How to have a romantic honeymoon on a budget (and a bonus honeymoon budget cheat sheet)
Your big day is planned and you’re ready to let out a sigh of relief, until you realize you haven’t budgeted for the honeymoon! Don’t let the panic set in just yet; there is still time to plan a romantic getaway. There is no need to break the bank, reallocate your wedding budget, or use up all of your annual vacation time on one trip. Instead,
1. Plan a romantic “stay-cation”
You don’t have to skip town to have an intimate honeymoon. Airbnb.com and VRBO.com are fantastic resources for staying in an affordable and beautiful home away from home in your state and even city. You can rent a beautiful cabin in the woods, mountains, beach, desert, or cliffs and have the privacy you want to spend alone time with your new spouse.
2. Make your own meals!
Dinning out in a new city is enticing, but the bill can quickly get out of hand. Plan to make a trip to the local grocery store to make a romantic feast together and plan a private picnic lunch or dinner with a bottle of champagne.
3. Plan your honeymoon flight off peak fly seasons or days of the week
Just because you got married in June, doesn’t mean you have to fly out the next day. Buck tradition and plan to take the honeymoon of your dreams on nonpeak fly seasons. The airfare will be cheaper and you can invest that extra cash into making your honeymoon more memorable.
4. Get the hotel room, but skip the view
Save big by reserving a room without the resort view. The ocean front view is nice, but the point of your honeymoon is not to take in the view but to spend quality time together, have fun, and make memories to last a lifetime. Now that you saved money on a room without a fancy view, you will have extra money for local excursions and adventures.
5. Don’t be afraid to flaunt your newlywed status!
You just made a huge life-enhancing commitment so make sure to let everyone know when you’re booking reservations. Hotels, restaurants and travel excursions often offer big discounts for newlyweds so be sure to take advantage of these savings whenever you can.
If you are still in planning mode and haven’t allocated all your wedding funds yet, check out our honeymoon budget cheat sheet below. Here are some budget benchmarks to get you started:
- If you’re planning to fly to your destination honeymoon, put aside $700 per person for round-trip airfare.
- Accommodations will run you approximately $250 a night
- Put aside about $150 a day for meals
- Save at least $100 a day for excursions, sight-seeing, and miscellaneous fun Honeymoon Budget Cheat Sheet
- Round trip Airfare 2x $_______ =$________
- Taxis/rental car amount 2x $____, x number of days _____ =$_____
- Breakfast 2x $_____, x number of days ___ = $_______
- Lunch 2x $_____, x number of days ____ = $_________
- Casual Dinner 2x $____, x number of days ____ = $_________
- Formal Dinner 2x $____, x number of days ____ = $_________
- Cocktails/Champagne 2x $____, x number of days ____ = $_________
- Snacks 2x $____, x number of days ____ = $_________
- Excursions 2x $____, x number of days ____ = $_________
- Misc. money needed $____, x number of days ____ = $_________ =______ (total budget)