Booking a honeymoon last minute - advice, experiences, opinions sought

Evil_Olive

We are getting married on 30th August on a very tight budget. There is no money in the pot for a honeymoon. We already have all the toasters we need so have asked for money instead of wedding gifts and My Dad has hinted heavily that he will be giving us £2000 'to start our married life with' We won't get it til after the wedding.
If this comes about (don't want to count our chickens) we were thinking of using some of it for a honeymoon.

We have heard of people getting a last minute bargain by booking the time off work and packing ready to leave that day or the next, then going in to the travel agents with a wad of cash and asking what they can offer.

Is this an urban myth, or can it actually be done?

Has anyone here ever done it?

What are the pitfalls/things to be aware of?

How would we go about doing it?

Do you actually get more for your money by doing it this way?

What day of the week do holidays generally start on? (neither of us have had foreign holidays more than twice in our lives and have no idea what the norms are or what time to book off work)

We were thinking a week somewhere cheap, foreign and hot (or at least pleasantly warm with reliable weather), possibly all-inclusive, to start around a week after our wedding date - if at all possible we'd like to not spend too much more than half my dads gift - is that possible?

Any ideas and opinions welcome

Bean83

For £1000 you should be able to get a nice week all-inclusive somewhere.


Do you want to go straight after the wedding? Personally, once I had the money I would start researching prices and then go later on in the year/next year rather than getting a last minute deal. I'm sure it's possible to book something last minute but you won't have anywhere near as much choice in terms of hotel etc., as you will just have to take whatever is going spare! I'm also very risk averse and would prefer to plan ahead, but maybe I'm just not brave enough!


I would look at somewhere like Egypt or Turkey - we've been to Egypt a couple of times and the weather is always lovely, the hotels are great, and you should be able to get something decent for £500 each.

sleines

We went to Mexico few years ago as a group and paid £1000 each for two weeks all inclusive and booked nearly a year in advance, met a couple out there who lived down the road from us and booked a couple of days beforehand and had the same holiday for £1000 for both of them so it is do-able, can't speak from experience though as every time I've tried last minute we don't seem to get such good deals.

rachiibell

That sounds like a brilliant adventure! What better way to start married life!?

All the best for your wedding and honeymoon

Sazzarella

We're planning on doing the same thing however I'm the most organised person in the world and the thought of a last minute holiday totally freaks me out :eek: Also I'm not sure how much money we will have left after the wedding so it might end up being a weekend in Southend lol

sarah69696pink

Personally I think you're better booking in advance in get a good deal if you know what you want or have something in mind - last minute deals are generally better when you're less fussed about what you're doing/where you're going.
We did a little mini moon (all inc majorca for 4 days) straight after wedding (booked fairly last minute) but then a proper honeymoon a few months later where I managed to research everything and book exactly what we wanted at a great price.
You probably will get something nice at last minute but you'd have to be open minded about what/were/the type of accommodation etc.

Evil_Olive

No we're not fussed about where - we didn't think we'd be getting one at all until my Dad said he'd be giving us a substantial amount of money after the wedding. The last holiday abroad we had was ten years ago and was only my second one, and OHs first! So it probably wouldn't take much to impress us
Just 1 week, somewhere with reliable weather, all inclusive.

We would prefer to go straight after the wedding as waiting till next year would mean it didn't really feel like a honeymoon (probably silly I know)
We wouldn't mind waiting a few weeks if that meant it was cheaper (end of season)

My Dad deliberately won't give us the money before the wedding as he says he doesn't want us to end up spending it ON the wedding - probably a good idea as our entire wedding budget (and I mean EVERYTHING) is only £2000 so it would have been too tempting. So we can't book anything in advance because we won't actually have the cash in our sweaty paws til the wedding day.

He did the same when my sister got married - he got the £2000 in £20 notes somehow so that when my sister did the present opening the next day, all this lovely cash fell out into her lap - was a great photo moment

We're hoping to spend the other half of Dad's gift on essential items for our home that we've been doing without for years (eg a properly working hoover!) It wouldn't really be an option to do a mini one now and then a big holiday later as we are on very low incomes and the money just isn't there to do two (hence why neither of us have been on a foreign holiday for so many years and don't know what the norms are.)

Don't even know what day of the week packages usually start on - would booking a week off work from Saturday to Saturday give us the best chance of finding a last minute deal that fits?

Trixsie1989

I'd have a look on somewhere like ice lolly. Com to get an idea of what you want and go from there with dates coz some countries are only flown to on certain days xxx