Planning the Perfect Honeymoon: A Step-by-Step Guide
Your First Trip as a Married Couple
Your honeymoon isn't just a vacation. It's your first trip as a married couple, the soft landing after the chaos of wedding planning, and a memory you'll talk about for the rest of your lives. No pressure.
The good news: with a little planning, an incredible honeymoon is well within reach — at almost any budget, in almost any season, to almost anywhere on the planet. Here's how to do it right.
Step 1: Talk About What You Both Actually Want
Couples often skip this step and head straight for the obvious destinations ("Maldives? Hawaii? Italy?"). But the best honeymoons start with an honest conversation.
Ask each other:
• Are we hoping to relax, explore, or both?
• How active do we want to be?
• Are we OK with long flights, or do we want something closer?
• Beach, city, mountains, or a mix?
• All-inclusive ease, or a more curated, à la carte experience?
• How important is being away from crowds?
• What's our actual budget — and what does it include?
Couples who answer these questions together have much better honeymoons than couples who default to the destination they saw on Instagram.
Step 2: Choose the Right Type of Honeymoon
There's no single "perfect" honeymoon — it depends on what you and your partner are like as travelers. A few of the most popular formats:
All-Inclusive Resort Honeymoons
Best for: couples who want pure relaxation, predictable costs, and zero planning during the trip itself.
Top destinations: Mexico's Riviera Maya, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Maldives. Many offer dedicated honeymoon packages with extras like room upgrades, romantic dinners, and spa credits.
Multi-Destination Honeymoons
Best for: couples who want variety — exploring multiple cities or combining different experiences (city + beach, safari + island, etc.).
Top combinations: Italy (Rome + Amalfi Coast + Tuscany), Greece (Athens + Santorini + Mykonos), Japan (Tokyo + Kyoto + Hakone), Tanzania safari + Zanzibar beach.
Adventure Honeymoons
Best for: active couples who'd rather hike, dive, or explore than lounge.
Top destinations: Costa Rica, New Zealand, Iceland, Patagonia, the Galápagos. These trips create stories you'll be telling for decades.
Cruise Honeymoons
Best for: couples who want multiple destinations without the hassle of moving between them.
Top options: Mediterranean cruises, Caribbean cruises, river cruises in Europe (Rhine, Danube, Douro), and luxury small-ship expeditions for adventurous couples.
Hybrid Honeymoons (Mini-moon + Bigger Trip Later)
More couples are choosing to take a shorter trip immediately after the wedding (a "mini-moon") and saving the bigger international honeymoon for a few months or a year later. This lets you decompress immediately while planning a more ambitious trip without the wedding-prep chaos.
Step 3: Time Your Booking
How far in advance you book depends on your destination and travel style:
• All-inclusive resorts: 6–9 months ahead is ideal for the best room categories and prices.
• International multi-stop trips: 9–12 months ahead, especially if you're combining flights, hotels, and tours.
• Cruises: 12–18 months ahead for the best cabins.
• Safari and remote luxury: 12+ months ahead — these properties are small and book up fast.
• Maldives, Bora Bora, premium overwater bungalows: 12+ months for peak periods, less for off-season.
If your wedding is approaching and you haven't booked yet, don't panic — but don't delay further. Talk to a travel advisor immediately about what's realistically available in your window.
Step 4: Budget Realistically
Honeymoons range from $3,000 to $30,000+ depending on destination, length, and luxury level. Here's a rough framework:
• $3,000–$7,000: Caribbean or Mexico all-inclusive (5–7 nights), depending on resort and season. Excellent value.
• $7,000–$12,000: European multi-city trips (Italy, Greece, Spain), upscale Caribbean, or higher-end all-inclusive properties.
• $12,000–$20,000: Premium destinations like Hawaii, the Maldives (off-peak), Bora Bora (off-peak), luxury cruises, or African safaris.
• $20,000+: Multi-week luxury, peak-season Maldives or Bora Bora, private guide safaris, premium suite cruises.
A travel advisor can stretch a budget further than you might expect by accessing promotions, packaging deals, and adding included perks.
Step 5: Build in the Special Touches
This is where honeymoons distinguish themselves from regular vacations. A few things to consider:
• Tell every supplier it's your honeymoon. Hotels, cruise lines, and airlines often add small surprises — champagne, room upgrades, special dinners. It costs you nothing to mention.
• Plan one or two splurge experiences. A private boat charter, a couples spa day, a helicopter tour, a tasting menu. These become the memories you'll talk about for years.
• Don't over-schedule. You'll be exhausted from the wedding. Build in genuinely unstructured time.
• Consider an extra day at the start. Arriving the day after your wedding sounds romantic but can be brutal. An extra night to sleep in your own bed (or a nearby hotel) before flying is a small gift to your future selves.
• Capture it. You'll regret not taking enough photos. Bring a real camera or commit to phone photography. Some couples even hire a destination photographer for an hour or two.
Step 6: Don't Skip the Practical Stuff
A few honeymoon-specific things travelers forget:
• Passport names. Your passport must match the name on your ticket. If you're changing your name, either travel under your maiden name (book the ticket in your maiden name) or wait until after your honeymoon to change everything. Trying to fly with a mismatched passport and ticket is a guaranteed problem.
• Travel insurance. Especially for international honeymoons. The week of your wedding is exactly when you don't want to deal with cancelled flights, lost bags, or medical emergencies abroad.
• Visa and entry requirements. Many destinations require pre-arrival authorization for Canadians (Europe's ETIAS, the U.K.'s ETA, etc.). Check well in advance.
• Pre-trip health checkup. If you're going somewhere that requires vaccinations or anti-malarial medication, see a travel clinic at least 4–6 weeks before your trip.
• Honeymoon registry. Increasingly popular alternative to traditional wedding gifts. Guests contribute toward your honeymoon experiences (a dinner, an excursion, a hotel night). Easy to set up through travel-specialized platforms.
Why Honeymoons Are the One Trip Worth Hiring an Advisor For
Of all the trips you'll take in life, honeymoons are arguably the highest-stakes. You only get one shot, you've usually invested significant money, and the wedding-planning process has probably already drained your decision-making energy.
A great travel advisor:
• Recommends destinations you might not have considered
• Knows which resorts genuinely live up to their photos and which don't
• Handles all the bookings, transfers, and confirmations
• Adds romantic perks you wouldn't get booking online
• Is your point of contact if anything goes wrong on the trip
• Lets you focus on your wedding, not your travel logistics
Let's Plan the One You'll Talk About Forever
Your honeymoon should feel like the perfect punctuation mark on the start of your marriage — relaxed, romantic, and tailored to who you are as a couple. There's no "right" honeymoon, only the right one for the two of you.
Our GOwithHIPPO travel advisors plan honeymoons all over the world, from Caribbean all-inclusives to South Pacific overwater bungalows to multi-country European tours. We'll help you build the trip that's right for both of you — and handle every detail so you can focus on getting married.
Ready to start planning? Connect with a GOwithHIPPO travel advisor today. Our independent advisors across Canada are passionate travel experts who handle every detail — from flights and accommodations to insurance and insider tips — so you can focus on the fun part: getting excited for your trip.