I had brunch over the weekend with three friends: one who honeymooned in Tahiti a few days after her wedding, one who honeymooned in Costa Rica a year after her wedding, and one who got married in Ireland last summer but hasn’t gone on a “real honeymoon” yet. That last friend, however, is planning a two week trip to New Zealand in October. Even though the trip is a year and a half after her (destination) wedding, is it okay to still consider it a “honeymoon”? How long can you delay a honeymoon before it just turns into a regular vacation?

The consensus around the table was that you can go on a honeymoon whenever you want – there’s no expiration date. It’s very common for couples to delay their honeymoons a bit after their weddings, whether it’s to save money, visit their dream destination during a more preferable season, or just because they have scheduling conflicts. Couples should do whatever works best for them, without feeling like their honeymoon needs to be rushed.

However, if you do decide to postpone your honeymoon, it’s important to realize that other people may treat it differently. As I wrote in one of my very first blog posts about when to go on a honeymoon, you should be forewarned that coworkers and employers may be less than enthusiastic about you taking an extended vacation if it’s not shortly after your wedding (especially if you already took a lot of time off for that). Friends and family probably won’t be as “Oh-My-Gosh-So-Excited-For-You!” either if your wedding seems like a distant memory. So as long as that’s cool with you (as it should be – it’s YOUR honeymoon after all), then plan your honeymoon whenever you feel like it.

That being said, you cannot plan multiple honeymoons (sorry, Alice). An extended multi-moon is acceptable (and totally awesome), but if you tell your friends/family/coworkers that you’re going on a second or third honeymoon, expect lots of eye rolls in return. At that point, please just call it a vacation.

As for my friends who are planning to go to New Zealand in October, I think that they should totally still consider that trip their honeymoon, and I honestly can’t wait to hear all about it. And, of course, they’ve already promised to write an awesome blog post when they get back.