Early this morning I got to witness, along with millions of others, as a young woman married her prince. I thought it was a beautiful ceremony and I love all the pageantry that surrounds a Royal Wedding. I remember the first Royal Wedding I got to see was in 1973 when Princess Anne married Mark Phillips. I go to stay up late to watch some of the ceremony on a black and white TV. I was in awe of the spectacle I was watching. Since then I have gotten up early or stayed up late to watch each of the Queen’s children get married amid a lot of pageantry associated with a Royal Wedding. What amazed me about today’s wedding that was different to other Royal Weddings I have watched was its intimacy and how relaxed the couple looked. Not any easy accomplishment when you have millions around the world watching, yet they managed to do that.
Now they get to relax with friends and have a great celebration before heading off on their two week honeymoon…the big question now is where they are going on their honeymoon. You know what; I don’t care where they go for their honeymoon as long as they get to relax and just enjoy being with each other away from the public eye after all the stress and hard work that went into planning their big day. After all, that is what a honeymoon is for; rest, relaxation, and reconnection.
Yet it seems to be a growing trend to take a few days prior to the wedding off, get married over the weekend and on Monday you are back at work. The honeymoon will take place later in the year or some other future date. Honeymoons used to be a two week break taken immediately after the wedding, and then it became popular to take just a week, now it seems to be a week at some later date. There are still some who go on their honeymoon straight after the wedding, but it seems to be for a few days, not even a week, with plans to take a real honeymoon later. Why have we gotten away from the traditional two week honeymoon?
With most couples living together before they get married, a lot of the think what’s the point. They have a house and/or kids and don’t have the financial resources to take a honeymoon, and some don’t see why it is necessary to take a honeymoon. I think it also has to do with how much time we spend working and how little time we spend taking a vacation. Yep, I’m back to the living to work theory, but it’s true. People are too scared to take too much time off work so they would rather work themselves into all sorts of health issues or an early grave than step back and take time off.
A honeymoon, no matter how long you have been together, is a time for you to kick back and relax after all the stress and hard work that went into planning your wedding. There are some amazing destinations that you can go to where you can get away from it all and it doesn’t have to break the bank. Some people will take their honeymoon to coincide with some big event that is something they enjoy. For example if you like Airshows and every year there is a big airshow that you both love to go to, you might decide to take your honeymoon then so you can both go to the airshow and have a few days before or after the show to just unwind and relax. It could be an annual convention for a hobby that you both enjoy. Or it could be you just want a romantic destination or something adventurous.
It all depends on the couple and what it is they want to do. What did I do for my honeymoon? Let’s see we got married in December 1998 and my parents were here from New Zealand. We spent the week after the wedding with my husband’s three boys, my parents and my husband’s family doing things around Los Angeles. We toured the Queen Mary in Long Beach; we went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Then we left the sunshine and warmth behind and headed back East to Virginia and spent the next couple of weeks showing my parents around DC and Northern Virginia. Two days after arriving back in Virginia my husband and my dad were hand shoveling the snow from our 80 foot driveway. After completing that my husband announced we were getting a snow blower before the next snow storm!
It wasn’t until March 2002 that we finally got to take our honeymoon. Our honeymoon was a trip to New Zealand. Brad had never been before and my parents and I spent three weeks showing him some of the highlights of New Zealand. We had a great time and he got to meet most of my family back in New Zealand and see some of the places where I went to school and grew up. We went from Auckland all the way down to Milford Sound and many places in-between. One thing I really wanted to do, and this was why I had planned the trip for this time, was attend the Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow. It is an amazing show with lots of WWII vintage aircraft from all over the world. But due to some wet weather a few days before it was decided that we wouldn’t attend. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. The rest of the trip was amazing and with the exception of the mountains all of New Zealand put on an amazing display for us. You are probably wondering about my comment with regards to the mountains…Wherever we went in New Zealand my husband did not get to see one mountain. Not one! Yep every time we got within viewing range of a mountain it would be in cloud. It not only happened on our March/April 2002 trip but also our December 2006 trip too. My husband is beginning to think that the beautiful mountains in New Zealand are just a myth! I’m hoping that we got down next year that the mountains will be in full viewing splendor.
Your honeymoon could something as simple as driving a few miles down the road and staying in a bed and breakfast, or hotel, or resort. Maybe you want to get away a bit further and hop on a cruise ship for a week, or how about heading to the Caribbean and to one of the many all-inclusive resorts (many are couples only), or it could be taking that trip of a lifetime, or doing a land tour of a favorite country. Or you could be extremely elaborate and rent an island for a week and it is just the two of you alone on the island. Or maybe rent a villa on a beach somewhere.
For the adventure seekers it could be climbing some mountain that you have both wanted to climb, or roughing it somewhere in a tent as you hike along some great trails. It could be staying at a fishing lodge and spending the days hiking and fishing. There are so many options available and it all depends what you as a couple want to do. But remember after your big day you need a break! Planning a wedding can be a very stressful time and you need a honeymoon afterward to unwind from the stress of the wedding and reconnect with each other.
So where did you go for a honeymoon or what is your dream honeymoon? Let us know, we would love to read your thoughts on honeymoons.
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