According to new research carried out by Hotels.com, honeymooners are not cutting back on their dream trip, despite the recession. The survey of more than 500 brides-to-be found that 98% remain undaunted and are still planning to honeymoon after their wedding.

The survey, conducted by the hotel booking site through Ireland’s leading wedding forum site, showed that 47.3% of honeymooners believe they should still take a honeymoon, but they should only spend what they can afford as a couple. However, 1 in 4 people surveyed believe that budget should not be a factor as their honeymoon is a once in a lifetime experience.

The honeymoon is considered to be an integral part of wedding celebrations with 84.4% of newlyweds taking their honeymoon immediately after their wedding and only one in ten waiting to go away at a later date. Work commitments and financial strains were cited as the main reasons for delaying a honeymoon.

Nearly two thirds (64.6%) of those surveyed agreed that more deals are now on offer to honeymooners during these recessionary times. In terms of spend, 21% of the people surveyed said they were willing to spend between 3,000 euros and 4,000 euros on their dream holiday, while 9% said they would be prepared to splash the cash right now, spending a recession denying 8,000 euros plus on their honeymoon.

However, over one in ten (12.6%) did admit they would be happy to take a shorter break directly after the wedding and wait until they have more money for a bigger holiday, showing a shift in attitudes is beginning to emerge amongst newlyweds and they are trying to be more sensible with their money.

Alison Couper, Director of Communications for Hotels.com, said, "It doesn’t surprise me that newlyweds are not prepared to sacrifice their honeymoon as it is such an important part of the wedding celebrations. Now is a great time to honeymoon as there are some fantastic deals available around the world with savings of up to 40% off in the current Hotels.com summer sale."

Not surprisingly, for those planning to marry and honeymoon in the same destination, the Irish survey found that Ireland topped the list, with close to one in five respondents (18.4%) citing their home nation as the number one choice for both their wedding ceremony and honeymoon. The Caribbean is the second favourite (12%), followed by the popular European wedding and holiday spots of Italy (7.9%) and Spain (6.6%).