10 Reasons to Postpone the Honeymoon

10 Reasons to Postpone the Honeymoon

Owner of Weddings in Vieques, a destination-wedding planning company off the coast of Puerto Rico, Sandy Malone has helped countless couples plan their big day since 2007. Here, she's revealing the top reasons why couples may want to wait to head out on their honeymoon.

I got an interesting "Ask Sandy" request on my website from a Mother of the Groom who wanted to know the destination wedding etiquette for how long brides and grooms must stay at a wedding destination to entertain their guests after their actual wedding ceremony and reception.

The answer is that the newly married couple has no obligation to stay at the destination after the main event is over. Just like couples who get married at home, it's completely okay to make a run for it and start your honeymoon as soon as the reception is over.

However, more often, I'm seeing brides and grooms taking a "mini-moon" for a couple of days in the islands and planning a much longer, more elaborate and expensive honeymoon for their first anniversary.

Here are 10 reasons why you might consider not taking a honeymoon immediately after you get married:

1. Delaying the honeymoon helps you save up for the trip of your dreams.

2. If your home is already well equipped, honeymoon wedding registries have become a very common way to direct wedding gifts to pay for a big trip.

3. There's a bit of an emotional crash after a big wedding weekend-taking a break before you go on your honeymoon gives you a chance to be fresh, well-rested, and ready for the big adventure.

4. Knowing you have a year to plan your honeymoon reduces wedding stress once the decision is made. You don't even have to start planning for it (except for saving up) for six months after the wedding

5. You don't have to worry about a wedding wardrobe and packing for the honeymoon at the same time.

6. Delaying the honeymoon means you don't have to rush off after the wedding if there are out-of-town guests visiting whom you rarely see. You can plan to spend some time with them before they head back home.

7. It's easier to split up the vacation time for work, allowing you to take off a few much-needed extra days pre-wedding to finish up the little details. You'll be able to accrue more vacation time before the honeymoon and maybe even have a longer vacation.

8. "Honeymoon packages" at big resorts and on cruises aren't limited to couples who just got married the week before. Make yours special whenever you go by letting the venue know it's your honeymoon-nobody cares if it was slightly postponed. You still deserve to be treated like newlyweds with all the bells and whistles.

9. It gives you the opportunity to help with the aftermath of your wedding. Disappearing the next morning leaves a lot of work in your mom's (or some other designee's) hands.

10. Couples who wait to honeymoon six or more months after their wedding weekend report they were more relaxed and had a better time than they could have if they had to go directly from the wedding chaos to honeymooner bliss.