Saving for the Honeymoon

Us getting married is the happiest day of my life. And the biggest expenditure, too. No matter how hard I had tried to be really anal about the budget, there were just those things that took us by surprise (or more like a storm, I'd say). Like getting that chartered tourist bus, or the additional chairs, the additional food, etc. I justified in my head, that since our wedding was a destination thing and I didn't want to get stressed, I just had to let go.

So here I am again, with the honeymoon budget. Melvene and I wanted the trip to be memorable, comfortable and more special than our usual trips. So the task: to balance out cheap and expensive. Something in between would be nice. From the experience of preparing for the great love trip, here are some things to remember if you want to save some stash. Extra shopping money, yes?

• Scout for cheap airfares. Don't you just love these airline promos? We got our Hong Kong ticket 70% off! You get deals for booking way early. Like for this trip, I started booking some 8 months ago. It does pay to be the early worm.
  
• Book early. Not just for flights, but for accommodations as well. For some hotels, they offer 15 to 20% off their rates if you book months ahead.
• Don't go through a travel agent. Well, this will work for people who enjoy planning. I do! I had quoted with one and here's the scenario: If I let a travel agent book our ticket, it would have cost 50% more. But if you'd be so stressed about it, then go with the agent. There's just no point of being stressed during the honeymoon!
  
• Use a honeymoon registry. A friend of mine did this since they didn't need anything for their house, and the couple really wanted a grand trip to Hawaii. For us, we still did the normal registry thing, but the dollars that we got from the wedding, we agreed that it will go to our honeymoon budget.
• Don't look too far. To save up, instead of going to the US, we opted for two countries nearby: Hong Kong and Singapore. We haven't been out of the country together so anywhere, would be a grand time anyway. We also went to Baguio and Cebu a month ago.
• Know what's important. I guess the first thing to do really is to sit down and talk with your partner about your honeymoon ideals. Like for me, I'd rather not fly fancy, but a better hotel is up at my happy list. Other people might want the hotel buffet. But we'd rather not (after too much holiday calories). And Melvene, he just wants to see the Universal Studios at Singapore, and still go to the gym during our trip.

So maybe what's most important is having this great time together, enjoying and discovering things as a couple. Knowing more about the other half, and having these lovely memories to look back to. If these are what the trip's all about, then everything else - airplane food, the legroom, the feather pillows, white sheets, the tour bus - are the frills and are not the things to lose sleep and hair over. They will come in second. The relationship, that comes in first.