Make your dream honeymoon a reality with these top saving tips from real couples

Posted by Melissa Cullen on 3 July 2024

A man and woman standing hand-in-hand in front of a large gate Credit: Thomas Boxma With 39 per cent of couples spending £5,000 - £8,000 on a honeymoon and the average cost of a wedding being £24,710.00 in 2024, there is a lot of saving to do. A honeymoon is more than just another holiday; it marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, so it’s definitely worth spending a little extra on.

Rather than compromising on your dream honeymoon holiday, Viva Holidays, an award-winning online travel company known for specialising in tailor-made multi-centre holidays, has given some top tips on how to save and also asked real couples what they’re doing to save for their dream honeymoon.

Jasmine, who is getting married in November, and Lidia, who was married last year, knew they wanted a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon. They have both saved in different ways and shared their examples below.

Round up your spending to save
Many UK banks offer their customers a way to automatically round up their spending, with the difference going directly into a savings account. For example, when you spend £4.50 on your debit card, it will automatically round this up to £5, with the extra 50p going into your savings. If you would prefer a more traditional route, why not try what Jasmine did?

“We bought a money tin that can only be opened once with a tin opener. There's something very nostalgic and fun about saving money this way and we made sure any change went in there. As with most people, I don't often have cash anymore, so each time I need to get some cash out, whether it be for a nail appointment or for a day out, I make sure I take extra out for the pot. Whenever we get cash for birthdays or Christmas, it's also gone straight into the pot. I'd estimate that by the time the honeymoon comes around, with the cash and the Rover payments, we will have around £1,500, which we will use exclusively for spending money, which takes the stress out of the honeymoon.”

Delay your honeymoon
The more time you have to save, the easier it will be to build up a pot of money to spend on your honeymoon. You’re also more likely to get a better deal by booking ahead. Of course, you’re likely to have considerable wedding costs to budget for too, so if your first trip away as a married couple is just as important as the wedding, why not delay your honeymoon for a few months after the event? That way, you’ll have something to look forward to when the excitement of your wedding is over, and you can use those extra months to save more cash.

Lidia advised: We shared with hotels that it was our honeymoon. Luxury hotels in Thailand or the Maldives usually have special packages for this, so we had free meals or a free activity, like a dolphin cruise.”

A man and woman sitting on a bench on the beach Credit: Ismail Mohamed - SoviLeCut back on wedding costs
Many couples are choosing to have a more extravagant honeymoon over a big wedding. Jasmine has opted to get married on a Monday, which in turn is saving them £7,000. “We're not having a cake; we're not having flowers around the venue; we've managed to work with affordable suppliers and we've picked the cheapest menu options. I absolutely know we will still have an incredible day and the extra few thousand we've not spent really wouldn't have made any difference to the overall wedding experience.”

Lidia had two weddings, one of which was in Barcelona. “We invited people over to a terrace in a five-star hotel that we had booked out. It had views to kill, so we didn't bother with buying decorations. Instead of serving a sit-down meal, we had tapas floating around, and instead of having an open bar of hard liquor, we had wine only. We were ruthless with the guest list. Instead of a flower bouquet, which can be upwards of £200, I had a custom-made fresh flower crown, which cost £30. Instead of a classic cake, which would have been £1,700, we ordered custom cupcakes from the cupcake shop where we used to spend our Sunday mornings when we were dating.”

Get paid for a new hobby
To raise extra money for their honeymoon, Jasmine became a registered dog sitter on an app called Rover. “This was something I'd been wanting to do since my dog passed away, but this gave me a push. I can easily make £70 for a weekend with a dog, something I'd happily do for free. Each time I get paid through Rover, the money goes into the honeymoon pot.”

Take on the 1p challenge
This is based on a simple idea. You start the year by saving 1 pence, then 2 pence the next day, and you increase the amount by 1 pence every day. At the end of a calendar year, you’ll have amassed a rather tidy sum - £671.61, to be exact. If you and your partner challenge each other to do this, after 12 months, you’ll have over £1,300 to put towards your honeymoon.

No-spend weekend once a month
Do you think you and your fiancée could manage one weekend a month where you spend no money at all? Doing this can not only be a bit of fun, but it can also help you appreciate where your money usually goes and how much needless spending you might be doing. The money you save could end up being a large amount, depending on your usual weekend habits. For example, if you’d typically spend £100 over the course of a weekend, you'd save over a thousand pounds and have a laugh trying to come up with creative ways to enjoy yourselves out and about without parting with any cash.

Visit more than one destination
Most of us have a few ‘bucket list’ countries we would like to visit, so why not tick a few off your list in one honeymoon? Picking a multi-centre holiday can save you up to thousands of pounds while allowing you to travel the world with the person you love and visit the countries you’ve always wanted to go to.

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Make your dream honeymoon a reality with these top saving tips from real couples

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