How far in advance....

Schocked · August 2010

Did you start planning your Honeymoon?

My FI seems to think I've gone mad since I want to start figuring out where to go for our honeymoon. We are 10 months out, and will be definitely be going abroad, hopefully to a place far from the beaten path. (well my hope, not necessarily his!)

SuMmErKuTiE · August 2010

We got engaged in February 2009 and our wedding was June 2010. We started researching the HM right away and we started off with a huge excel spreadsheet of different places around the world and their pros and cons. We eventually weeded it down and booked our HM about 13 months in advance. We know it was early, but we locked in 2009 pricing and got one of only 2 honeymoon villas at the resort.

Tell your FI that 10 months out isn't overly anxious. It's very wise to start researching early on especially if you're looking to travel abroad. HTH!

chigirl2010 · August 2010

We just started planning 7 months out; I think it's fine. Depending on how expensive you go, you might want to be putting money away pretty far in advance. That's why we're planning it now.

SuMmErKuTiE · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_far-advance?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:ad0da606-024c-49e2-9169-a87fee3f7b13Post:07b48bb7-b887-4a29-96bf-fa4b9f0995ac">Re: How far in advance....</a>:
[QUOTE]We just started planning 7 months out; I think it's fine. Depending on how expensive you go, you might want to be putting money away pretty far in advance. That's why we're planning it now.
Posted by chigirl2010[/QUOTE]

Great point! I forgot to add that planning and booking the HM so far in advance helped us to budget for a more expensive trip. We made a deposit and had 2 more payments to make before the wedding. It worked out perfectly.

[Deleted User] · August 2010

A year and it was paid off 6 months before or wedding even occured.

Schocked · August 2010

Thanks for the reassurance gals! I can't believe I didn't think to pull out the "save money" card! That will most definitely help him see the light

sunnysarahinNC · August 2010

Yeah, ditto to all above! We decided what we wanted to do a couple months ago, but here we are 9 months out and just now booking. I was most worried about the airlines, because we're flying direct to Puerto Rico, and if they sell out (3 diff departures) there is no other flight that will get us there on time!

Also, we're cruising, and it won't fill up as quickly as a resort. But, we didn't want to get blocked out of the less expensive cabins

girlinchicago · August 2010

I started researching about a year maybe just over in advance. We booked about 8-9 months out. I'd say you're being smart!

woodsandminkin · August 2010

Same for me. I researched about a year out, and with 10 months to go we booked. I am also one to continually second guess where I want to go, so I would love one place but then say, "well what if there's something better or nicer?" I think you should research a little bit before you go so you have time to read all reviews and make sure you pick a place you will love before you are locked down. I am almost looking forward more to my honeymoon than the wedding.

Chasity08 · August 2010

I'm getting married in 10 months or so, but we're not going on our honeymoon until end of september/beginning of October (2011), and I've already got my entire honeymoon (well the basics, airline, hotel, some of the excursions, travel between cities) all figured out. Honestly, if I could book airline tickets this far in advance, I'd probably have my travel agent book it for me now, but I wont be able to get airline tickets until November or December...so we wait. haha.

You're definitely being smart. Planning ahead not only gives you time to save money, but it also gives you time to change your mind and do a TON of research. I am a huge research girl because I love finding good deals (I'm a cheapo what can I say!), and since we're going to Europe (london, paris & brugge) I knew I would need to do a lot of research to get good deals. So I spent literally HOURS on tripadvisor looking at hotels, and I managed to find nice family run hotels/bed and breakfasts for under $100 a night in Paris and Brugge, and $105 a night in London (which, btw, these types of prices are pretty much unheard of in city center London and Paris.) No they don't have all the fancy amentities that a hilton or marriot would have, but they have a bed, a bathroom, a tv, air conditioning, 2 of them have continental breakfast, and they're in city center. doesn't get much better then that.

But anyways, enough of my rant. Point is, if you don't have the time to do your research thoroughly, you'll most likely end up just going with a name you know, and paying a lot more for a hotel that may or not be what you're looking for, you probably wont find the special types of excursions you want to do, and you could end up paying more in a lot of smaller areas. Men love saving money! put it to him this way and he'll be sure to love your research! =]

Schocked · August 2010

Sunnysarah- Would you mind sharing your iteinerary for Puerto Rico? We have actually played with the idea of going there, and I don't know anyone who has planned a HM there.

Thanks!

alithebride · August 2010

dh and i travel a lot. he chooses his vacation for the year in early december for the following year so we always know when our vacay time are. i generally start planning as soon as i know.
starting early isn't crazy. it's smart. he'll thank you.
i'd be more concerned about you and he apparently having much different
HM ideas though....

demarcosjd · August 2010

I agree starting early is a good idea. We started planning about a year in advance doing different research, narrowing down what we wanted to do and what we liked about different places. We booked it about 7 months out.

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