When to book your honeymoon, and what to sort before you fly

Book a long-haul honeymoon about nine to eleven months ahead, when airlines open their seats, and a safari or a cruise a year ahead or more. A week in Europe can wait until four to six months before. Put the name on your passport on every ticket, and buy travel insurance on the day you book.

Most couples book the honeymoon in the busiest months of the wedding year. That is why the paperwork goes wrong: a ticket in a name that no passport carries yet, or a policy bought the week before the flight.

How far ahead should you book your honeymoon?

Earlier than a normal holiday, because you cannot move the date. For long-haul trips, Kuoni’s honeymoon planning page (read in October 2026) says the best time to book is around 11 months before you travel, when flights are just starting to be released, for the best fares and the widest choice of rooms.

The scarce thing decides the date. On a long-haul beach trip it is the flight. On a safari it is the lodge, because many camps have a handful of tents. On a cruise it is the cabin you want. In Europe there is usually something left, so you can wait until the wedding plans are settled.

Ask for the payment dates before you sign. A balance that falls due in the same month as the caterer’s final bill is the kind of surprise couples remember.

Should you go straight after the wedding, or later?

Both are common. Aviva’s survey of June 2025 found that couples planning a honeymoon abroad expected to spend £4,550 on average, and £3,438 on a minimoon, and it reported that minimoons are growing more popular.

A minimoon is a few days away soon after the wedding, with the long trip later. It suits a couple who are short of leave, who marry in a season when their dream place is wet or crowded, or who would rather pay the wedding bills before they spend more. The cost is a second set of flights and a long wait for the big trip.

Going straight after the wedding has its own logic: the time off is already booked, everyone else is back at work, and nothing waits at home. Leave at least one quiet day between the wedding and the flight. Packing on the morning after is harder than it sounds. If a hotel offers anything for honeymooners, ask what proof it wants and how long after the wedding the offer lasts.

Which name should go on your honeymoon tickets?

The name on the passport you will carry. GOV.UK’s guidance on a change of name after marriage or civil partnership says the name on your passport must match the one you use when you book your travel. It also says you can keep using your current passport, in your old name, after the wedding.

For most couples that settles it. Book the honeymoon in the names on your passports today, travel as you are, and change the passport when you are home. Airlines check the ticket against the passport at check-in. Do not count on a marriage certificate in your bag to explain a ticket in the wrong name.

Can you change the name on your passport before the wedding?

Yes, with conditions. GOV.UK says you can apply for a passport in your new name up to three months before the ceremony. The new passport is post-dated, so you cannot use it until the day of the wedding, and your old passport is cancelled when you apply. You also need form PD2, signed by the minister or registrar who will conduct the ceremony.

• Book the tickets in your new name only if you hold the post-dated passport in that name before you book.
• Check the visa rules first. GOV.UK warns that some countries will not issue a visa on a post-dated passport, so leave the change until after the trip if you need one.
• If you change your name after the wedding, you need the standard application and your marriage or civil partnership certificate, and no PD2.
• Do not book travel on a new passport you are still waiting for. GOV.UK says the new passport has a different number from the old one.

Allow time. GOV.UK’s page on renewing an adult passport says the passport usually arrives within three weeks, and that it can take longer if HM Passport Office needs more information. Check the dates on the passport you will carry too. GOV.UK’s entry requirements for France, for example, say a British passport must be less than ten years old on the day you arrive and valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area.

If you marry abroad, the certificate matters as well. Our note on a Lake Como wedding explains which Italian certificate GOV.UK accepts for passport purposes. If the honeymoon starts where the wedding ends, our note on an Amalfi Coast wedding covers the ferries, the transfers and the steps.

When should you buy honeymoon travel insurance?

On the day you book. The GOV.UK guidance on foreign travel insurance says to buy it as soon as possible after you book your trip. A policy bought the week before the flight cannot help with a cancellation in the months before it.

• Check that the policy covers cancellation, and for how much. A honeymoon can cost more than a standard limit.
• Declare every medical condition, for both of you, and tell the insurer if one changes before you go.
• For a safari, a dive trip or a ski honeymoon, check that the activities are covered.
• Ask whether your wedding insurance covers any part of the honeymoon, and get the answer in writing. Do not assume it does.

How do you plan the honeymoon around the wedding budget?

Give it its own line, outside the wedding. Bridebook’s 2026 honeymoon guide, drawn from its UK Wedding Report survey, puts the average UK honeymoon at £5,833. Its figure for the average wedding leaves the honeymoon out, as our note on what a UK wedding costs explains, so a couple who budget for the wedding alone can be short by thousands.

Pay the honeymoon deposit early, from a separate pot if you can, and write the balance date in the same diary as the wedding’s final bills. If the two land in the same month, set the money for both aside now. Our note on where to spend your wedding budget shows which lines of the wedding can give a little, if the trip needs more.

Some couples ask guests to give towards the honeymoon in place of a gift. Keep the request to one gentle line, as in our invitation wording examples, and say thank you with a photograph from the trip.