Micro-wedding + dream honeymoon over “normal” wedding

Another one who thought you will spend a lot on Michelin star meal and drinks for 15, maybe not as much as a full rigmarole . Would you jettison rings and photographer? What about a dress? It cam quickly add up.

Your budget isn't really enough for luxury in Japan and Maldives. I looked at 3 week Break in Japan but with kids around the cherry blossom season and it was £20k.

I second this, we booked our honeymoon through them and they were brilliant. We went west, not east, but we spent almost half your budget on a two week trip in fairly basic accommodation (flights, hotel, transfers and a couple of tours), plus another fair few thousand on spending money. I've never been to Asia so if PPs say it's possible it probably is, but I doubt you could do luxury + the locations you've chosen + a six week trip. Trailfinders will be able to talk you through your options and work out what's realistic. We found them fairly priced too, I couldn't have priced the trip up cheaper myself.

ETA - I was also wondering about the cost of Michelin star and registry office, you'd probably be around 5k and a lot of the budget weddings for 50-80 guests cost around that (plus outfit etc but you'd need to sort that anyway).

A Michelin star meal for 15 people and wine/drinks would actually cost as much as many non-micro weddings.

Japan is gorgeous and 30k will go far depending on how you travel (though clearly not as far as some SEAsian choices) Even in non touristy places people are generally very polite if not effusively friendly.

On that budget for 6 weeks you will find you can only achieve more luxury hotels by avoiding higher cost countries or only for a few days. Personally I'd look at se Asia, Sri Lanka perhaps as your money will stretch to better hotels - for example my dps company owns hotels in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, it's £130 in Sri Lanka and £900 in the Maldives, both 5 star. You can also public transport or a car and driver in Sri Lanka whereas seaplanes and boats are £££.

All depends on priorities. I would watch race across the world on currently for a bit of inspiration

Random thoughts.

Do you live together? Have you ever spent more than a week living together?

I would hesitate to embark on a 6 week holiday without knowing my travel buddy well.

The Maldives is a bit niche for somebody who never thought they would love it. Japan....ditto. Do you want to dive, cook, tour. The hotel islands of the Islands could easily eat up the budget.

As with all things, it depends on what you want to do and what time of year you want to do it.

Presumably you both have jobs to go to. Maybe up the budget and go to 2x 10 day holidays.

If you decide to have a lengthy honeymoon, do get a travel-agent to "package it", so they can fix things if it goes wrong.

Because it's not one day

We did Cambodia and Thailand and it was beautiful. 20k should be plenty for 6 weeks if you plan well (depending on where you go obviously)

I think you should do whatever you like if you can afford it but don’t fall for this trauma-related aversion to spending money. If he’ll happily spend that amount of money on a holiday and Michelin starred restaurants, I think we can safely say he’s over that particular trauma.

Oh, and another thing, Japan in summer is a total sauna. Also, Tokyo, while looking pristine, operates on a VERY old sewage system and boy does it smell.

We did similar 10 years ago and had a party when we got back. Wouldn't do things differently now.

One thing to consider, maybe, is that the Japanese REALLY aren't fans of PDA. Not sure if that's really conductive to honeymoon atmosphere. Also £30k won't go very far in Japan's golden belt (touristy area), while non-touristy areas will result in quite a few stares, finger-pointing and "gaijin" utterances.

https://www.trailfinders.com/

You could speak with this (very helpful) company and see what they suggest?

Sounds amazing and not far off our wedding (7 guests and then a month in Australia, although with a smaller budget).

Definitely spend less on your wedding day and more on your honeymoon.
Keeping the day small and intimate is a great idea.
Where to go depends on the time of year that you’re planning on going I’d say. Places like the Maldives and Mauritius are better in the winter for example.

I think it's becoming more normal. It's such a huge amount of money for one day. Spend it on travel, pick a total bucket list destination. My bucket list destination is Japan

What time of year are you going, OP?
You've picked two very expensive destinations if you want proper luxury. If you're willing to stay in places that aren't hugely high end then 20grand would get you an amazing 6 week break.

I do. 30k is a ridiculous amount to spend on one day. 20k on a 6 week holiday of a lifetime (if 20k is affordable) is a wonderful idea.

I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to pay for a £30 K wedding but would be OK with a £20K vacation??

£20k would stretch a week in the Maldives for somewhere really special. But a lot further elsewhere!

I’ve been thinking of something similar but eloping in Finland in the snow and then adding the honeymoon on to it. The thought of spending 20k + on a venue for the day vs a holiday of a lifetime just isn’t comparable. I feel that a lot of people have big weddings for other people rather than for themselves

We did this, neither of us wanted a big wedding but love to travel.
on that budget you could do 3 weeks exploring Japan and a week in the Maldives.

Northern Norway in summer is amazing, 24hr sunlight! In winter, Northern lights.