By Naomi Atwater
After possibly one of the biggest days of your life, you are headed on a romantic getaway! But after planning and spending on a wedding, you will likely want it to be as simple as possible while still being meaningful!
Consider the following to build your honeymoon with less stress and expense!
1. Save up travel points and perks by using travel cards on wedding expenses.
Many credit cards (such as the Chase Saffire Preferred, the Capital One Venture, or many more!) give sign-on bonus points (sometimes you must watch for deals for extra sign-up bonuses). Usually, this requires spending a certain amount of money (for Chase, it’s $5,000) within the first three months of getting the card. If you are planning and paying for a wedding, you can strategically use that card for your wedding expenses to hit that minimum and then use the points you have accumulated with Chase’s travel partners on many hotel, flight, and activity options.
As with any credit card, you should make sure you can pay off your balance month to month. You want the perks to pile up, not interest and debt!
2. Create a honeyfund
Instead of registering for home goods and items, creating a honeymoon fund on a website like Honeyfund or Joy is a great option. On these websites, you can create individual “items” to which people can gift specific funds.
For example, my fiancé and I used Honeyfund for our honeymoon trip to Switzerland and added “items” such as paragliding or a fancy dinner that people could contribute to. When we go, we will take Polaroid photos of all our activities that we can mail with our thank you notes so all of our wedding guests can see how they were a part of it!
3. Go remote/less popular destination.
Chances are that after your wedding, you will be pretty exhausted. That’s why one great option is to choose a destination less traveled, where you and your spouse can enjoy each other’s company with minimal distractions. Often, it’s much cheaper to book hotels and eat out at this type of destination than go somewhere much more popular (Paris or Cancun are lovely places, but maybe less so for your budget).
4. Get an Airbnb with a kitchen to save on food.
Instead of finding a hotel and having to eat out most of your meals, it’s much easier to rent an Airbnb where you can buy groceries and have the option to eat some of your meals cheaper. If you stay in a hotel, you will likely have to eat out much more often and rack up more expenses. You just went through an extremely busy season, so taking time to be alone and in a peaceful environment can be lovely.
5. Pick a good season to go (a shoulder season, not on or off)
If you have the flexibility on the timing of your honeymoon, choose a season strategically. For many destinations, there is an “on-season” or “off-season.” Typically, the “on-season” is when the weather is the most pleasant, and this is also peak tourist season and the most expensive. The “off-season” is when the weather starts being unsuitable for vacationing, such as being too cold or possibly too hot, or the likelihood of storms going up. If you can find a sweet spot during the in-between of the two, called a “shoulder season,” where the weather is no longer at its peak but it is not uncomfortable yet, you will likely be able to find some better discounts!
Where are you and your fiancé headed to celebrate your special day? If you need more advice on picking a destination, check out Top Travel Destinations in 2024. We are certain your trip will be remarkable.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Naomi lives in Pittsburgh, PA but her roots are from a little Christmas tree farm in upstate New York. She works in marketing for Greater Europe Mission, an international nonprofit organization. She’s always finding ways to make room in her budget for traveling and reads over 100 books each year.
