38 replies to this topic

[orangecrush]

You guys just ruined the fun out of everyone including the couple. I say go for it as long as you have a payback plan. Otherwise I do not think its worth the hassle if you are going to go broke after this. I am sure the wedding itself is already heavy enough on your CCs. But either way... Congrats!

There is no fun being broke and stressed about paying for an expensive honeymoon. That is no way to start a marriage.

[brazen]

If it were me, I'd wait a year or two and go. The wedding lasts a day and the honeymoon a few days or maybe a week...but your marriage is for life. If you look at it from that perspective, there's plenty of time for a honeymoon and do it up exactly how you want without stressing about paying for it.

My thoughts exactly.

[SplashMom]

Everyone dreams of the perfect wedding and a beautiful honeymoon to follow. I feel for young people because today's weddings seem to be so over-the-top and the amounts I hear to cover the costs are outrageous. The majority of marriage problems are caused by financial stress/strain. If you were my child, I would encourage you to choose someplace close that is also lovely and spend a few days there. Save like crazy when possible and tell yourself you will get to Hawaii to celebrate your first (or fifth or tenth) wedding anniversary. Hawaii is not going anywhere. It will still be there when you're financially ready to go. You'll enjoy it so much more when you don't have to return to those thick credit card bills in the mail.

In looking for honeymoon ideas, may I suggest you sign up with Travelzoo.com? My brother told me about it because they got a spectacular deal on a vacation last year. I signed up to get the weekly e-mail and the deals are really great. Good luck and best wishes for a life full of love and peace (free of financial stress).

[Bad Doctor Frost]

Quick thing to think about. What's one of the biggest reasons people get divorced? Money issues. Now, how long do you expect this marriage to last if it starts out with money issues already? Grow a pair. Tell Momzilla to STFU about the wedding unless she gets her checkbook out. It's YOUR wedding. If you want to be in debt up to your eyeballs for one day, go for it. But I know what the outcome will be already.


Congrats and good luck.

[gloomydog]

If you *really* have to do it, you can ask for this as your wedding gift and have your friends/family contribute to it.

http://alicetravel.e...moonwishes.com/ for instance. One of those honeymoon registry type thing.
But choose one with lower fees.

[jolla]

If you *really* have to do it, you can ask for this as your wedding gift and have your friends/family contribute to it.

http://alicetravel.e...moonwishes.com/ for instance. One of those honeymoon registry type thing.
But choose one with lower fees.

Ugh, no. That's hella tacky.

[cljohnr]

So you're spending all your money to finance an expensive wedding you don't want. The result of that being you can't afford the nice honeymoon that you do want. The answer seems simple enough to me.

[hegemony]

Hotel: 5k with taxes and fees (Hawaii is not cheap!)

I've been to Maui a lot and the only way 1 week should cost you 5K is if you are staying the Four Seasons or the Fairmont Kea Lani. No other properties are worth that much. I am talking about value for the $$.

That said, I highly recommend the Kea Lani over the Four Seasons. In fact there is a 40% off prepaid rate at the Fairmont Kea Lani for your dates. A standard room is $300+ tax a night while the room I recommend, Signature Kilohana King Non Smoking, is $546. The deluxe ocean view is under $500.

Be sure to join Fairmont's President Club before booking.

[hegemony]

but...if you can't PIF for the HM now I'd delay going. we took ours about 5 years AFTER we were wed. That allowed us to PIF the wedding itself and not be stressed about the cost of the HM...and we were able to time it to get 2 weeks off with an unlimited (well almost LOL ) budget.

[hegemony]

flights out of EWR for your dates are running $780 each for economy, one stop.

by my rough estimate, your HM would cost $5500 if you book out of EWR, stay in a standard room at the Kea Lani, and cut down your budget for spending while on Maui.

If you really want to save, look for hotel specials in west Maui; the Ritz is a decent hotel and there are dozens of tourist class hotels that will be just fine. Wailea is a nicer area for a romantic holiday, but west Maui has more shopping etc. The Westin properties are both solid too.

If you go, take a national park pass and go see Haleakalā NP!!!!! and if you want to do what everyone does their first time on Maui, drive the road to Hana.

If you really want to save, consider Honolulu instead of Maui.

[hegemony]

So you're spending all your money to finance an expensive wedding you don't want. The result of that being you can't afford the nice honeymoon that you do want. The answer seems simple enough to me.

very well put!

[rohan]

You guys just ruined the fun out of everyone including the couple. I say go for it as long as you have a payback plan. Otherwise I do not think its worth the hassle if you are going to go broke after this. I am sure the wedding itself is already heavy enough on your CCs. But either way... Congrats!

There is no fun being broke and stressed about paying for an expensive honeymoon. That is no way to start a marriage.

+1

i personally learned the hard ways about the importance of credit and the fact that it is not money it self! then again poor guy about to get married! but that shouldn't allow recklessness though.

[longislandguy]

flights out of EWR for your dates are running $780 each for economy, one stop.

by my rough estimate, your HM would cost $5500 if you book out of EWR, stay in a standard room at the Kea Lani, and cut down your budget for spending while on Maui.

If you really want to save, look for hotel specials in west Maui; the Ritz is a decent hotel and there are dozens of tourist class hotels that will be just fine. Wailea is a nicer area for a romantic holiday, but west Maui has more shopping etc. The Westin properties are both solid too.

If you go, take a national park pass and go see Haleakalā NP!!!!! and if you want to do what everyone does their first time on Maui, drive the road to Hana.

If you really want to save, consider Honolulu instead of Maui.

Thanks Hege, a lot of useful info to consider. You hit the nail on the head, the room was at the Four Seasons Maui for value/service vs $ spent. I chose the FS because of the reviews and superior service. The Fairmont was second choice but I never knew about the PIF option. That's a great savings. I should have noted that we have not depleted our savings for this wedding. I have a substantial savings account put aside for emergencies but I refuse to tap into that. That is in case of a layoff or illness. That being said we both make decent incomes however; living on Long Island, NY we also have substantial bills. All told the financing of the wedding on CC's should take 12-18 months to pay off in full but the additional expense for the honeymoon puts our debt total at a level that I am not comfortable with. After weighing the options we have decided to just spend a few days in Vegas (my brother in law works for the Wynn and can comp us suite nights), have some nice dinners and see a couple Cirque shows. This should be around 2k total with airfare and expenses. Once the CC's are paid off in 12-18 months we will start planning our dream getaway to Maui. This seems like the most logical approach. Plus, it should yield a more relaxing trip without the financial stress overhead.

Edited by longislandguy, 02 May 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[hegemony]

flights out of EWR for your dates are running $780 each for economy, one stop.

by my rough estimate, your HM would cost $5500 if you book out of EWR, stay in a standard room at the Kea Lani, and cut down your budget for spending while on Maui.

If you really want to save, look for hotel specials in west Maui; the Ritz is a decent hotel and there are dozens of tourist class hotels that will be just fine. Wailea is a nicer area for a romantic holiday, but west Maui has more shopping etc. The Westin properties are both solid too.

If you go, take a national park pass and go see Haleakalā NP!!!!! and if you want to do what everyone does their first time on Maui, drive the road to Hana.

If you really want to save, consider Honolulu instead of Maui.

Thanks Hege, a lot of useful info to consider. You hit the nail on the head, the room was at the Four Seasons Maui for value/service vs $ spent. I chose the FS because of the reviews and superior service. The Fairmont was second choice but I never knew about the PIF option. That's a great savings. I should have noted that we have not depleted our savings for this wedding. I have a substantial savings account put aside for emergencies but I refuse to tap into that. That is in case of a layoff or illness. That being said we both make decent incomes however; living on Long Island, NY we also have substantial bills. All told the financing of the wedding on CC's should take 12-18 months to pay off in full but the additional expense for the honeymoon puts our debt total at a level that I am not comfortable with. After weighing the options we have decided to just spend a few days in Vegas (my brother in law works for the Wynn and can comp us suite nights), have some nice dinners and see a couple Cirque shows. This should be around 2k total with airfare and expenses. Once the CC's are paid off in 12-18 months we will start planning our dream getaway to Maui. This seems like the most logical approach. Plus, it should yield a more relaxing trip without the financial stress overhead.

I am glad you will be helping to keep Vegas green See if yout BIL can get you in the Encore Tower Suites if you want a more intimate, romantic, stay.

for future reference and FWIW, the Four Season Maui is the second worse FS I've stayed at. It is still better than 99% of hotels in the world, but the Fairmont Kea Lani is a lot better, especially if you are a "value luxury" traveler.

The Fairmont's rooms and pools have all been recently remodeled and the Fairmont's beach is better than the FS. You can always take the free shuttle from the Kea Lani to the FS if you want to eat dinner there. The FS does have better restaurants.