The traditional honeymoon likely won't be falling out of fashion anytime soon, but wedding and travel experts report that a growing number of couples are inviting friends to join them on their milestone postnuptial trip.
Industry insiders have dubbed this emerging category a "buddymoon."
"Buddymoons have been on the rise for a few years now," said Sarah Schreiber, associate editorial director of the digital wedding publication Brides. "I wouldn't say the just-for-two honeymoon is taking a back seat to buddymoons by any means, but they're becoming more common."
According to Schreiber, the emergence of the buddymoon predates the pandemic and can be linked in part to larger shifts happening within the weddings space. This includes heightened demand for increasingly elaborate and extended special-occasion trips.
"Destination events are booming and bigger than ever," Schreiber said. "The modern destination wedding has become a weeklong enterprise, often with multiple events. It's easy to understand where that buddymoon element fits in."
And while some newlyweds may opt for a buddymoon in place of a traditional honeymoon, the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
"Couples are taking both," Schreiber said. "Duos are taking multiple post-married trips."
Some hotels and resorts are vying for a larger slice of this growing honeymoon pie. Since 2019, Mexico's Velas Resorts has promoted a special buddymoon package that offers couples the opportunity to book a four-day celebration with friends either before or after a wedding.
Available at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit and Grand Velas Los Cabos, the customizable experience varies by property, but it can include elements like a welcome cocktail party, a cooking or cocktail class, a spa day, a fishing excursion or a luxury yacht charter.
Who goes on buddymoons?
Courtnie Nichols, CEO and founder of the destination wedding and celebration-focused travel company TravelBash, reports that she's noticed an uptick in buddymoon bookings since the pandemic. According to Nichols, her buddymoon clients tend to be couples in their 30s who are well established in their relationships and have likely traveled together in the past.
"They tend to have already been living with their partner for a while," Nichols said. "And they're either getting a house or they're in a great place in their career, or maybe they're getting ready to have a baby, so they're not new couples or new to each other."
According to Nichols, buddymoons typically serve as a natural extension to a destination wedding, with friends or the bridal party either choosing to stay at a property with the couple for an extended period or jetting off as a group to a second resort or destination.
"I have one bride, for example, who wants to 'honeymoon-hop,' or go from one property to a sister property, and she's inviting all her friends to do that with her, as well," Nichols said.
Other buddymoons that Nichols has planned have involved a client who booked a family-friendly all-inclusive for her destination wedding, followed by a honeymoon with friends at a nearby adults-only resort. Another pair recently booked a 19-day Africa trip for their honeymoon, and they plan to be joined throughout the trip by two other couples.
With friends, however, can come added complexities. While Nichols said buddymoon-style trips still fall under the general umbrella of honeymoon travel at TravelBash, she and her team may reassess that categorization in the coming year.
"We might need to look at how we're charging for and planning these, because it's not just a traditional honeymoon, and there are so many moving parts," Nichols said. "Some are requiring a lot more attention than we anticipated."
Rebecca East, a luxury travel advisor at LifeStyled Group, has similarly been fielding requests for buddymoons over the past several years. These have included a 15-person Japan buddymoon that incorporated a Mount Fuji hike. Next year, East is sending a couple and around 30 of their closest friends on a buddymoon to Ibiza.
"Time passes so quickly," East said. "Couples who have been planning their destination weddings for a year or eight months or however long really want to have something else to look forward to that continues the party and celebration."
Schreiber of Brides agreed that a buddymoon can be an effective way to keep the good times rolling.
"After many wedding plans were postponed for the pandemic, it makes sense that more couples want their closest friends and family to relish this moment with them and to make it last just a little while longer," she said.