a married couple! Remember to be patient and not get frustrated with each other. Whenever something went wrong for us, we let it roll off our backs and viewed it as something that would make a good story to tell one day.

Conclusion

The wedding and honeymoon planning process is a sacred time in your life that you will never get to experience again. Keep that in mind when you start to feel like ripping your hair out from all the planning! Certain things will probably go wrong, yes, but at the end of the day, all that really matters is that you’re marrying the love of your life, which is the ultimate blessing. With these tips, you will be prepared and you know how to have an amazing, stress-free honeymoon!