HELP!!! SERIOUS MONEY ISSUES!!

Really sorry to hear this. We're actually not having a honeymoon for money reasons and being unable to get the time off work. It's not that important to me and I generally don't think about it much, getting married to my OH is the only thing on my mind at the moment. We have postponed the honeymoon until next year. I understand that they honeymoon is quite a big part of the wedding for some people, but would postponing it work for you?

We might not have a honeymoon either, although this is more that I won't leave our son for 2 weeks so if we do go away it'll be a normal family holiday.

Could you not postpone your honeymoon for a year so that you're away for your 1st anniversary, or leave it until other school holidays?

Ah I am so sorry to hear that - you must be really disappointed.

In terms of money tips... www.moneysavingexpert.com forums are fab for money-saving tips and ideas for earning more! and they have ideas for saving money on weddings too.

I know it's not what you wanted, but maybe you could come round to the idea of having a special honeymoon/holiday to look forward to the following summer instead, and maybe that would give you something different to look forward to?

We are not having an expensive honeymoon abroad, partly because I'd quite like to have a special holiday to look forward to on another occasion after all the wedding excitement is over! and also because I think I'll be quite tired physically and emotionally after the wedding, with all the planning and busy-ness and excitement of it all. So I think we will just 'flop' somewhere quiet for a nice peaceful week where we can just focus on being together. Then we will do the special holiday another time, and we will be able to look forward to it more, and probably enjoy it more :-)

The good thing is that if the extra time makes it possible for you to save some of the money, that would cost you a lot less than borrowing it and ending up paying back double eventually ?

I hope you soon feel better about it, anyway. ?

We aren't having a honeymoon either as we havent even managed to do the wedding within budget.

Well i don't think it's necessarily a good idea but you could apply for a credit card and pay it off on your return and/or instead of a gift list you could ask for honeymoon donations ( although would not book anywhere just on a prediction of what people may donate)

Failing that you could just have a mini moon then wait til half term or Xmas for honeymoon.

That is disappointing if you had a plan in mind. We decided to just have a mini-moon straight after the wedding and then are saving up for a big holiday the following year. Is it really worth getting yourselves in debt for a holiday? Have a nice break for a few days after the wedding in the UK and then save up for an amazing holiday the year after.

Thanks. I am really struggling with the idea as I always dreamed of the traditional wedding and honeymoon combination (as I'm sure most people do) and would love to do it properly.

Its definitely something I need to think about as like you say it will actually be cheaper to save it over an extra year rather than get a loan and end up paying loads more. I am going to keep thinking of ways to make more money but failing this a post poned honeymoon may be the answer.

(by the way so glad none of you have said just postpone the wedding all together as this may have made me cry more than I already have today!!) Some chocolate and alcohol might be needed!!!

Thanks ? and keep thinking

So sorry to hear that your plans are not going the way that you wanted. However, I think you are going to worry yourself more and stress out more if you keep thinking of ways to 'make money' for the honeymoon. I agree with other hitchers that a postponed honeymoon sounds like a good idea for you. If anything, it means you can focus on the wedding and have things on the day that you would otherwise have to sacrifice to go on honeymoon straight after. You can also use the extra days holiday to spend doing weddingy things with OH, friends and family

We were also planning to go on honeymoon straight after our wedding but OH decided she wanted to get married abroad a few months before us. Abroad. Grr! But hey ho, now we are planning a big holiday a few months after the wedding.

Make your life easier and postpone the honeymoon

*OH sister....doh!

Yeah aim for october half term I always need a break after the first term back!!

Aw what a crappy time for you. Just echoing what the others said really, postpone the honeymoon and have a mini moon. Group on do some could overnight breaks for about £70 for two. Keep your eyes open for one of those

I would personally rather wait until I have money saved up to go on honeymoon, than take out extra debt to pay for it.

You can still have a lovely minimoon, and go on a honeymoon when you've saved up a bit more.

Although it would be lovely to do it all together, maybe it's better that you couldn't add to your mortgage to pay for it.

I agree with everyone else, have a fabulous wedding and then have the honeymoon for your first anniversary. Me and my OH are getting married in September 2013 and hopefully going on honeymoon in April 2014. We both have work constraints but also figure that if we save up for another 8 months we can have the honeymoon we dreamed of! We will prob take a mini moon somewhere in the UK, just to enjoy the first few days of married life but have the honeymoon proper after that x

I'm sorry to hear about your money worries and hope things work out for you, you can achieve a lot in a year. BUT whilst it might be traditional for a honeymoon to be immediately after the wedding, there is nothing to say that a slightly delayed honeymoon is not 'doing it properly'. A lot of brides on here are having delayed honeymoons.

If you're going down the tradition route, honeymoons used to be very much more modest, things like visiting family or maybe France or Italy if you were wealthy. A safari is a big thing to save for on top of the cost of a wedding. If it's what you really have your heart set on but you know your budget won't stretch to it at the same time, then you'll either need to make tough choices regarding where you can cut back on your wedding expenses or delay. I know which I'd pick

We postponed our honeymoon by 9 months for various reasons (though admittedly not financial). We just had a 2-night mini-moon straight after the wedding, then had the big trip to Zanzibar in June this year. The honeymoon was still wonderful, and we still got lots of little honeymoon "extras" at all the places we went to.

I can see how it must be gutting for you not to be able to have the dream honeymoon right away like you wanted, but you will still be married, which is the important thing. Have you thought about asking for contributions towards your honeymoon instead of wedding gifts? That might get you kick-started so you didn't have to wait so long, or could have and extra-nice trip when you do go. Would also prevent you getting into further debt!

Know how you feel, we ended up not getting as much as we had budgeted for from family, very stressful!

We have just asked for money towards the honeymoon instead of gifts, would you not consider that? We're going to pay the balance on a 0% credit card, then if we don't get enough we can pay the rest off ourselves after the wedding - we've been saving £800 a month for the wedding anyway so shouldn't take too long.

There is noway we can afford a 'proper' honeymoon after the wedding so we are saving again for the following year and going on a trip around america...i really think its worth saving to go on a holiday that is everything you want than insisting it be after the wedding and spending the holiday with money worries!! xx

We are not going on Honeymoon and although I am gutted about that. I don't mind initially as we are saving for a house to start a family. I wouldn't go out my way to get a credit card or a loan, your honeymoon might be worth it i the end but the important thing is you are marrying the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. I would never cancel my wedding because I cant go on honeymoon. There is more important things in life but I would love to go on honeymoon, I'm sure if you postpone your honeymoon for a bit and save money rather than getting a loan or credit card it will easier as you will be coming back from an amazing honeymoon to debt.

But I hope you eventually have the honeymoon you really want. Good luck

We aren't going on honeymoon either, we are spending a few days at my Dads cottage and that's it!

Whenever I leave a wedding I always ask the couple 'when they will be back' so I can break into their house so I know how long I have to get their photos ready.

This year about 50% of the couples are either not going away or were having a weekend together. Many were deferring the Honeymon completely to several months away.

We looked at our finances before we booked anything. we are saving money by cutting things back from the wedding in order to afford a honeymoon. also the other option for you is to save what you can now and then book a last minute deal even if its just a week in europe somewhere it will still be a honeymoon and a nice break.

Hey, sorry to hear you're having money problems but you're not alone! We're not having a honeymoon either, even though we've asked for money towards a honeymoon as wedding gifts, our situation has changed and any money we get from that is going to need to go into more important things now!!

We are hoping to just save up and go on hoeymoon next year! A belated honeymoon isn't the end of the world and although it's not ideal, it will give you something to look forward to after the wedding.

Have you thought about a week away in October half term, or time away over Christmas instead? xx

Sorry to hear of your prediciment, but the option of putting off the honeymoon seems to be obvious. I got married and were only just post student time of life and we just didnt go on honeymoon. Put it off for a couple years till you can afford the proper one that you want; you can call it a honeymoon as much as anyone can call going away a holiday. To me it wasn't a big deal, and every day you spend together should be as special as the honeymoon; it's just an excuse to travel together and get away. Our marriage counsellor told us we should go away for a long weekend at least once every year and you could call it a honeymoon every year if you wanted instead of a holiday - it's just a name in the end; so don't stress. If you have to go away just book a couple of days at a B&B somweher in the UK you have never been; just as good when strapped for cash.

We are due to get married in April next year, then spending a few days away in England before the boy has to go back Uni/work placement (doing a PhD) and so we won't go on our 'proper' honeymoon until July when he gets another holiday. It might seem really disappointing now, but we all have to compromise, and very few of us can get everything we want for our wedding or honeymoon.

Hey,

Thanks for all your responses they have made me feel a lot better about the situation. I didnt realise so many people delayed their honeymoon I just assumed everyone always did something straight away. It is really disappointing and we are still looking into a few other options but like people have said I dont want to get into debt this early on in married life!!

Hopefully will continue to feel better about a delayed honeymoon as time goes on

x

Hi Chrissy,

Have you thought about maybe asking for travel agent vouchers from your guests instead of the traditional gift list? I am quite new to the site so don't have any recomendations as to who is the best to request vouchers for but thought I would just make the suggestion in case it helps x

Michelle