You’ve bought the dress, arranged transportation, and nailed down the venue. Now it’s time to focus on the best part of the whole wedding planning process: the honeymoon!

One of the things that I love most about honeymoons is that after the stress of planning a fun and fabulous wedding for all of your guests, the honeymoon is just for the two of you. The only tricky part is that with so many alluring destination options on the table, it can be easy to get overwhelmed!

Do you want to go all-inclusive and chill on the beach with bae? Is a heart-pounding African safari more your speed? What about soaking up some classic European culture while cruising along the canals in Amsterdam? Or maybe you’d like a little bit of everything? Whatever your dream honeymoon looks like, the planning always starts with these five key steps:

1. Figure Out What Kind of Honeymoon You Both Want

In the past, what kind of vacations did you and your partner both enjoy? Do you love beach days, skiing, hiking, exploring big cities, or discovering places a little further from the beaten path? Nail down what it is that both of you love to do on vacation and keep in mind that this might require a little compromise. For example, although you might love lounging on the beach, your SO may be more into hiking. If that’s the case, find a way to combine the two (like a fabulous trip to Hawaii!).

2. Make a List of All Possible Destinations

Now that you know what kind of honeymoon you’d like to have, it’s time to let your imagination go to work. List out every beautiful option you can think of! For our honeymoon, we wanted something adventurous, cultural, and—most importantly—somewhere we’ve never been. That led to a list of places like Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand, India, Kenya, Peru, and Argentina.

This is the time to let yourself dream. Pull out a map, spin that globe, or click around on Google Maps to get started. Read travel blogs to discover cool places you may not have even thought of. This step should be done separately, so you end up with two lists chock-full of incredible locations. Step three will have you compare them!

3. Narrow Your Wishlish Down

Once you’ve both written your lists, it’s time to sit down together and have a look at the results. You may be surprised by the other person’s choices and you might even have some overlap. I think the best way to do this step is over a great meal and a bottle of wine because this can turn into such a fun and exciting conversation!

Listen carefully to the other person’s ideas. You may both be excited by one of your overlapping destinations, or one of you might end up liking an idea on your sweetheart’s list more than the ideas on your own. If not, it’s probably time to compromise and find a location that falls somewhere between what you both want (or go back to the drawing board!).

4. Figure Out a Timeline

As much as we’d all love to honeymoon for as long as possible, unfortunately, work obligations and other constraints call us back to reality.

Talk with your partner to figure out how much time is realistically available for your honeymoon. Do you have ample time off work and can therefore do a 2-3 week adventure? With that kind of time on your hands, you could pretty much go anywhere in the world and see plenty! Do you only have a week off post-wedding? There are so many amazing places within the 8-hours-or-less flight range that would be perfect!

If you’re still struggling with your last few destination options, knowing how much time you’ve got to work with can help narrow them down even further.

5. Decide on the location, commit to it, and start daydreaming!

After the previous steps, you should have a pretty good idea of where you’d like to go (or at least what general region of the world appeals to you). Now is the time to commit to a location and start daydreaming! Maybe you’ve chosen to spend your time relaxing at a 5-star resort on Aruba’s pristine beaches, or perhaps you’re keen on an epic road trip across Iceland. Whatever you’ve chosen, it’s time to get excited for your first big trip as a married couple!

Deciding on the perfect honeymoon destination can be a challenge thanks to the endless choices available in this big, beautiful world of ours! Hopefully, these five simple steps will come in handy when it’s time for you to start creating and planning your own romantic getaway as newlyweds ❤️💍

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: KAT WEISS

Kat Weiss is the founder of World Wide Honeymoon. She is a travel hacking addict who is passionate about helping other couples experience the world through travel with less stress and more luxury. In her spare time, she enjoys running, listening to dozens of podcasts, and taking too many photos of her cat.