Honeymoon Planning Checklist : How To Have An Amazing Trip

It’s almost engagement season! It’s one of our favorites of the year, and this one is coming in full force. If you’ve recently been engaged (first, congrats!) second, you may be a bit overwhelmed, and of course excited, with everything that goes into planning a wedding. Couples often have so many details to coordinate before the big day, from flowers to showers it can eat up your free time quick. Be sure you don’t put honeymoon planning on the back burner! What will hopefully be the most memorable trip you take after the most memorable day of your life, it deserves some care and attention during this time too.

Depending on you and your fiancé’s plans for your honeymoon, you may know exactly where you want to go, or you may still be deciding. Both are absolutely fine. Here’s a honeymoon planning guide to help you get started.

1. Start Early

According to The Wall Street Journal, an estimated 2.6 million weddings will take place in 2022! That’s a 40-year high. So we recommend not only starting wedding planning early, but honeymoon planning early as well. While there may not be 2.6 million honeymoons this year, travel is expected to come back in full force in 2022 and 2023, especially to top honeymoon destinations like Greece and Italy. The ideal time to kick start planning is six to eight months prior, but in this travel environment we are recommending as early as you can, even up to a year before.

2. Set A Budget

Yes, the not so fun part, but budget is so important. There’s nothing worse than falling in love with a hotel you later discover wouldn’t leave much room for purchasing the essentials, you know like food. Have a conversation with your fiancé about what you both are comfortable spending and where you might want to save versus splurge. Some couple’s opt to request honeymoon funds on their registry, or plan to apply any monetary gifts they receive towards the trip. The Knot even has a “cash fund” feature on their site to get you started. Having a conversation early will help prevent any disappointments or surprises later on. Think of it as a good stepping stone to a healthy financial relationship moving forward!

3. Think About Timing

While modern pop culture has us believing every couple jets off into the night to a dreamy destination just moments after their wedding, in reality, this isn’t always the case. Weddings can take a lot out of you, there’s family and friends to consider and often a few loose ends to tie up the day after. The gifts, the cake! There is so much to handle. Unless you have everything coordinated with family and friends for after the big day, there’s no rule that you have to leave right away. There’s also the time of year to consider, if you plan to be married in June, an otherwise fun-filled honeymoon in the Bahamas would be uncomfortable that time of year. Also, be sure to consider saving your PTO days the months leading up to your honeymoon, and have a conversation with your partner about how much time you can both reasonably take off.

4. Hire A Travel Advisor

It doesn’t have to be us! But we highly encourage you to consider hiring professional help to plan this special trip. Between planning a wedding, rehearsal dinner, dance lessons, tasting appointments, venue visits, bridal showers, fittings, and all the wonderfully detailed activities that lead up to a wedding - we recommend leaving the often time-consuming vacation details in the capable hands of someone else. Travel advisors are always staying on top of travel trends, know undiscovered hidden gems, and which destinations are best during different times of year. It’s literally our job to help you narrow down your destination options, sift through the hundreds of online hotel reviews, and figure out which side of town you should stay on. We also have spent years building strong relationships with top hotels, so you and your partner are more likely to get upgraded and have special perks and surprises sprinkled throughout your honeymoon.

Ready to hand over the stress of honeymoon planning to a professional? Submit your travel enquiry here.

5. Check Your (and your fiancé’s) Passports

Like the rest of the world, COVID has extended the timeline for almost all processing through government agencies due to staffing shortages. What used to take 6 - 8 weeks now can take 12 - 16. While we hope this is temporary, we’ve even seen expedited passport services take almost double the time initially promised. For entry to most countries, U.S. citizens passports need to be valid for at least 6 months past your return date. There are some exceptions to this rule, but it’s a good number to go on if you’re still not sure where you’re traveling. Do yourself a favor and go check you and your partner’s now just to be sure everything is up to date. If you do need to renew them, do it as soon as you can.

TIP: If one of you is planning to change your name, we highly recommend WAITING to do this until after your trip. The only exception is if your honeymoon is many months after your wedding and you have plenty of extra time to go through the name changing process. Especially with COVID vaccination card requirements for some countries having two different names on your passport and card can cause confusion at entry checkpoints. We know you’re excited to have this done, so consider it something to look forward to after you get back from your trip!

6. Narrow Down Your Destination

Even if you do hire a travel advisor (good choice ;) the world is a big place! It helps to narrow down the type of trip you and your partner want to have. Are you both looking to relax on the beach, piña colada in hand? Or maybe you’re looking for an under the radar honeymoon destination. What’s most fun about this stage is the “perfect” honeymoon is different for every couple. It should allow you to do the things you both enjoy doing together.

If you’re overwhelmed with options, try both making a list of 10 cities or destinations you’ve always wanted to visit. Then see if any of your cities overlap. You may learn something new about your partner in the process! If not, no worries! Often couple’s find they have slightly different ideas of what the honeymoon should be like. This is where an advisor can come in. Even if you’ve always wanted to see the bustling streets of Rome but your partner isn’t a fan of crowds, visiting the quieter but just as charming Puglia instead would be a happy medium. Or, if you have been dreaming of Paris, but your partner isn’t keen on traveling to Europe just yet, something like Montreal, with its winding cobblestone streets and French flair could be an option. There are also plenty of destinations that offer a bit of indulgent luxury with intriguing places to explore as well, perfect for those yin and yang couples.

7. Avoid Copying An Itinerary

While it may be tempting to ask your maid of honor for her dream honeymoon itinerary to Hawaii from last year, but you’ll really be doing yourself a disservice that way. New resorts and experiences pop up every year, and as lovely as their trip was, new construction nearby or restaurant closings may hinder the same trip done even just a year later. You may also find their laid-back, drinks by the pool schedule a bit too relaxed for you and your adventure-seeking fiancé. It’s always helpful to ask friends what they did and did not enjoy about their honeymoons to help kick off your planning, but taking the time to curate a honeymoon itinerary just for you two is worth the investment.

Ready to start planning the stress-free honeymoon of your dreams? Contact us here and let’s go! Or complete the form below and we’ll be in touch soon.