Short Honeymoons - What to Do if You Only Have a Weekend Available

Several of my friends have recently gotten married and are asking me for advice on how to spend their honeymoon since they are both working full time and are strapped for cash. I think in general, people are just starting out in life (early 20's) are feeling the financial pinch as they look for ways to fund a honeymoon that doesn't involve going into debt for the rest of their life.

My Story and How I Spent Less on a Honeymoon 

It was a year after I got married before my spouse and I went on our honeymoon. Initially, we had a simple wedding ceremony for just close friends and relatives at an intimate location in the islands. Within the first year of marriage, we had already started accumulating debt. Since I was the only one working and my pay was really low, there wasn't any alternative because we needed home essentials (like basic furniture, clothes, etc.). So, planning for the honeymoon would require us to use some new skills - budgeting.

Without much to spend on the honeymoon, we decided to take an extended weekend vacation - see here for an example. Going through some of the discount travel websites, we expected to find some great deals. But it must have been the time of the year when we were planning the honeymoon....deals were scarce. With rising gas prices and extra fees for fuel surcharges and baggage fees by the airlines, it looked like my spouse and I would need to drive somewhere within a maximum of 8 hours drive from our house.

We found a quaint little bed and breakfast located in Northern California (about 6 hours from where we live). The bed and breakfast would help us in a few different ways. First, it would save us an average of $60 per nice (compared to staying at a reasonably equivalent hotel). Second, a bed and breakfast would give us the ability to have a unique and comfortable stay while enjoying the hospitality of others during the morning meal. One quick note about honeymoons and bed and breakfasts. Because of the intimate surroundings and structure of a B&B, noises (you should know what I mean here) can sometimes be heard by others (LOL).

Tailoring Activities to your Budget

One of the ways we curtailed the spending while finding fun activities was to look for things to do that would increase the bonds between us but also allow us to go and enjoy the beauty of America. Our decision was to visit the National Parks. Northern California has several that we could see. Our first choice was Yosemite and we are glad that we got to go there. We paid a $20 entrance fee for a week access pass. To save some more money, we also brought sandwiches from subway ($5 footlongs) and water that had in our water bottles from REI. We spent the majority of our weekend discovering new trails and waterfalls. Not only was this one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken, it was also one of the best ways to spend a honeymoon.

Here is an Orientation Video About Yosemite