Over the last few weeks, My Vacation Lady has tried to encourage honeymooners to think about the important things to consider when planning their dream honeymoons. Nothing comes close to the knowledge and expertise of an experienced honeymoon specialist when planning your honeymoon but step #4 gives you more to think about.
Step 4: When do you want to go on your honeymoon and for how long?
Breakfast in the Amalfi Coast
Most honeymooners want to take their honeymoon within days of getting married but others will wait a week, a month or even longer to take their honeymoon because of work, school or family obligations. There is no right or wrong answer to when you should go on your honeymoon but here are a couple of useful tips:
- If you can help it, don’t leave for your honeymoon the day after the wedding, especially if the wedding reception is in the evening. You will likely have an early flight out and lack of sleep and the excitement of the wedding may not be the best way to start a honeymoon.
- If you are flexible, try to leave midweek and return midweek as flights may be more expensive on weekends.
- If you are flexible with your honeymoon dates, try to wait until lower season- when you might get better pricing and less crowds.
- Be aware that with the Caribbean, hurricane season runs from June 1-November 30. Prices may be lower but you run the risk of having your honeymoon disrupted by inclement weather.
- If you are planning to go to Europe, spring and fall will bring lower prices and less crowds than the summer months.
- If you are going to French Polynesia or Fiji, their peak season is April to November with December- March being rainier.
- If you are going to Hawaii, winter will be rainier than spring, summer and fall but it’s also the best time for whale watching.
- Some all inclusive resorts will only offer complimentary honeymoon packages within a certain time after the wedding and you do need to bring a marriage certificate as proof of marriage. If you r honeymoon is after their allowed time limit, you may be ineligible for the free honeymoon package.
Once you have decided on when to go on your honeymoon, you’ll need to decide how long you want to be away.
While some couples can only take a few days, others have planned on 2 weeks or more.
Just a couple of things to consider when you decide how long you want your honeymoon to be:
- How long is the flight to your destination? Typically the longer the flight, the more time you will want to spend there.
- If you only have 7 nights and you live in New York, Tahiti, Fiji or Australia might not be the best destination since the flight is so long.
- A better choice might be the Caribbean, Mexico or even, Europe.
- Likewise, if you live in San Francisco, getting to St Lucia involves 3 different planes. You might want to spend at least 10 nights in a destination that will take you so long to get to.
- How many different islands or cities do you want to visit? Many times, especially in Hawaii, hotels are offering free nights with the purchase of a minimum number of nights booked. For instance, the hotel might offer a 5th night free so you’ll want to stay a minimum of 5 nights at that hotel to get the best value .
- Consider when you need to be back and work and how long it will take you to “recuperate” from your honeymoon.
- If you go to Hawaii and live on the East Coast, you’ll leave in the afternoon and arrive home the following morning. You might want to come home on Saturday, if you need to be at work on Monday.
- If you are honeymooning in Europe, you will leave in the morning and return home that same day, if you live on the East Coast. You might be able to return to work the next day.
The biggest part of how long you want to spend on your honeymoon is HOW MUCH, which is step 5.
My Vacation Lady believes in the personal approach to honeymoon planning. After our in depth honeymoon consultation, we’ll be able to envision your honeymoon dreams. Contact My Vacation Lady to schedule your honeymoon consultation.
