Here's How To Plan An Unforgettable Honeymoon

Because love shouldn't be the only thing on your itinerary.

Ellie Sunakawa / BuzzFeed

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to give their best honeymoon planning tips. Here are some of the best ones:

Terri Pous / BuzzFeed

1. Pick a destination that reflects your personality.

Waki in Tokyo for Flytographer

"Match your trip with your personality — don’t just think beaches and cruises and couples getaway resorts, unless that’s you’re sort of thing. My husband and I are laid back, shy, and outdoorsy, so we opted to rent a house in Albuquerque for a week. Personally, I probably would have gotten a lot of anxiety being around a lot of other people during our honeymoon, so we took the time to hang out alone."

—laurajs48977e2db

2. Go on a road trip.

Death to the Stock Photo

"My husband is in the military and stationed on the east coast, but all of our families and friends are in California. We got married near home and had to move my car (and all my stuff!) to the south, so a cross-country road trip was actually our honeymoon! We didn't make any reservations in advance anywhere, so every stop of the trip was spontaneous and so much fun! We also read reviews of cool, cheap dives near each landmark, and took advantage of each hotel's continental breakfast. We spent most of our money on gas, food, and hotels but we saved a lot more money than if we'd taken our honeymoon somewhere exotic."

—nataliek44e535e32

3. Discover the magical properties of a mini-moon.

Ana in Lisbon for Flytographer

"Do a mini-moon right after the wedding. It’s a shorter, cheaper trip that’s still meaningful and gives you both time to enjoy yourselves as a newly married couple. Then, save up money to do a 'full' honeymoon in the next year or two. We paid for most of our wedding, so this was a great option for us!"

—rb333234

4. Cruise your way to a budget-friendly honeymoon.

Daniel Lombraña González CC BY-SA / Via Flickr: teleyinex

"If you’re planning a cruise, you can book well in advance and make payments on the cruise, as long as it is all paid by a specific date. This helps a lot when you might need to save up a little for a few months to make the next payment. Also, take advantage of free stuff on the cruise ship. My husband and I sat through an art auction we couldn’t afford because it included unlimited mimosas! We planned to pay for a really nice dinner, then just ate all the free food and room service for the rest of our meals. But make sure you have lots of cash to tip!"

—ermahgerdkermernts

5. Go all-inclusive for good savings and relaxation.

Conie in Tulum for Flytographer

"Choose all-inclusive if you can afford it. It is so worth it to not have to worry about carrying cash with you or paying off a huge Visa bill the month after!"

—Comckinney

6. Dare to go Disney.

disneyweddings.com

"USE A DISNEY TRAVEL AGENT. It's totally free. They get paid by Disney. They make your reservations for you, and can get you the absolute best price. If a discount comes up that you don't know about, Disney won't automatically give it to you but your agent will. They will sit on the phone making dinner reservations, getting special room accommodations, etc. so you don't have to. And they are all independent of one another so they often have competing perks. We got a Disney gift card just for using our agent's free services, and there was champagne, chocolate, oranges, and a cute embroidered bag waiting for us at concierge from her when we arrived! So magical!"

— kellietc

Get more tips for a Disney honeymoon here.

7. And FYI, it's totally OK to not have a honeymoon at all.

instagram.com

"It's OK if you don't have one. I mean, a trip is always awesome, but if you postpone or can't afford it or put the money to other use, it's OK. You will have other trips and married life is still awesome."

—l42e2684ac

Terri Pous / BuzzFeed

8. Give yourself a couple days to relax after your wedding.

Lucille in Paris for Flytographer / Via flytographer.com

"Do not leave for your honeymoon the day after your wedding. My husband and I did and he was hungover for the entire plane ride and was miserable. Waiting a week also lets you spend time with any relatives that came in from out of town."

—Melanie Cisneros, Facebook

"Do not plan your flight the day (or morning) after your wedding! This was our biggest mistake! We were up for over 24 hrs and as soon as we got to our hotel we crashed and didn't wake up until 11 p.m. If your wedding is on a Saturday, leave on a Monday. It'll give you time to pack, relax and enjoy your trip."

—haliwalterss

9. Let a travel agent do the hard work.

instagram.com

"Best thing we did: we used a travel agent! It took so much of the stress out of our lives (we already had enough), and it doesn’t cost a penny!"

—TimGe

10. But don't delegate all of the planning.

instagram.com

"Do not let anyone plan your honeymoon for you! I let a close family member plan the whole thing and it was a disaster! They forgot to get us a room, the plane tickets were in my new last name, I was stopped by TSA, and we almost missed our flights!"

—kberry1031

11. Watch your reservations like a hawk.

instagram.com

"Keep an eye on your reservations. Our flights were changed twice — once a leg was canceled, and later, a connecting flight was pushed up so early that we wouldn't make it from the flight before — and Orbitz didn't notify us."

—annelisabethann

12. Map out your routes in advance.

Jarkko Laine CC BY / Via Flickr: jarkko

"Research and plan as much as you can before you go. Websites like Trip Advisor have great blogs from people who have taken trips already and share their tips on what to see and do based on what you want your trip to be like — shopping, sightseeing, foodie spots, etc. Plan your travel routes ahead because WiFi can be sketchy. We looked up directions from our hotel to different temples and restaurants we would visit and saved them offline so we could refer to them as we went around the city."

—megcard

13. Know that a name change might mess with your bookings.

instagram.com

"Don’t forget to put your airline ticket in your maiden name, especially if you’re going out of the country and you need a passport. Remember that your ID has to match your ticket and chances are your ID still has your maiden name."

—jendills

14. Build plenty of time into your itinerary to relax.

instagram.com

"Plan on downtime. Your honeymoon probably isn't the time for you to plan to go on that walking tour of Europe, where you see all the sights at once. We honeymooned in a gorgeous oceanfront cabin on Vancouver Island, but after we finally arrived from the east coast, I passed out and slept for 15 hours straight. We were both so wiped out by the emotional heft of the wedding that all we wanted to do was go on short hikes in the area and relax in the hot tub or by the fireplace with a good book. That said, after six days in our cabin, we were ready to go have a great time in Victoria and Seattle before coming home!"

—Amanda Meyers, Facebook

"Don't over plan! On past trips, I have accidentally packed too many activities into each day and it ends up being more of a rat race than relaxing. We honeymooned in Breckenridge, Colorado, and one 'touristy' activity per day (dog sledding, massages, etc.) was perfect and gave us plenty of time to hang out just the two of us in the hot tub or at a fun restaurant. Honeymoons should be relaxing, not stressful!"

—Kkemp89

15. Think like a Boy Scout and always be prepared.

instagram.com

"Bring plenty of medication — Tums, Pepto, Motrin, anti-nausea, and anti-diarrhea pills. Just in case!"

—carolynjoannf

Terri Pous / BuzzFeed

16. Budget wisely.

Kimberly in New York for Flytgrapher

"Give yourself a lot of budget wiggle room. The last thing you’ll want to do is stress over whether you have enough money left to order dessert or do something extra you hadn’t planned on. This will be true even if you do something all-inclusive, like a cruise!"

—saraberry

17. Properly clean and stock your refrigerator before the trip.

instagram.com

"Clean our your fridge before you go, and then, if at all possible, ask a friend or family member to drop off a meal for the night you return from your honeymoon. My new mother-in-law had dropped off a chicken casserole that only needed to be reheated. It was a blessing to have food in our fridge when we returned."

—susanrobinb

18. Scour Groupon for travel deals.

Groupon

"My husband and I took a trip to Thailand through Groupon that was over 35% cheaper than it would've been otherwise. One package included airfare from SFO to Bangkok, one flight to Phuket, and one flight back to SFO. It also included a tour guide who provided transportation to all of our stops, free breakfast for the entire trip, and to top it off, the exchange rate is 34 baht to the American dollar. Best trip of our lives!"

—Adriana Lomeli, Facebook

19. Shop around for a good travel quote.

Tom in Bangkok for Flytgrapher

"Don't settle for the first travel quote you get. One of the best travel agents I found is not an 'agent' at all! Costco offers great travel packages at fractions of the price. When we initially looked into booking our ten-day honeymoon in Maui, we looked at AAA. They quoted us $4,000 for the hotel (standard room) and flights. We got the Costco recommendation from a friend, and we were able to book the hotel (a condo with a full kitchen, washer and dryer), the flight, and a rental car, for $2,400."

—teresamariem

20. Set flight alerts and stay in an Airbnb.

Gonçalo in Paris for Flytographer

"I would have never believed that my husband and I could honeymoon in Paris for ten days. We set alerts on websites like Skyscanner to have them tell us when airline tickets dropped. We booked our stay through Airbnb and were able to experience life as a true Parisian instead of in a hotel."

—raynaa2

21. Consider setting up a honeymoon registry.

honeyfund.com

"My husband and I were already living together, so instead of registering, we set up a honeymoon fund! The amount of money we got opened our options to a lot more places than if we had saved on our own. We also booked it a few months after the wedding so we didn't have the stress of a honeymoon and wedding at the same time. It also gave me plenty of time to save up vacation days from work!"

—mac1024

22. Don't stress about staying in the nicest hotel in the area.

Marco in Amsterdam for Flytographer

"Focus less on choosing the perfect location or nicest accommodations, and put your effort and money into activities for you to do together. When it’s all said and done, it’s the experiences together that will matter, not the resort you stayed at."

—chadh4ce9b932a

Terri Pous / BuzzFeed

23. Make sure everyone knows you're on your honeymoon.

Chelsea in Honolulu for Flytographer

"Let hotels, car rentals, and venues know that you are celebrating your honeymoon so you can get various perks. We got a room upgrade and day passes for the spa at our hotel, and a few other treats. A lot of companies will have freebies available for their employees to give out, so don't be afraid to ask. And if you feel like a leech for asking — wear something saying 'just married.'"

—carolynmariec

24. Bring home a meaningful souvenir.

Frankazoid / Getty Images

Colorful Mexican blankets souvenirs for sale at market, Latin America

25. Prioritize spending time with each other, above all else.

Chelsea in Honolulu for Flytographer

"I would make sure to spend time with each other. Not just doing a bunch of activities. The best parts of my honeymoon were laughing and watching movies together. You don’t have to book every minute… also stay off your phone! Be in the moment!"

—alexisl4ec6e8a38

26. And finally, get busy.

instagram.com

"Have lots of sex."

—Unclelouie

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