How to Plan a Honeymoon in 7 Easy Steps

Are you trying to figure out how to plan a honeymoon that is romantic and beautiful, but are feeling stressed and unsure where to start? These 7 steps will guide you through the whole planning process in the best way possible.

Planning and figuring out how to plan a honeymoon can be stressful and overwhelming. If you’re anything like me, you are likely searching for a good guide to walk you through each step. Lucky for you, having just gotten married last year, I have recently planned (or helped my husband plan) a great honeymoon.

You are going to find a ton more clarity on how to plan your dream honeymoon, and all of the steps that go into it. Your stress surrounding the whole planning process should definitely decrease. Count this is your honeymoon planning checklist.

Let’s face it, during wedding planning it can be tricky to find time to ask the bride many questions. These honeymoon tips for groom fiancés will help you successfully navigate your planning. Let’s get started.

This post is all about how to plan a honeymoon in the simplest way possible.

How to Plan a Honeymoon

1. Browse Potential Destinations

Part of the fun of going on a honeymoon is having the opportunity to explore and enjoy a new place with your brand new spouse.

Celebrating your wedding and marriage is so special, so don’t be afraid to plan and think outside the box with your plans. Plus people will constantly ask where you went, might want to have a good answer 🙂

Have fun as you browse through some of the exciting and interesting places that you could honeymoon to. Dream together, and come up with several places you’d both love to visit.

As you go through this little exercise, chat with your fiancé about whether or not this is a combined effort to put together plans. Some people like surprises, while others don’t. Get yourselves on the same page with that.

Even though someone wants to be surprised, it doesn’t hurt to brainstorm together, am I right?

2. Build out a Budget

Ok. You’ve gone through a super fun and exciting dreamy phase where you’ve thought of all the fun places you could go together. Now it’s time to come back down to earth.

At this point, you haven’t picked a place, you haven’t made any concrete decisions.

Introducing the budget creation process. Traditionally it is the groom’s responsibility to fund the honeymoon. With that in mind… you do you. Each couple is different, so work with what you have.

Before you decide on what to spend and how, you will want to come with a total amount that you are able to affordably spend. One MAJOR tip here, DO NOT go into debt for your honeymoon. NOT worth it.

Ok, you’ve been realistic with the total amount that you can spend right? Maybe that’s $500, maybe $50,000 (daaang). Either way, good job.

Now you get to break that total price down. Here are some categories you will want to include in your budget:

flights
hotel/accommodation
food
excursions/sights
rental car
clothing
miscellaneous
etc…

Split your total budget between various expenses like the ones above. One effective way to do this is to approximate how much you think things will ACTUALLY cost.

For example, google flights from Atlanta to Tahiti, find the average cost over a year (or if you’re like me, take the highest price that you can find to be super conservative in your estimate), and allocate that much to that portion of your budget.

Another super important piece of this is to determine your priorities. Is it more important to you to eat fancy food, or stay in a really nice place? That will help you know where to fund more or less costs in your budget.

3. Determine Your Timeline

Perfecto! You’ve made a beautiful budget that is fairly ambiguous, now you use that as your guide to make the rest of your decisions regarding your honeymoon.

The first piece in this is to figure out WHEN you will go on your honeymoon.

If you are already thinking about how to plan a honeymoon, there is a good chance you may already know your wedding date. If this is the case, you’ll want to coordinate the dates with that.

That being said, I went on my honeymoon a month after getting married, there aren’t any rules saying you have to go right after the wedding.. but just figure that out.

Some things to keep in mind as you decide when to go on your honeymoon:

Peak travel season is expensive, and often aligns with wedding season. Be flexible
Remember that the Southern Hemisphere is in opposite seasons as the Northern
You can find lots of online resources that will tell you when certain locations are the busiest, do you like crowds?

You’ll need to consider a lot of different factors as you decide when to go on your honeymoon, but the biggest determining factor is if you can afford the date you choose based on your budget.

4. Get Recommendations From Family and Friends

YAY! You chose your travel dates! Now you get to really start planning.

One main piece of advice I received, and that I’m glad my husband and I acted on, was to chat with family and friends about places they love. Things they’d recommend.

This helped us to narrow our search and gave us tons of tips to work with.

Don’t forget to ask things that they recommend NOT doing. You’d be surprised about crazy experiences people have had traveling, and it’s good to know that certain hotels gave them food poisoning!

Take the recommendations as you will. You don’t have to do anything they say, but it’s good to bounce ideas around.

5. Explore Travel Packages

Honeymoons are really meant to be relaxing and romantic, let’s be honest.

That being said, there is nothing worse that stressing over all the little details when you really just want it to be simpler.

That’s where an “all-inclusive” or bundle deal can be super helpful! These purchases will pair flights, accommodation, sometimes even food and transportation all in one… it’s amazing.

As you try to figure out what is best for you and your honey on your honeymoon, consider checking out some travel packages. They can save you money, time, and headache.

A few travel agencies to check out include:

6. Purchase Flights and Accommodations

Whether you decide to purchase a travel package deal or not, you will ultimately have to pull out your wallet at some point… scary I know.

As you purchase your flights and accommodations, be sure to align them perfectly. (You don’t want to arrive and not get to check in until the next day…) Also, have your budget sheet right there next to you as you come across any fees or taxes to be sure not to overspend.

A few tips here:

Using a travel credit card can get you TONS of points if you purchase with them. Consider getting one to gain those perks IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT
If you are flexible, there are various sites that can give you cheaper options: Kayak, Hopper, Skyscanner
Take a deep breath and stick to the budget, this will help you stay sane, plus you’ll still have money for everything else

7. Plan out Your Dream Itinerary

YOU DID IT! You’ve bought the biggest and bulkiest purchases and your plans are coming together.

Now you get to really have fun. What do you want to do? What to eat, see, and experience?

If you are planning this together, research the heck out of the place you picked to visit. Every place has so much to offer, I don’t care what people say.

Pick a few activities you really want to do. Select a few restaurants you want to eat at. Make sure that the cost of these are in your budget. Prioritize accordingly.

If you are able to, purchase excursions, tours, etc. beforehand. Especially if you don’t speak the language where you are going. If not, don’t sweat it, you will be able to find activities while you are there.

Last few tips here:

Do yourself a favor and don’t plan more than one activity per day… trust me. You want to RELAX, it’s your honeymoon.
Plan one fancy dinner. No more, no less. This will save you money, and will make your trip feel special too. Take a picture at that place. You’ll have that memory crystal clear in your memory.

And that’s it, you’ve planned your honeymoon, congratulations! Now sit back, and enjoy!