Honeymoons

sammichele

I've recently started thinking about the honeymoon and I'm really at a loss about what to do for it.  So....

Where are you going?  

When are you leaving?

How far in advance did you book it?

That last question is what is really bugging me...a bunch of girls over on my local board keep booking their honeymoons and now I'm not sure when to do it.  I thought that I could just barely book a flight this early out!

ETA: when are you leaving in terms of how soon after the wedding is what I meant to say

Kelki

We are going to Belize, and leaving the Tuesday after the wedding.  We booked in April or May...I can't remember which, but about 6-7 months out.  But we had been stalking travel sites for good prices for a few months before that.

leeshab1982

Where are you going?  We went to the Grand Palladium Royal Suites Yucatan in Riviera Maya, Mexico

When are you leaving?  Our wedding was on a Friday and we left on Sunday...definitely needed that day in between to get things situated at home and pack.  We went June 27-July 4. 

How far in advance did you book it?  I think we booked about 9 months out.

We used Shelly from Brookeside Travel in Northville.  Highly recommend her!!  We had no clue where we wanted to go, when to book, etc.  She helped us figure it all out. 

Francesvm

I'm getting married a few weeks before you and we probably won't book anything until after the holidays I imagine ...like in January or February.

No location determined just yet but having been to Thailand for vacation...I kept telling my fiance I wasn't sure we would find a place to top that for our honeymoon...we stayed at the Indigo Pearl and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G...they do everything for you at the hotel. You look at brochures and pick what you want to do later in the week like elephant riding or boating day trips and they book it for you and you just show up in the lobby while a driver comes to pick you up.

Sorry, I get a little excited about Thailand :~) As far as when we will leave...getting married on a Saturday and will probably leave that Monday so we have day to recoup. Your not alone since the honeymoon is by far the last thing I've thought about when it comes to the wedding :-)

Megan2oo2

Where: RIU Palace Cabo
Leaving the monday after the wedding, we just booked it a couple weeks ago, so taht woul dbe like 7-8 weeks in advance.  We never book our vacations very far in advance.

Julz629

Where are you going?  

Hawaii

When are you leaving?

The Monday after the wedding (which is on a Saturday).

How far in advance did you book it?
You can only book flights something like 330 days in advance (so basically, 11 months).  So we started stalking flight prices at 11 months.  At about 8 months, there was a day where they dropped a couple hundred bucks so we booked immediately.

cmkuno

We had our hearts set on an Italy honeymoon, but if we'd gone immediately after the wedding it would have been super hot and super crowded.  So we decided to wait until late September.  We'll actually be flying out exactly one month from today!  So to answer your question, approx. 2 months after the wedding.

But, I hated the idea of going right back to work and normal life after the wedding.  So we took a week and went up north to Manistee, MI.  It was essentially a free trip because we stayed at my grandma's house (she doesn't live there anymore).  It was PERFECT!  Totally relaxing, lazy days on the beach, when it rained we did some wine tasting instead...couldn't have asked for a better trip!

We just booked our flights to Italy last week, just over a month before our departure date.  And we still haven't booked hotels.  This is cutting it a little close for me, but DH is in charge so I'm letting him handle it...

I think booking this far in advance is frankly crazy.  I know some people do it, but it's so not necessary.  You don't necessarily get better rates.  And so many things can change between now and then (who would have predicted a massive oil spill in the gulf, you know?), I would wait until more like 3 months out.  By then, your plans will be firmly in place and you'll still have plenty of time to watch for a drop in air fare prices.  But right around the 2 month mark, things will get really crazy with the wedding, so I'd suggest having everything settled by then.  

mordacious

Turks and Caicos the Saturday after the wedding. We booked our flights in January and they have only gone up since then. Start watching prices now for where you want to go. We watched prices for about a month before we booked.

emily1004

Where are you going?  We went to Aruba, and we LOVED it!! If you are looking for a tropical setting, It is out of the hurricane belt. Crime is low for the Caribbean and it has 70% visitors from the US. Mostly because of word of mouth. Everyone speaks English, and they take the American Dollar everywhere. You can have an adventurous honeymoon or a laid back one there.
When are you leaving? We left the Monday morning after the weekend of the wedding. The wedding was Saturday night, then Sunday Brunch. Our flight left at 6 am. We got a room at the Westin at the airport. (It was super nice) Then flew out the next morning. We connected in Atlanta. Got to Aruba by 3 pm.
How far in advance did you book it?My DH booked it about 8 months out, but we could of waited. We just wanted to make sure we got on the flights we wanted. Plus, May in Aruba is not the busy season.
We used hotel points and frequent flier miles. We did not do all inclusive, because we wanted to explore the island for different dinner options, so it wasn't worth it.  The Westin in Aruba does have an all inclusive option, however. There are some really good restaurants on the island. Texas de Brazil, Pago Pago is the best on the island IMO, its in the Westin Lobby Madame Jannetts and the Driftwood.
There are nicer properties on the island, but the Westin, is no way close to the worst. We got an upgrade to a one bedroom suite, over looking the ocean. Plus, we got a lot of free stuff because we were honeymooners. I highly recommend the One Happy Island!

BridetobeJenG

Where are you going?  We are going to Antigua. We're staying at the Sandals because we wanted something all-inclusive and adult only.

When are you leaving? We are leaving the Monday after our Saturday wedding. Sunday we have to drive back to Charlotte. 10 hours

How far in advance did you book it? We booked about 2 or 3 weeks ago because they were doing buy 7 nights get the first night free as well as a gift certificate to their spa.

I wish we wouldn't have booked our flights with them, but the lady was really pushy on the phone. I wanted to use airline miles.

sammichele

Thanks for all of your advice!  This is helpful in at least creating a timeline and adding some places to check out to our list.

queenfm85

I've recently started thinking about the honeymoon and I'm really at a loss about what to do for it.  So....

Where are you going?  Fiji!

When are you leaving? Our wedding is on a Sunday, we're leaving Tuesday. The flights only run like Tuesdays and Thursdays or something like that. That gives us a DAY to fly home to LA and unpack then repack and fly out for 10hrs to Fiji lol CRAZY!

How far in advance did you book it? We booked it about 4-5 months before the wedding

I ALMOST bought a bottle of Fiji water JUST to get in the mood haha What a dork I am.

Sue-n-Kevin

We have over a year, so I haven't booked anything.

We look at things differently than you young'uns. We have been to a lot of places (fiance was in the Air Force 22 yrs, so saw some things overseas). We've each been to at least 30 states or more.

We look at it like this: Where can we go that we will probably never have another chance to go again? Specifically because of our age, and the fact we will be retiring within 10 years of our wedding (yikes, makes us sound so OLD), we decided to go to Europe (LOL, while we can still "get around"........bring on the jokes). We figure once we are retired, we'll see as much of the US as we want.

Our plans are Paris & Rome for sure, I really want London, he wants Athens. I've checked out www.europeandestinations.com and they have very competitive airfares and hotel rates, and you can plan all your activities as well.

We'll probably book it around 6 months or so beforehand, before things get "nuts". I'm doing a lot of DIY, and need to space things around being "Mom" and working. Our intent is to charge it and pay it off in full with the wedding money.

As for what day we'll leave, more than likely the Monday or Tuesday after the Saturday wedding, to allow some down time since we'll have a lot of out of town guests.

I think planning a honeymoon is a personal thing between the 2 of you. They can be romantic, or they can involve things you both love (for us, it's history and surroundings and good FOOD). Neither of us are very much "beach people", our days of looking great in bathing suits have LONG passed, LOL. But I do have to admit, since we are both parents, I do plan on having a stay somewhere for the last days of our honeymoon where we can just veg out and sit in a cabana somewhere...........Monte Carlo maybe?

abbeylynne06

We went to the Royal in Playa del Carmen and loved it. 

We left for our honeymoon the day after the wedding.  Originally, I wouldn't have picked it to be like that, but DH really wanted it like that.  We spent our wedding night at the Westin Detroit Metro Airport, which is IN the terminal.  It was so nice to just get up and walk down the hall to get on our plane.  I would highly recommend that!

We started looking seriously and narrowing down locations about a year out.  We narrowed it down to the Playa del Carmen/Riviera Maya area and once airfares were out, I started checking flight prices and resort prices every few days.  That way, I had a feel for how low prices would get.  Then, when prices were good, we booked!  I did use a travel agent as well, but I'm kind of a researching control freak, which is why I did all that other stuff too.

We booked in October (I think?) for our June honeymoon.  It didn't seem too far out to me, only because we had done so much research on it by that point.