You’re chalking out the budget for your wedding with your fiancé.  You’ve ticked off the catering, flowers, hall and decoration and find yourself left with (gulp) just pennies for your honeymoon.  You don’t have to feel low, if you can’t afford to spend as much as you would on a wedding on your honeymoon.  Use some creativity and some creative planning to make sure you have a memorable honeymoon on a budget.

First thing to do is go online. The Web has made the customer the king (earlier, people only said those words, they didn’t really mean them!) and now you have a choice of travel packages, all from companies that are falling over themselves to get you to sign on the dotted line.

Traveling to your destination is the biggest expense on your honeymoon.  Look for cheap airfares and discounted prices.  Just do a Google search on cheap airfares, and you’ll find tons of companies offering you lowered prices on airfare tickets. Not all of these might be available at the same time that you’re going on the honeymoon which is why you should plan ahead. 

Once you have the fares all straightened out, begin hunting for cheap hotels.  Cheap doesn’t have to mean tacky, and filled with cockroaches.  Budget hotels in fact, are a burgeoning industry catering to those who want clean and comfortable rooms and basic amenities, without paying unnecessary luxury taxes.  Look into B&Bs. These have a undeserved bad rep, as tacky and cheap, and that’s far from the case.  Many B&B inns have separate honeymoon packages with separate private baths, a room service option for breakfast and meals in bed, and plenty of other options geared toward the honeymooner.  Choose a picturesque town; check the local B&Bs and the kind of amenities they offer.

Travel during off season. A honeymoon during summer at a beach resort will always cost you higher than the same during winter when there aren’t a lot of guests in residence. If you don’t plan to be out of the room much anyway, traveling during this season will save you a packet on both air fares and hotel rooms.

Cruise vacations can also be a less expensive way to honeymoon.  A week long cruise will include all kinds of amenities on board in one single package.  Make sure to let the staff know that you’re on honeymoon and you might be entitled to some freebees. 

Once the caterers have left, guests have said their goodbyes and the cake has been reduced to crumbs, it’s time for the most exciting part of the wedding – the honeymoon! Try not to stress about this part of the wedding – chances that you’ve already stressed yourself out to the max during the wedding preparations. The honeymoon offers the two of you a chance to unwind from the madness of the wedding, as well as sealing your newly forged bond.

Whatever the honeymoon getaway you have in mind, make sure your spouse shares your enthusiasm for it. There’s no point in a honeymoon that leaves one person feeling flustered because he didn’t really want a beachside honeymoon – it’s a bad start to the wedding. Make a list of possible places, and sit down with your partner. Give yourselves a chance to avoid destinations that don’t excite you – feel free to be frank if a particular spot seems drab or boring.

As far as destinations go, the world is your oyster. You can choose from beach destinations, hillsides and countryside retreats, cultural cities like Paris and Rome to romantic getaways like Venice. If the two of you share a passion for adventure, choose from bungee jumping holidays, swimming-with-the-sharks packages, and other daredevil adventures.

For those on a budget, an all inclusive holiday package might be the best deal. These all inclusives will take a lot of the hassle of planning a honeymoon off your hands. All you have to do is show up with as smile. Activities will include enough sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving and paragliding to last a lifetime. With all amenities including food and nightlife within the resort, you’re allowed a lot of time to yourselves, which is what a honeymoon should be about.

While booking your package, ask your travel agent if there are any off season packages available. These are always cheaper, and you could find yourself in an exotic destination of your dreams, and all within your budget. Countries in Asia like Thailand and Indonesia have beautiful honeymoon spots that don’t cost a bomb. Your budget will allow for a trip to exotic lands, couple’s spa massages, exotic entertainment, delicious cuisine, thumping nightlife and tons of shopping at low prices.

If you’re heading abroad for your honeymoon, don’t forget your travel insurance. It seems uncomfortable to think of theft or accidents on honeymoon, but insurance will help cover the worst of scenarios if they occur.