My husband and I aren’t exactly good with timing. It’s perhaps why our daughter was born in December, we bought our house on the upswing of the bubble and why we got married exactly one month before he finished grad school. Yup. That’s right. One month. In fact, he was working on his thesis the morning of our wedding. How’s that for romantic?
Anyway, because he was in grad school and I was a social worker at a nonprofit, we didn’t exactly have a ton of money for a honeymoon. It was important to us that we had one and, given the circumstances of not knowing where we were going to be living after he graduated, we decided (fine. I decided) that we were going on the honeymoon after the wedding rather than postponing it. The problem was affording it.
We explored dozens of options, domestic, international, and tropical island. Due to the time of year and the fact that we could only afford a 5 day trip, most places were eliminated almost immediately. Then we looked at flight prices and even more places were eliminated. We were left with a few options and ultimately, we decided on going to the Bahamas. But the cost was still a bit daunting. However, in one of our smarter moments, we agreed that we were not putting the honeymoon on a credit card. To do that we did the following (and please be advised, I don’t necessarily recommend any of this. It’s just what we did):
- Convinced my father to donate some of his airline miles to us to add to mine in order for us to get a free ticket. We still had to pay for one ticket but this greatly helped decrease the ticket cost.
- Went to an all-inclusive resort. It cost a little more upfront but reduced the overall cost. Especially when you factor in not having to pay extra for food, tips or anything else that chips away at your vacation budget.
- Used some of the cash we got for engagement presents to pay for the trip. Yes, we should have saved it for…whatever, but this just seemed like the perfect thing to spend the money on. Besides, it was gift money. And we needed it (insert loose definition of “need”).
- Had a set cash budget for extra activities, like a cab ride and money to gamble with at The Atlantis. We knew we weren’t going to be able to have a lot of cash for extras but we wanted to have some. So we put aside a specific amount for each day and if we didn’t use it, we rolled it into the next. It’s how we each had gambling money (which I turned into a profit and then, because of my husband’s bad advice, lost in its entirety. Never. Again.).
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[…] back at the finances of her wedding, especially this look at the creative way they paid for their honeymoon. Our honeymoon was taken 9 months after the wedding, and accommodations were free, in the sense […]
Talking the trip and incurring no debt is the big thing here. You did what you had to do and it led to a nice vacation.
Sean @ One Smart Dollar recently posted…Rent, Don’t Buy
I’m planning a honeymoon soon, and I’m sort of in the same boat. We originally wanted to go to Europe, but man flights and basically everything else are expensive. Now an all-inclusive is starting to sound better and better. Still expensive though! Thanks for the tips, I might be employing some of them soon.
Jordann recently posted…Quit Whining and Get Back to Work
Sounds like a great honeymoon to me! We had an all cash honeymoon too. The cash came from our total wedding budget courtesy of my recently deceased grandfather. Although I’m sure not going over was by accident because we weren’t all that fiscally smart then. We did spend every penny we had. We drove to CA and stayed in San Diego for a couple of days, specifically to go to a Padres game (they still played at QUALCOMM Stadium) and we hit the beach. Then we went up to Anaheim and caught a Dodgers game (strategically when they played the Diamondbacks) and an Angels Game. We made a spur of the moment decision to go the the brand new California Disney, where we spent the rest of our money. Then we drove home! Romantic, I know. I wouldn’t change it for anything. In fact, I want to do it again.
Jenniemarie @ anotherhousewife recently posted…Working It Out Wednesday: Injury Update
Very creative trip! Sounds like you had a lot of fun. And as far as honeymoons go, I know that many couples with a small budget say they can skip it, but personally I think it’s important to have that trip – even if it’s just a long weekend away!
ImpulseSave recently posted…Money Talk: Do you make enough moo-la?
We eloped while on a family trip in SC, so we simply took a few days all by our very lonesome to explore and have fun. It was well worth the added $500 for an already planned vacation!
Christa recently posted…Investing in Family: Our Decision To Go Private (School, That Is)
We did a cruise for our honeymoon but fortunately saved up for a while and paid cash. We were both working and at least 5 years out of school though, so we had a running start! 🙂
Nick recently posted…Do you work too much?
We are doing a honeymoon registry in lieu of a traditional one, and we’ve been very good about getting credit card points to pay for some of our hotels & travel. So it’s going to be a manageable trip.
Well Heeled Blog recently posted…Help a 23-Year Old Reader Move Out & Set a Budget
When I got married (Oh so long ago. 😉 ) we also didn’t have much money and put off our honeymoon. When we did finally take a honeymoon, it wasn’t of the usual kind. My parents were traveling to Venenzuela (I can’t spell this morning) and asked us to come along with them. So that’s what we did. We had plenty of time alone for each other, but it was more of a “family” vacation than a true honeymoon. We still had a blast, though.
Little House recently posted…Super Duper Simple Book on Money