Younger generation is choosing 'buddymoon' over honeymoon and here's the reason why

The honeymoon is an intimate time for a couple to relax and enjoy themselves after the chaos of the wedding. However, many young people are ditching the traditional way and choosing a honeymoon with their friends, calling it a "buddymoon." The growing trend is apparent in the number of posts people are putting up on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Kresson Taylor—who goes by @explorewithkress on TikTok—posted a video where she can be seen having a buddymoon with her friends. The text overlay reads, "POV: after you get married, you go on a 'buddymoon' with your best friends to celebrate." They can be seen enjoying a meal together and roaming around in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is captioned, "This is your sign to go on a buddymoon to celebrate getting married."

Similarly, Jess— who goes by @jess_einaudi on TikTok—posted a video where the couple are enjoying their time with their buddies on the Amalfi coast, Italy. They are swimming and having meals together. It is captioned, "Vacationing with your friends and family after your destination wedding." Courtney Boyer, a relationship and sexuality expert, said it is a trend that has set off since the pandemic. She added, "We've emerged from a post-COVID world and realized the importance of community and lived experiences. Buddymoons combine those. They're a fun excuse to find a reason to travel and celebrate a milestone with good friends," per The Independent.

Marie-Claire Chappet, with her husband, had chosen to go for a buddymoon. She told the outlet that not everyone understood the concept and they got many mixed reactions from their guests. "It just feels very 'White Lotus,'" one friend joked. It was said so much "to the extent that several staff members at the hotel were definitely convinced we were swingers," shared Chappet. However, she added that their buddymoon went "brilliantly." They drove them to Provence and they had booked an Airbnb near their hotel in Paris and they were allowed into the restaurant and pool area during the day.

Destination wedding planner Chelsea Hargreaves said such vacations are common with destination weddings. Mainly because both the couple and their friends are abroad, however, that's not the case with everyone. Clare Yelland and her husband also took the vacation with another couple. "We went on what we nicknamed our 'funnymoon,'" she said. Yelland and her husband didn't want to go for a honeymoon till 2025 but wanted a mini-moon, so they decided to go to a place they had gone before: The Hilton in Dalaman, Turkey. "It was hilarious watching people's reactions when we told them we were on our honeymoon, seeing them trying to figure out what the group dynamic was."

These confused reactions from the guests are quite common. Georgina Sturmer, a BACP registered counselor, said, "It's not quite a honeymoon but not quite a holiday. This dynamic naturally prompts questions, she suggests: 'Will the couple feel liberated at the idea that they're enjoying themselves with their friends? Or will they regret missing out on that special one-on-one time that a honeymoon offers and the recovery time that is required after the exhaustion of the wedding? Will they feel under pressure to host or pay for some elements of the full trip?'"

 Though many see it as a "final opportunity to have a blowout holiday with friends," Sturmer spoke about a few concerns as well. "Maybe having a 'buddy moon' indicates an unwillingness to step away from the youthful freedom of a holiday with friends," she says. "Perhaps there's a fear that the couple might feel bored or frustrated or irritable with each other if it's just the two of them on this holiday" and it could be a "potential red flag."