Honeymoon packing can be a little daunting. Whether you’re going to a tropical destination or backpacking around Europe, chances are, packing can be a little overwhelming. What should I bring? What shouldn’t I bring? Am I packing too much? Am I packing enough? Sound like you? It doesn’t have to be!

If we thought planning a destination wedding was tough, we never imaged how hard it’d be to pack for a destination wedding AND pack for our honeymoon. Because we got married in Alabama and flew out of New Orleans for our honeymoon in Antigua at Cocobay Resort, we had had to pack for both before we left home.

Thankfully, we’re both pretty good packers and have been on so many trips together we know how to make it all work.

Tips for packing for your honeymoon

1. Don’t overpack

If you’re going on a tropical honeymoon, you don’t need a million outfits and 600 pairs of shoes. Keep your packing light. Only bring the essentials and things that have multi-purposes!

2. Follow your resort/hotel on Instagram

Think I’m crazy for saying that? I probably am, but if you follow the resort, or search their location on IG you can see what other people are wearing and get a feel for how others are/aren’t dressing.

3. Try to fit everything in a carryon

We’ve been really fortunate and only ever had one of our bags get lost and it was when we were coming home, but the thought of losing a bag while we’re on the way to a destination is terrifying. Because we packed things that could be worn more than once and packed tons of lightweight items (tropical = warm temps = no heavy clothing) we had more than enough room in our carryons for everything we needed.

4. Wear a “honeymoon shirt” on the plane

Technically this isn’t a honeymoon packing tip, but close enough. Ladies, listen closely. Wear that honeymoon shirt. I don’t care what your new husband is wearing, but you wear that damn shirt. People will congratulate you everywhere you go, the flight attendants might give you a little something extra (champagne or a double shot of vodka for your drink – yes, both really happened to us) and it just makes it a little more fun watching people read your shirt.

5. Think of what you’ll be doing on your honeymoon

This is one of the first things we do when we start packing for any trip. If you know you’re going to be lounging 24/7 on your honeymoon, your packing list should reflect that. Write out each day you’ll be traveling and do a rough outline of your activities for each day and pack based off of that.

Honeymoon packing list for her

Swimsuits:

If you’re going on a tropical honeymoon where water will be involved like we did, you’ll probably live in swimsuits. I wanted to make sure I had enough swimsuits so I never had to wear the same one twice – doing it for the ‘gram, y’all! The ones below are the ones I took with us, but I highly recommend checking out my list of black one piece swimsuits and my full list of the best swimsuits!

Dresses & rompers:

Remember how I said you’ll live in swimsuits? Well, the same goes for dresses for your honeymoon as well as rompers for when it’s time to take the swimsuit off. Don’t ignore this y’all – dresses are king (or queen) for a tropical honeymoon.

Tops:

When you’re sick of dresses, it’s always nice to have a cute and comfy top to throw on. This is especially true if you get a little too much sun or just want to be a little more covered up. As I mentioned before, you definitely need to grab a “honeymoon shirt,” wear it on the plane, wear it at your resort/hotel, wear it all the time.

Cover ups:

I know some people could care less, but having a cute coverup to throw over my swimsuit is always the cherry on top. I only brought a couple cover ups because I knew they could be worn over and over again. Bonus points if your cover up doubles as a cute top or something to wear over a dress – less stuff you have to pack means a less stuffed suitcase!

Shoes:

Ah shoes. I could be barefoot 24/7 and I’d be perfectly fine, but for some reason, that’s not acceptable to the rest of the world. I recommend bringing one nice pair of sandals, one pair of wedges and one casual sandal. We didn’t do any super active activities so we had no need for tennis shoes, but definitely bring those if you’re going to go zip-lining or something of that sort.

Intimates:

If you’re squeamish, skip over this section. If not – don’t skip (or skimp) on the intimates. This is your honeymoon. Snag some cute sleepwear and some sultry intimates. I don’t care if you normally wear a t-shirt and shorts to bed, your honeymoon is not the time for normal. Take a step outside your comfort zone and grab something special for this special time! Be sure to check out my list for some of the BEST cheap lingerie.

Accessories:

I’ve said it once, i’ll say it a million times. I don’t wear a ton of jewelry as it is and I rarely bring any of my nicer jewelry when we travel. BUT I did bring a few cute accessories on our honeymoon.

Honeymoon packing list for him

Tops:

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a million times. Guys have it so much easier than girls when it comes to packing. Throw a few shirts in a bag and call it done. Thomas packed a nice polo, a couple button downs and of course, one of his crazy button downs. Easy peasy.

Bottoms:

Is it just me or do guys have it so much easier than girls when it comes to clothes? When it comes to pants, some resorts require long pants for dinner, but most resorts and hotels don’t hold people to this. Thomas loves a good pair of linen pants and made sure to wear his favorite linen pants multiple times on our honeymoon. Between those and a pair or two of nice shorts, he was set.

Swim:

Thomas enjoys loud swim trunks and that is exactly what he brought on our honeymoon. Guys swim trunks dry a lot faster than women’s swimsuits so usually three is a good number to bring.

Shoes:

Thomas’ shoe choices were very similar to mine. One nicer sandal, one casual sandal and a closed toed shoe.

If you’re looking for more, you can check out our entire list of  honeymoon packing essentials that can be bought on amazon, because who doesn’t love free 2-day shipping and free returns?

Hopefully these tips and packing list will help you pack for your honeymoon like a champ!