15 Fun Honeymoon Ideas On A Budget For Newlyweds

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by Culture Wedding

How To Plan A Honeymoon On A Budget

Couples looking for honeymoon ideas on a budget to take for their next adventure as newlyweds have come to the right place.

We have great ideas if you are looking for great tips on planning a honeymoon on a budget.

From budget-friendly honeymoon destinations to travel tips that will save you money, we have all the fun and easy-to-follow ideas today.

You have come to the right place.

So the big day has gone by without a hitch, and you are now officially Mr. & Mrs. (Woohoo, congratulations)!

It’s time to start planning the next big step, which is usually the honeymoon.

And although you managed not to pull all your hair out with the stress of planning the perfect wedding, you are looking forward to having a nice relaxing honeymoon with your other half.

Know that the wedding isn’t the only part of the celebrations that can cost a bit of money!

Honeymoons can run several dollars if you do not plan correctly and within budget.

One of the most frequent questions I get from couples is – ” how do I pay for the honeymoon I go on?”

The simple answer: “budgeting!”

Good budgeting for a trip is the key to a successful, stress-free time.

So how much do most people spend on their honeymoon?

Most couples spend about $5600 on their honeymoon.

Honeymoons in the Caribbean and Mexico easily cost between $5,000 to $7,500.

I know couples that have spent upwards of $10000 on a honeymoon for 7 to 8 days.

If you look at CostHelper.com, you will notice that the average cost of a typical honeymoon varies from $3,400-$5,100 for a trip of six to eight days.

That is a lot of money, in my opinion.

Especially after spending thousands of dollars on your wedding.

But as newlyweds, you also want to enjoy your time away.

And that’s why it’s important to look for ways to save money when planning a honeymoon.

Just like the wedding, you don’t want to find yourselves in debt.

It’s possible to have an incredible trip on a reasonable budget with the proper help.

Start by putting a good honeymoon budget together, and then dig into the best all-inclusive honeymoon resorts on a budget.

From figuring out what kind of honeymoon trip you are after to who pays for what to ways to stretch your dollars—these tips on ways to plan a honeymoon on a budget are key for reducing stress, making your dream honeymoon come to fruition, and ensuring you and your partner are on the same page!

So we’ve put some tips together to help you jet off on your dream honeymoon while keeping in mind that you are on a budget.

We want to share tips for:

Planning a honeymoon on a budget
Fun honeymoon ideas for couples
Keeping honeymoon ideas on a budget
And tips on how to have a cheap honeymoon

You are here to learn how to plan a honeymoon on a budget, and that’s exactly what we will be sharing today,

We are sharing all our best honeymoon ideas on budget tips.

Plenty of budget-friendly honeymoon destinations around the world offer romantic getaways for couples.

There is no real need to spend money you might not have.

Follow our great honeymoon ideas on a budget to plan your perfect getaway.

This is how you can plan your honeymoon on a budget…

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Tips for planning a honeymoon on a budget

Make sure you work together to get the best out of your honeymoon.

If one of you is savvier at booking holidays, that’s great, but make sure to involve your partner in the decision-making.

If you work together, you will make a plan for your honeymoon that you both will enjoy.

1. Have a solid Honeymoon budget

When you start wedding planning, we always recommend having a wedding budget.

This will help you save and ensure you are using the money where it’s supposed to go.

The same thing can be said about planning a honeymoon on a budget.

Have a budget.

A budget will prevent you from overspending money you might not have or should not be spending.

The easiest way to estimate your honeymoon cost is by breaking down your travel style and figuring out where you want to spend your money.

Set a realistic budget by understanding your area’s average honeymoon package or trip costs.

Before you can create a honeymoon budget, look at these few things:

How much do you have in your account to spare
Where do you wish to go for your honeymoon
What are your must-haves on this trip (Activities/food, etc.)

From here, look up costs in these areas to see how much it will potentially cost you to honeymoon in those locations.

List out every potential expense you might incur while on your honeymoon.

Honeymoon expenses include Hotel stays, transportation, airfare, food, excursions, tips, insurance, etc.

Here is a quick honeymoon quick list of things to add to your honeymoon budget:

Hotels + Flights
Additional transportation costs (car rentals, train tickets)
Food + Drinks
Excursions (guided tours, snorkelling, sunset cruises)
Pampering (Spas, massages, room service)
Tickets (theatre, sports, events)
Shopping (including any items you want to buy for the trip)

Even if you don’t have *exact* figures for things (accommodations, food, transportation), you can research ballpark estimates and figure out how much you’re budgeting per day of the trip.

How long are you looking at going on this honeymoon?

The length of stay can affect your honeymoon budget.

You want your honeymoon fund to match your dream honeymoon.

Once you have this on paper, it’s to look at ways to cut costs, alternative places you could honeymoon on a budget and how you can raise the funds for your dream honeymoon.

2. Start a savings Honeymoon Fund

Now that you know how much your honeymoon will cost on average, you will need to start saving.

After figuring out what kind of honeymoon you would like, it will be much easier to make a budget and save.

This is because you know where your priorities are.

Creating a budget for the honeymoon helps you plan, figure out how much you need to save per month, and take all the guesswork out.

Instead of asking yourself, “Can we afford to go on a honeymoon?”

Put a plan into action and know exactly where your dollars are going and what you need to budget for.

Saving is not easy, especially if you are planning a wedding and you still have your day-to-day living expenses to worry about.

I recommend sitting down to establish how much you can each contribute to your honeymoon fund comfortably.

If you know it’s going to cost you, on average, $5000 to go on a honeymoon, and you have about a year to save, it’s safe to say you each need to contribute $210 each month.

At the end of the 12-month, you will have $5040.

This may or may not be enough for what you need; simply adjust accordingly.

When my husband and I commit to something, we go above and beyond to make it happen.

I recommend grabbing these savings trackers for your wedding and honeymoon savings plans.

3. Cut your daily expenses to save more

So, now that you have a general honeymoon budget and know what you will be spending on your trip, you need to cut out daily expenses and put those funds toward your honeymoon!

A cheap honeymoon will require a bit of flexibility and creativity on your part.

It is necessary to save money when planning a honeymoon so you can have extra funds to contribute towards the trip.

Take a look at your spending expenses and find ways to cut some expenses by making things a priority.

Do you need multiple streaming service subscriptions, or going for coffee runs each money?

$5 a cup daily can add up to about $1825 at the end of the year.

Can you eat at home for a while (Meal prepping can be a great way to cut down on food costs) until you have enough money for your wedding and honeymoon?

I don’t suggest you cut off your social life, but it’s time to make some changes.

This can be for a temporary timeframe.

One way to save for honeymoon travel on a budget is to stop using branded labels and opt for the generic version of just about anything!

To get your spending in check, you will need a spending planner.

Spending plans are useful because they focus on what you have left after meeting your basic needs to improve your life or reach a goal that you have set.

Go ahead and grab your very own FREE spending tracker right here.

A spending plan will help you see where you can adjust your monthly expenses.

Whatever is left, you can spend on your wedding and honeymoon.

4. Use travel credit cards to pay for your honeymoon

I do not recommend going into debt for one day (your wedding) or travelling.

It’s just not the right way to start a marriage.

I will also admit that going on a honeymoon is not cheap.

Life is expensive, and travelling has just become more expensive.

But for, couples looking for ways to have a cheap honeymoon should consider this option.

Because you will be making travel purchases, consider getting a travel reward credit card.

One of my biggest “hacks” when affording honeymoon travel is racking up points on travel rewards credit cards!

While you should try to limit your expenses and budget, use the cards only to spend money on necessities.

Because you are planning for a wedding, I recommend putting all your wedding expenses on this credit and paying it off right away instead of using cheques, debit or cash.

This way, you can quickly rack up travel points you can then use towards your honeymoon expenses and travel bookings.

Most reward travel cards will give you 5x the points to the dollar on travel purchases!

This makes it easy to rack up points pretty quickly (especially if you sign up for a new card and earn the bonus) and apply those points to your flight or next trip!

5. Sign up for a honeymoon registry

A honeymoon registry works just in the same way a wedding registry does.

With today’s high costs for weddings, it has become popular to register for wedding event items and have friends and family help pay for the photographer, wedding cake or even for a portion of the honeymoon.

With a honeymoon registry, you can register to get your full honeymoon paid for or certain portions of it, such as activities.

You create an itemized, public wish list that could include everything from booking activities, couples spa days or even the travel essentials like books and toiletries.

This is the perfect way to start planning a honeymoon on a budget.

I recommend going with a reputable site like Honeymoon Fund.

It will save you a ton of time and stress.

Creating a Wedding Honeymoon Fund as part of your registry is a great way to help cover some or all of the expenses of your dream honeymoon.

Start your honeymoon registry today.

To get ahead, you want to start saving for your honeymoon as early as possible.

Start your Honeymoon registry as soon as possible.

This is the best way to plan a honeymoon on a budget, save money, and enjoy the time away without stress.

Start your honeymoon fund now.

6. Use your wedding monetary gifts

If you had a money box at your wedding, chances are that some of your wedding guests gifted you some cash.

The best way to afford your honeymoon is to use this extra cash to fund your honeymoon.

Most couples use this fund to pay off their wedding.

That’s fine.

But technically, your wedding should be well paid off before your wedding.

Paying for your wedding should come from your wedding budget, and you shouldn’t need to rely on your wedding monetary gifts to pay it off.

If you have a balance left to pay for your wedding, use the extra monetary gift cash to pay that off.

And any remaining funds can go towards your honeymoon.

You can either use it to fund some excursions or purchase some things on the trip.

7. Book early for the best honeymoon savings

If you are looking for ways to plan a honeymoon on a budget to save extra costs, you must start early.

Doing this will also allow you time to shop around for deals and discounts that come up.

If you want to ensure that all the cheaper rooms aren’t booked up around the time you want to take your honeymoon, make sure you book early.

This allows you the most choice on whatever budget you are working with.

Booking early might also land you with huge honeymoon discounts.

You might be able to enjoy a luxurious honeymoon without paying for the luxurious cost when you book early enough.

Similarly, booking last-minute honeymoon vacations can work for you if you are a spontaneous couple with no set destination.

Hotels sometimes have great discounts for last-minute bookings, although the choice of rooms isn’t always as plentiful this way.

I normally do not encourage newlyweds actively looking for honeymoon ideas on a budget to leave things to the last minute.

You might end up spending more than you bargained for with little preparation.

Regardless, any discount you get is helpful when planning a honeymoon on a budget!

Finding awesome, affordable honeymoon ideas will require time unless you use a travel agent familiar with pricing and tips for finding fun, cheap honeymoon destinations.

So how far in advance do you book a honeymoon?

It is recommended that couples start looking into booking their honeymoon accommodations at least 6-8 months in advance, depending on where they want to go.

Booking your honeymoon three months out is cutting it close as prices start to go up and usually fluctuates.

My pro tip: Set up alerts for flight deals using Google Flights!

8. Look out for cheap honeymoon and travel sales

I don’t always recommend shopping for bargains when looking for affordable honeymoon ideas.

That is because bargains are not always bargains.

The deal may seem too good to be real, so I encourage you to look at the fine print.

You might find a few affordable honeymoon resorts during these sales, but they might not include meals or great rooms.

Or you might find great flight deals, but booking accommodations at that time might be too expensive.

And in some instances, you might find a great deal during these sales for a fantastic affordable honeymoon all-inclusive resort, but you might have to go in the worst possible month.

Consider all this before committing, as some of the bookings might be final and non-refundable.

But it doesn’t hurt to watch out for sales as you might just land a luxurious honeymoon package for cheap.

New year’s, Black Friday, and similar deals are a great time to book your upcoming honeymoon.

Travel agents will also have some of their best deals at these times, so watch out.

If you are looking online, set up price alerts (using Google Flights) so you know as soon as the prices change and look at a whole month instead of specific dates it’s surprising how much you can save by flying a day later.

9. Cheap Honeymoon All-inclusive packages

Watch out for affordable honeymoon all-inclusive packages.

The honeymoon packages have many great extras you may not have thought about during your honeymoon budgeting process.

This is perfect for those planning a honeymoon on a budget.

Things like the tax, airport transfers and taxi fares can all be included, saving you money from the get-go.

Also, when you arrive, you might get some perks, even if it’s just a glass of bubbly.

Consider booking all-inclusive packages when planning a honeymoon on a budget.

You will save thousands of dollars.

I recommend you take full advantage of different honeymoon packages.

Look up all-inclusive honeymoon destinations on a budget to see what places come up.

All-include honeymoon booking deals include a room, meals, drinks, and entertainment, so you can enjoy your stay without spending extra if you don’t want to.

Booking a honeymoon package and going all-inclusive will save any extra travel expenses you weren’t thinking of, such as the cost of dining out for a week.

10. Honeymoon during the off-season to save money

Other ways to save on your honeymoon include booking your vacation during the off-season or flying during off-peak times.

Most places will have a high and low season, depending on when you plan to take your honeymoon.

During the peak season, many people will visit a certain location.

Prices are usually high as they can make the most money during this time.

It is much cheaper to book your honeymoon destination during the slow season as most places will want to fill up and drop prices to accommodate those willing to visit during the low season.

You can also look at the shoulder season.

This is typically right in the middle of high and low seasons.

They have just enough bookings, but things might slow down over the next few days for these destinations.

Prices at this stage are usually much more reasonable because there’s less demand, but the weather is still pretty good.

If you are curious, the shoulder season in the Caribbean is usually around late spring and then again in the fall.

For couples wanting to honeymoon in Europe, the shoulder season is late spring or early fall.

11. Extended your honeymoon by a year

There is no written rule that states a honeymoon must occur immediately.

Back in the day, it was common for couples to leave for their honeymoon right after the wedding.

But that’s because weddings were typically not a big deal.

Most couples would go to church, exchange vows, do a receiving line to thank guests and go off on their honeymoon.

The guests would then head to the bride’s parent’s home to party and mingle till the wee hours.

These days, couples spend thousands of dollars to have the perfect wedding they pay for and then have to plan a honeymoon.

The best way to afford a honeymoon if you are on a budget is to wait it out.

You can plan to go on your honeymoon a year after the wedding or even six months.

I waited a year to have my perfect honeymoon.

After your wedding, you can stay at a fancy hotel for one or two nights and start your honeymoon plans.

Use these honeymoon budget ideas to plan your perfect romantic getaway.

12. Go on a mini honeymoon to save money {Mini-moon ideas)

Couples looking for honeymoon budget ideas should consider going on a mini-moon getaway.

You are here to learn how to plan a honeymoon on a budget.

Our budget honeymoon ideas on this list will ensure you are not overspending.

A mini honeymoon is usually known as a mini-moon.

Forgoing a full-length trip for a “mini-moon” vacation can save you money.

It’s also a great idea to take a few days for yourself and your partner to regroup and decompress from all your stressful wedding plans.

A mini-moon is great for couples looking for affordable honeymoon ideas.

An extra long weekend away is much more affordable and easier to plan.

Go ahead and find places that are not too far away from you to visit and tour.

Mini-moons are typically short getaways you can take that are a few hours’ drive away or a short flight to somewhere relaxing and romantic.

A few romantic mini-moon getaway ideas for newlyweds:

Key Largo, Florida
Nashville, Tennessee
Quebec City, Canada
New York City
Niagara Falls, Canada
Miami
Banff, Canada

13. Honeymoon at home for cheap {Staycation Honeymoon}

If you are looking for affordable honeymoon ideas, I suggest staying closer to home.

Of course, you don’t have to travel a million miles away to have a great honeymoon.

If you are on a budget, consider spending your honeymoon days closer to home or taking a road trip!

A staycation allows you to spend time closer to home, so you are not spending money on accommodation and simply taking day trips to nearby places.

Planning a honeymoon on a budget just means thinking outside the box.

You can hire a car or motorhome and spend your nights under the stars.

Now there’s nothing more romantic than spending undivided time with your new husband or wife, staring at the stars and talking about your future.

Here are a few things you can do during your honeymoon staycation:

Dress up and have a theme night (pretend you are somewhere fancy and cool)
Decorate your home romantically to give it a different vibe from the usual
Order in food on special nights so you are not eating the usual (please splurge)
Have a spa night and give each other massages
Book a fancy hotel for a night or two
Book a cottage or a cabin for two somewhere romantic
Set up a romantic spot in the backyard and enjoy each other’s company

You can also play tourist around your home town discovering new things.

Make sure to take plenty of photos.

Don’t forget to unplug during this time to enjoy each other fully.

14. For a cheap honeymoon experience, travel locally

There is no need to leave the country if you are on a tight budget.

You can easily enjoy an affordable honeymoon travelling locally.

Honeymoons are expensive, and even with tweaking your budget, not every couple can enjoy a romantic honeymoon without spending more than they can afford.

This doesn’t mean you should give up.

If you can’t do a mini-moon or a later moon, plan a staycation and visit things locally.

I recommend you book an Airbnb or even a cottage and embark on a romantic road trip for two.

Stop at cute attractions to enjoy and continue on your week-long trip.

A honeymoon is about having a new experience together as newlyweds so make this time special for you.

We highly recommend your final city near you that you have always wanted and take a tour.

So many of us have never really explored our own countries.

This is the time to do it.

You can even rent an RV, your dream car or a van.

Live a little.

Enjoy the adventure.

15. Choose affordable honeymoon destinations

To have your honeymoon on a budget, consider booking affordable locations.

It’s a dream and wishes for couples to travel to an exotic destination and enjoy a romantic trip for two.

But if money gets in the way, you will want to be more flexible.

And this means finding alternative honeymoon destinations that are cheap and affordable to you.

Best places for a honeymoon on a budget

These locations might work if you are looking for affordable beach honeymoon destinations or fun honeymoon ideas.

We have great ideas for those either looking for beautiful beaches to honeymoon in or simply wanting honeymoon travel tips!

We have plenty of amazing vacation spots for couples you could visit on a budget.

Your dream honeymoon location will depend on what you want to get out of it.

Are you looking for something relaxing on a beach somewhere or for adventure and exploration?

If you are looking for cheap honeymoon beach destinations to visit this year, you will enjoy the list below.

Here is a quick list of popular honeymoon destinations for couples on any budget:

Croatia
Mauritius
Riviera Maya – Mexico
Portugal
Costa Rica
Bali

The Maldives’ affordable beach location

Costa Rica honeymoon location:

Costa Rica is one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the world because of its stunning natural beauty, diverse landscape, and luxurious resorts.

Whether you’re looking for a secluded beachfront getaway or an all-inclusive resort with plenty of activities and amenities, Costa Rica has something to offer every couple.

Here are some of the most romantic resorts for a honeymoon in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica

Image source: Worth Visit

Dominican Republic

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Extra tips for planning a honeymoon on a budget:

Research Honeymoon locations before deciding where you want to go.
You can find amazing deals on Hotels.com – some savings up to 30% off.
Here are ten amazing dream beach destinations you might love!
Look for cheap excursions online (Viator) before you travel on your honeymoon.

And there, we have given you fantastic ways to plan an affordable honeymoon on a budget!

Tell us where you plan to go for your honeymoon in the comments below!

Do you have other cool budget honeymoon ideas you want to share?

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