Answers to Honeymoon Planning Questions Couples Ask

4. What type of honeymoon is best? What type should I have?

That is up to you to decide – most couples choose a honeymoon type that matches their personality and offers them the kind of activities they consider as fun.  While you’re planning the wedding, find time to discuss the type of honeymoon you want – do you dream of a sunny beach vacation in the Caribbean, or a sight-seeing to a historical place that is full of culture, or to a mountain and desert place? Also find out what your significant other wants in a honeymoon, and keep your wants as a checklist when choosing your honeymoon destination – if a certain honeymoon country/ hotel/ destination would not give you what you want, check out another – keep looking and you will certainly find the one that does.

We recommend that couples first look inwards at their personality and what they plan to do during their honeymoon trip – if you’re a quiet couple and want a really private/ intimate/ romantic honeymoon, an example of a good-fit-honeymoon for you would be a private beach on a secluded island; BUT this type would be totally boring for you if you’re an extrovert, adventurous couple.

5. I and my husband/wife want a very different type of honeymoon, what should I do? I want a beach honeymoon in the Maldives (to swim daily and lie in the sun) and he wants a safari-style honeymoon to see wild animals

We recommend compromise – after all, that’s what makes a happily-ever-after marriage. We suggest that you both mix up your wants, split your time between both types of honeymoon – that way each person gets what s/he wants. There’s no rule that says you have to visit only one place during your honeymoon. These days, we’re seeing lots of couples going for double destinations with contrasting/ different experiences – and they usually come back with more exciting honeymoon stories.

So, if the bride and groom have opposite personalities (let’s say: one person wants an intimate honeymoon and the other person wants a sight-seeing type of honeymoon, OR maybe one person wants a wildlife/ safari destination like Kenya and the other wants a fun Dubai honeymoon), we suggest that you compromise by mixing up your honeymoon types so that everyone gets what they want. In that case, you could spend half of your honeymoon time at a quiet destination and spend the other half sight-seeing at a fun place/ country.

• RELATED: Hear and Learn from Other Couple’s Honeymoon Stories

Some ideas for mixing up your honeymoon include:

• Same city/ country – different locations for different experiences/ activities. An example is: you choose one country, say Kenya. And the first part of your honeymoon is the Safari to suit the one who wants to see wildlife during honeymoon; and for the second/ final part of your honeymoon, you move to a 5-star hotel or beach in a fun part of the city in the country capital (Nairobi) – to suit the one who wants a different experience in the honeymoon. That’s one way to have a win-win in honeymoon planning.
• Here’s another twist, if you can afford it – 2 different countries or 2 different cities. This is when your dream honeymoon is Paris Disneyworld and he has always dreamt of honeymooning in Dubai. OR maybe you both can only afford to honeymoon in Nigeria – but you want it in Obudu Cattle Ranch and he wants in in Lekki Resorts. What should you do? We say, just mix it up – why not?

6. How long should a honeymoon be?

Again, the honeymoon duration and length is up to you to decide – could be based on how much off-time your office/ business is able to give you. Even if you can’t get an off-time, we suggest that you make it a weekend getaway (or minimoon) at a nearby location – skipping honeymoon is a no-no in our books (because we are aware of the immense bonding benefits a honeymoon offers). If you’re planning a honeymoon vacation to a far, far destination such as the South Pacific or Asia, it is best to plan to spend from 2 weeks (more if you can) because those places involve plenty travel time and usually takes up to one week for a traveler to get comfortable and acclimatize to the time difference.

7. How much does a honeymoon from Nigeria cost?

I have seen couples who spent only N30k honeymooning over a weekend at a hotel near their house, and I have seen couples who honeymooned in another state, traveled with buses and spent less than N100k. So, there’s nothing like an average cost of the honeymoon or a minimum cost – it will be any amount you want it to be, depending on how much you can afford.  If you have a small budget, just plan a short honeymoon in Nigeria, anywhere nearer to where you reside – because what causes honeymoon costs to increase is the cost of travels (flight, taxis) and hotel accommodation, especially if you choose to spend a very long time there. It’s advisable to plan your honeymoon duration and accommodation type according to your pocket/ budget.

So, the correct question I expected from you is ‘how much would my honeymoon cost’. Honeymoon costs are different for each couple – it all depends on where you want to spend your honeymoon vacation and what you want to do, which is different from what Mr. and Mrs. Lagbaja wants. You’ll then have to add up all the costs such as the travels (flight/ taxis/ buses fare) PLUS hotel accommodation (5 star? 4 star or hostel? Beach resort? – depending on your affordability). We recommend that couples start by setting a budget for their honeymoon and then start looking for destinations that the budget can afford – that way you will be able to know whether you can afford a honeymoon abroad or one in Nigeria. AND, don’t be fooled to think that just because you live in Nigeria, all honeymoons in Nigeria are cheap – there are some Nigerian honeymoon destinations/ hotels/ resorts that cost more than foreign honeymoons. In any case, always let your budget guide how you plan and spend on your honeymoon.

I want you to know that it’s not where you go to or how much you spend that makes a honeymoon a honeymoon, rather it is in the memories you create. We recommend that couples focus on going to ANY PLACE (in Nigeria or abroad) where you can truly find and do the things you both enjoy and dream of. We’ve heard couples who had a million Naira honeymoon tell us how boring it was – just because of the honeymoon destination, not their style. Don’t make that mistake.

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