A honeymoon is usually planned after the wedding, in a tired state and in a hurry. As a result the couple either runs into rain in the wrong season or sets off on a twenty-hour flight the day after the wedding night. Yet the main question on this trip is not the name of the destination but the rhythm. Below I have written how to build the choice and the plan properly.
How to choose a honeymoon destination
Look at the calendar, not at the photographs. The Maldives and the Seychelles have their own rainy period, in Bali the season is not the same either, and in Europe the August heat makes some cities impossible to walk around. If your wedding date is fixed, the destination has to be chosen to suit that month, not the other way round.
The second principle is a mixed route. Divide the trip into two parts: first the city or cultural part, then the sea and resting. That rule works not only for interest but for a practical reason, because after the tiredness of the wedding you do not want to walk much in the first days.
The point most often forgotten in the documents
This clause is the most important part of the whole article. The ticket, the visa and the hotel booking must match the name in the passport, not a name that will change in the future. A bride planning to change her surname often buys the ticket in the new surname while the passport is still the old one, and a problem arises at the check-in desk.
The rule is simple: whichever passport you will have in your hand during the trip, let all the documents be written in the name on it. If you are going to change your surname, renew the passport either well before the wedding or after the trip, and do not get caught in between. Official information on changing documents is set out on the State Migration Service site.
Read more: Choosing a season for travel: high, low and shoulder season
The honeymoon budget and choosing a hotel
| Transport | About a third of the budget |
| Accommodation | A third, with a better hotel for the last nights |
| Going out and food | The remaining part, with a daily limit |
| Reserve | Ten per cent, kept untouched |
Rather than staying in a hotel of the same price for every night, going in steps leaves a better impression. Take a comfortable mid-range place for the first nights and save a good hotel for the last two, because it is the final experience that stays in the memory. When booking, write to the hotel that you are on your honeymoon; many places decorate or upgrade the room, and that is usually done free of charge. Filtering hotels by their cancellation terms, meanwhile, protects the money if the visa is delayed.
If you are going somewhere far, a direct flight can be a few hundred manats dearer, but in return it wins you a day. If you want to split the trip between two countries, looking at ready travel programmes for couples makes the planning easier.
The most common mistakes
The first mistake is flying the morning after the wedding night. Leave at least one day’s gap, otherwise the first two days of the trip pass in sleep. The second mistake is leaving the visa to the last weeks, whereas when the wedding preparations and the visa appointment fall at the same time neither goes smoothly.
The third mistake is filling the programme too full. Two points a day is enough; let the rest stay free. If one or two excursions or tastings for two are bought in advance, the remaining days can be planned freely. The fourth is insurance: especially if you are planning diving or a mountain route, an ordinary policy does not cover such activities.
In brief
Choose the destination by the month of the wedding, split the trip into a city and a sea part, have the documents written in the passport’s name. Leave a day’s gap after the wedding, choose the hotel in steps, keep the programme loose. To plan the visa and the route together, fill in the application form.
Note: the season and the prices vary by destination, so check the current terms before booking.
