Trends:
Honeymoon Travel: Why Wait?
The traditional scene is the bride and groom, leaving the reception site, waving to their friends and family and preparing to be whisked off to a romantic, secluded destination for their honeymoon. Sounds like the perfect beginning to a couple’s life together…but is it?
Recent research suggests that there may be benefits to putting off your honeymoon for a week, month or even longer. The period leading up to your wedding is one of intense stimulation. The last minute details, the final fittings, a shower and planning out the shared household, if you are not already living together. Then you have the excitement of the week leading up to the wedding, with friends and family coming into town, often traveling long distances and staying for additional days to have quality time with you and your spouse-to-be. Next are the rehearsal and then the main event: your wedding day! Throughout this period you are surrounded by those closest to you.
Fast forward to the honeymoon. In anticipation of the exhaustion that surrounds the planning and execution of the wedding, couples will often select an isolated honeymoon destination where they can unwind and have some quiet time to regroup. The problem may arise, however, in that they left the fun and excitement behind, and now are surrounded by strangers. If the honeymoon destination turns out to be too quiet or too isolated, boredom may result, which may lead to feelings of guilt or wondering if the marriage is getting off to the right start. The newlyweds may become anxious to get back to familiar surroundings where they can view their honeymoon images and enjoy the myriad of gifts that they received for the wedding. Some couples become so disenchanted with their honeymoon stay that they leave early.
A recent trend is waiting to take the honeymoon, and even a week can make a difference. The newlyweds will then have time to soak up the aftermath of the wedding , often by having a luncheon the day after and then being able to leisurely hang out with their out-of-town guests as they head back to their places of residence. Some couples like to wait up to a year, allowing them to save up for a vacation that may not have been affordable at the time of the wedding.
Whether you leave right away for your honeymoon or decide to wait for a bit, careful selection of a honeymoon destination will maximize your fun. Unless you both truly want to be beach bums, perhaps the most important factor to keep in mind is selecting a destination is that it should have a genuinely wide range of activities available. This is particularly important if you and your spouse have different interests, so you can take turns planning the daily itinerary. Cultural destinations during their warm seasons are becoming popular honeymoon sites for this reason, as they allow for a diversity of indoor and outdoor activities.
