How can we plan a great honeymoon for less than $2000?

Question

My fiance and I need to find a way to plan an inexpensive honeymoon. I think we could come up with around $2000 for the trip; we would like it to last at least a six or seven nights. I was secretly hoping my parents would be willing to give us some of their frequent flyer miles and hotel points as a wedding gift (that's what they gave me as a college graduation gift), but it turns out they are not planning to do that. We live in California but would prefer to travel somewhere farther away for our honeymoon. (I have done a fair amount of international travel, so having a local honeymoon seems a bit anticlimactic.)

I don't make a lot of money (I'm a teacher!), but I would love to go to either the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Australia, New Zealand, or Hawaii. Please help me with suggestions of hotels, airlines, countries with a good exchange rate, etc. I have been looking online at resorts and have become discouraged -- everything seems to cost $3000 or more!

Thanks!

Our honeymoon will be early July, if that makes a difference in your recommendations.

Darracats... where in Fiji did you stay? Can you give me ideas of good hotels?

I don't think we want a group tour. We sort of want a private room at a resort sort of experience.

Answer 1

My friends went to Costa Rica and had a wonderful time. The resort was fairly cheap too. The only major expense was the airfare. It cost just as much for airfare as it did to stay there for 10 days.
Check some cruises too. If you get an interior cabin it will probably be less. You'd have to limit your excursions but you could do it. (you also have to pay for all of your alcoholic drinks) Plus when they know it's your honeymoon they give you upgrades. We were upgraded from a balcony room to a suite!

Answer 2

First of all, its the peak season for travel - its cold in the States and Europe, everyone's going to the tropics. Maybe you can hold off till the rates (airlines, hotels, etc) go down and save during the mean time. Everything online IS expensive if you want to push through with it. How do you feel about group tours? Maybe you can find group tours or packages from travel agencies - call, don't surf the web. The rates on line are not all that accurate.

Answer 3

Yes you can pull it off. My budget is $6000. My sisters wedding was gorgeous and was $3000. But if you ask me I think you have your ideas back to front. I would skip the DJ and have an MC and laptop playing music. I would skip having chair covers. They usually are $3-$5 a piece. I would have a nice cake though and I wouldn't skip on photography. That is one thing you don't want to forget. Don't have favors. It is a waste of money. Fake flowers can be really beautiful and fruit and candles make great centerpieces. Definately make the invites and programs yourself. You will save hundreds! Make sure the guest book has acid free paper. Instead of a guest book maybe you could have a big diplay plate or frame or canvas that everyone writes on instead. A book will usually be locked away in a cupboard, but this way you can keeo it on display. My fiance and I are having signature bears. Being crafty is really great. Heaps of people I know are crafty and artistic too. It will save you heaps, just don't skimp on the important things!!! Also don't have an open bar. This will also save you a lot. If guests want to get drunk then they should pay for it themself. The time of day for your wedding will also determine your wedding. if your wedding is at roughly 9am you would have a luch reception. People expect a full meal and will be hungry. Like wise if the ceremony is at 3pm, it will be a dinner reception. But if you have the ceremony at 11am you could have an afternoon tea with just punch and cake. just having a few nibblies will save you a lot. :)

Answer 4

I would rule out Australia or New Zealand - tickets to get down there nearly any time of year is going to be $1500+ for two people.

One suggestion when looking for deals - a good friend of mine found a great price through one of the travel websites who screwed up a flight, and my friends lost a day of their honeymoon... so it's worth it to go through a reputable travel agent.

I know every couple is different, but originally my husband and I looked at our honeymoon as a chance to go somewhere that we might never go otherwise. I was looking at Jamaica, but didn't want to spend so much money and get caught in a hurricane. We live in CA and decided to take a week and drive up the coast. I think we got a lot more for our money in or Carmel or Napa Valley than we would in Hawaii in peak tourist season, didn't have to pay plane tickets, and the trip was amazing.

The week of your wedding is going to be stressful, emotional, crazy, and chaotic, so it'll take a couple days just to unwind. I would have been upset spending so much money to go to Australia and vegged in a hotel for 2 days. We probably saved enough money to go to Hawaii for a second honeymoon during the off-season.

Keep in mind you will get cash gifts, and there are websites where you can register and people can give cash for your trip (I've never heard a review of those sites, though)

Best of luck!

Answer 5

We had our honeymoon in Oahu, Hawaii for 7 days. Flights & hotel cost us $1,200 for 2, booked thru a travel agent. We were flying out of LAX in Jan. and the hotel was next to the beach, we had a good time. I booked it 1 day before the wedding day since we weren't planning on going on honeymoon, last minute thing.
Good luck!

Answer 6

Hmmm ....I know you say you want to travel outside the country but what about the Grand Canyon - very romantic...you can take a helicopter ride, have lunch in it...go to a state park do some mountain climbing...etc -- but assuming you live in Cali you must have done that already

To travel in july is very hard considering it's high season - but your best bet is a cruise (all inclusive!)
or the Dominican republic (my inlaws went in August for 5 days - all inclusive for $900 each)

it also depends how flexible you are - do you want to travel right after the wedding, or can you wait a few weeks ( if you travel to the carribean in august it's a lot cheaper)

My fiance and I live in NJ - we plan on taking a road trip for a couple of weeks to see differents parts of the US - not get any hotels until we see one that we like in the area we like and just invest in a lot of lonley planet books (travel guides) and just go for it - something different and def. something I won't have a chance to do again





good luck!

Answer 7

A cruise is such a great value. Most are all inclusive (except sodas and alcoholic beverages). A good travel agent will answer all your questions up-front when it comes to extra charges. visit www.carnival.com and click on the FAQ. You can find a lot of answers there too. My fiance and I are planning a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. The base price for our trip is just under $1000. The bargins are out there. Another web site is www.vacationstogo.com; you can find great deals there too. They offer all inclusive resort vacations packages. Good luck and congratulations.

Answer 8

Honey you and your husband should go to THE REAL at PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO. It is all inclusive and you could both go for probably a week for $ 2,000 or less including airfare. It is fabulous look it up on the web and call CUSTOM TRAVEL IN HOUSTON they get a better deal than you could since they send a lot of people there. GOOD LUCK !!!!

Answer 9

Fiji is brilliant for "budget" holidays - I was there for 10 days for less than $2,000 - the accomodation was brilliant, there are some very inexpensive resorts where you can get a nice unit or bure(private hut) - the atmosphere is very romantic too.

Answer 10

There are websites out there that let you register your honeymoon - and let the guests pay for it! A co-worker of mine did that and it was great. I think I paid for a portion of one night at a 4-star hotel. It's a really cool idea.

You may also want to check Costco for their vacation packages. I've seen some great deals.

Best of luck and congrats!