There’s been a lot of talk of weddings lately…one good friend just got engaged in Seattle, then there’s the three weddings this summer/fall, and a childhood friend and his awesome new wife just got back from their honeymoon. And, honestly, if I ever did get married, the main reason (besides being in love) would be to have an excuse to plan and enjoy a honeymoon.
That’s always one of the first questions I ask people when I hear they’re getting married. Where are you going on your honeymoon?
Most seem biased for warmer climes (rightly so, being from New York’s quasi-frozen tundra). And, with awesome cruise details like towel animals on the bed and phallic guitar-playing watermelon, I totally see the appeal.

Then, there have been the more original honeymoons I’ve heard of like taking a cross country road trip or a brewery tour of the Northeast. And not all honeymoons these days immediately follow the wedding, which I think is a fun change to the tradition.
It was interesting Google-ing “honeymoon.” I guess one of the earliest references states that a man should be exempt of doing anything for a full year after marrying except making his new wife happy. (And the term was recorded in 1546, as hony moone.) Now, most consider the honeymoon period over after the first month.
My ideal honeymoon would either be a trip around the world (including stops for an African safari, Indian tour of the Taj Mahal, Thailand’s beaches, and Peru’s Macchu Picchu) or – the more cost effective but cliché and classic – trip to Hawaii. In fact, I’d probably just have the ceremony there for the awesome ambiance and then start the honeymoon immediately afterwards.
My less optimistic and more realistic self believes that given the divorce rate, there should be a moneymoon following an annulment where you spend your former spouses’ money to go on a trip to make yourself happy. In which case, I would definitely take that trip around the world.