Picture this: you wake up on the Monday after your wedding. All the pictures have been taken, the speeches cheered, the cake has been eaten, The family was sent off. You got married, and it went, well, great! What happens next? Oh yeah, your coworker asks how your weekend was: “You got married? Totally slipped my mind! How was it? Did everything go ok? My invite must have gotten lost in the mail lol.” And to think you could have been on a beach somewhere instead of fielding emails at your sad desk.
Delayed honeymoons have become a thing because life has gotten too damn busy and too damn expensive. They sound fine in theory, but I’ve never talked to someone who was as psyched about their untimely trip as they would have been otherwise. Here’s why you need to grab that passport and keep the party rolling with traditional timing.
Enjoy yourself for once - You’ve earned it
A honeymoon isn’t just a vacation; it’s the first big “We’re married!” moment. You’re going to be riding such an incredible high from the final throes of planning to being the guests of honor at your party - you’ll need a moment to come down. Take some time together on a honeymoon to debrief and discuss all the wedding moments that are sure to become dinner party stories down the line. It’s also the vacation you’ll tell your kids about! Delaying means missing out on the magic of your first adventure as newlyweds. You’ll need a moment to just BE MARRIED. You're starting the first chapter of the rest of your life, it’s the establishment of your anniversary. So take a sigh of relief and live in the moment with your person.
Think back over the last handful of months and of everything you’ve accomplished to make your day happen. You’re essentially trauma bonded together after wedding planning. Creating the guest list, budgeting, venues, vendors, scheduling, colors, invitations, day-of coordination, outfitting the wedding party, all while juggling your real life responsibilities.
Pushing back your honeymoon is like going to Costco and skipping the food court. You spent 15 minutes in the parking lot, flipped off two people who stole your spot, fought the crowds for a rotisserie chicken, missed out on the last free sample more than once, and watched a hopeless mother herd her three kids under 10 years old while pushing the semi-truck equivalent of a grocery cart. And you’re just going to leave? No, no, no, no—go get your hot dog. You didn’t go to Costco just for the glizzy, but why would you take that away from yourself?
Life Is Sneaky that way
“We’ll go later when things calm down.”
Famous last words. Life doesn’t calm down; it speeds up. Work gets busier, you spend the slush funds attending weddings for your friends and family, you start expecting an unexpected kid. And, suddenly, your honeymoon becomes a distant dream. Before you know it, you’re celebrating your 10th anniversary with a “romantic” staycation, reminiscing about what you should have done..
You’ll never be less busy than the moment after your reception… or maybe the moment after the moment after your reception ;)
Inflation Won’t Wait for You
You know what gets better with age? Whiskey and fine cheese. You know what doesn’t? Travel costs.
Literally everything gets more expensive with time. Waiting to book your dream honeymoon means gambling against the ever-rising prices of hotels, flights, and those absurd overwater bungalows. The only thing worse than skipping your honeymoon now is realizing you can’t afford it later.
The Work Hassle
Here's something no one is talking about: Scheduling PTO can be a logistical nightmare with work. I don't know about you, but requesting more than two consecutive weeks off requires VP approval at my former employer. You've already done that song and dance for your wedding to appease the man. You don't NEED to do it again for the honeymoon.
Delaying means resetting all that. You’ll have to grovel for more vacation days, navigate overlapping schedules, and fight your boss’s weird vendetta against people taking time off. Strike while the PTO iron is hot and avoid the future scheduling migraine.
I Digress
We are all adults here, and the inconvenient truth is no one has a bottomless bank account. So, yeah, I just laid out a handful of reasons why a delayed honeymoon is a bad idea, but this is the trump card and it's for the affirmative. I mention this in the Bachelor Party Set Up Guide:
“Weddings are expensive enough, and if the idea of stacking a boys' trip, a wedding, and a honeymoon back-to-back sounds like financial death, I get it. No judgment, you shouldn't let FOMO put you in a hard place long-term.”
Same situation here. Don’t force it and don't delay the parts of your future that rely on money (house, family whatever your goals are). Yeah, getting double OOO approval will give you heartburn, but it's not as bad as carrying a balance on a credit card. Yes, prices rise over time, but they won’t outpace interest on your credit card. Life will throw you unexpected delays, but revolving on a credit card will delay your life goals even more. You've gone through hell planning your big day, but you don't get married just to go on the honeymoon… and do you want to go through hell again to pay off a honeymoon months/years after it's over? If you must delay your honeymoon, My advice would be to at least take a few days, even two, after the wedding to just chill out and be married. The wedding and everything that comes with it is over, so take some time to just enjoy your life as a married couple. Do something more than the minimum, man.
Stop Overthinking and Go Already
Delaying your honeymoon might feel “responsible,” but the best time to celebrate your matrimony isn’t six months from now; it’s right after you cut that cake. You’ve already done the hard part—surviving wedding planning. Reward yourselves with a break that starts your marriage off on a high note… as long as you can afford it.