Millennial honeymoons don’t look like any honeymoons before them. While economics and life choices play a part, Millennial attitudes towards honeymoons are just fundamentally different. Millennial wedding ceremonies do bear resemblance to traditions of the past, but honeymoons are being wholly redefined.
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The Best Ring Insurance
They say the best offense is a good defense. When it comes to Millennial honeymoons, the best ring insurance is a travel ring. Whether honeymooning in Hawaii or New Zealand, Millennials are often choosing inexpensive, durable travel rings and leaving their wedding rings safely at home.
Postponing
Not every Millennial honeymoon happens right after the wedding. In fact, it’s far from uncommon for Millennial couples to push their honeymoon a few weeks or months back. In some cases, Millennials are waiting until the following year to honeymoon.
While a sizable percentage of Millennials either work remotely or freelance, postponing a honeymoon is often a pragmatic decision based on work and life schedules.
The days of heading out for your honeymoon the morning after the wedding aren’t gone, but they certainly feel numbered. Two weeks and then back, as the standard honeymoon was up until recently, just doesn’t fit the reality of a good portion of the Millennial generation.
Funding Changes
Traditionally, the groom’s parents pay for the honeymoon. While that wasn’t exclusively the case in years past, it was definitely a norm. For Millennials, that tradition hasn’t gone away, but it sure isn’t as common.
Parents still fund Millennial honeymoons, but there’s an increasing trend of Millennial couples funding the honeymoon themselves. Beyond that, the trend of honeymoon fund donations is getting a lot of traction in younger couples.
With increasing regularity, couples opt to skip traditional registries and instead ask for monetary donations to cover the honeymoon fund. Roughly 15 percent of Millennials in 2019 asked for honeymoon donations. It wouldn’t be surprising to see those numbers jump the next time the data is collected.
Having Multiple, Smaller Honeymoons
There are two camps outside of the traditional honeymoon: manymoons and megamoons (more on that in a moment). Millennial couples, whether balancing work schedules or just wanting to spread out their time off, are weighing multiple smaller honeymoons, a.k.a. manymoons.
It’s not uncommon to see Millennial couples take three to seven days for a honeymoon and head right back to everyday life. While their initial time is cut short, this gives them the flexibility to have aptly-named manymoons every few months in their first year of marriage.
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Megamoon
Here’s the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Enter the megamoon. If manymoons are like trim UFC fighters, the megamoon is the heavyweight boxer. Multi-month vacations aren’t the norm, but for Millennial couples who love to travel, they’re the perfect choice to get away from it all for a few months and just be together.
As a generation that is embracing remote work and demanding more life-friendly benefits, megamoons aren’t to be overlooked or considered unreasonable for Millennials.
Honeymoons Tailored Around Interests
The default Maui honeymoon just isn’t default anymore (though it’s certainly not gone). Millennials do love custom experiences, and honeymoons are no different. Millennials are choosing tailored honeymoons that allow them to explore their passions, whether that means weeks-long backpacking trips, culinary tours through Europe or extended international travel.
Not Everything Is Different
Millennials haven’t thrown all honeymoon norms out the window. Roughly a third of Millennials still choose to have a domestic honeymoon, with about half heading to Hawaii. While it’s not a default to stay close to home, a sizable percentage still choose that.
Sustainable Travel
Millennials are very aware of their carbon footprint and impact. Whether that means ethically-sourced, affordable engagement rings or thoughtful travel, Millennials lead with their values. They tend to choose more sustainable experiences and avoid overcrowded tourist traps.
While Millennials aren’t opposed to keepsakes and knickknacks, they tend to prioritize experiences over things. Millennials aren’t as likely to come back from their honeymoon with a bag full of trinkets, but will come back with more than enough memories.
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Boutique Experiences and Stays
Millennials tend to avoid chains in general, but especially with travel. Leading with values, Millennials often choose boutique stays that are more authentic and try to patronize local spots that aren’t as touristy whenever possible.
Different Modes of Travel
Millennials aren’t by default flying somewhere. While air travel is still going to be the standard (and likely always will be), it’s not out of the ordinary to see Millennials honeymoon with a road trip or extended train travel. This is especially true if they are true to the average Millennial and love to travel.
While Millennial wedding ceremonies tend to hold a lot of resemblance to generations past (though definitely with some twists), the honeymoons are night and day. Millennials aren’t choosing standard honeymoon experiences, and that trend seems to be continuing into the oldest of Gen Z as well.
