Mini-moons are gaining popularity
Another moon is rising in the sky of romance - a mini-moon.
Want to know our spin on this trend? Read on.
The article and movement seems to lack the recognition as a society that a honeymoon is the once-in-a-life-time, unique opportunity to escape post wedding. It is a time when everyone expects you to be gone - family, employers, friends. It is a time to reconnect, decompress, process the wedding, and is that final bridge that gets you from "single but dating" to "we have wedding rings! You are now my husband and I'm your wife! It is even magical for those you come into contact with on the honeymoon. Like pregnant women and new babies, honeymooners elicit a sort of happy sign from people who remember the glory of that newly married time or who see it as the most romantic of all times the couple will experience as a married couple. Honeymooners know they can get free upgrades on planes, hotels, free desserts, and get a lot of smiles from people on their honeymoon travels plus a lot of "how was the wedding" questions.
While a honeymoon a year later may be more practical, financially, I am not sure it would then be a honeymoon. In essence you have given up the honeymoon and are just taking a vacation as a married couple (a wonderful practice but not with the same decompression as the honeymoon right after the wedding.) Or perhaps not a vacation but an anniversary-trip, not something I'm dissing at all, but anniversary celebrations imply celebrating the time you've spent already married. A honeymoon is the fresh beginning of married life.
This movement also begs the question: what has happened in the wedding planning world that it is too hard to plan for your own couple getaway to celebrate, alone, the transition from single to married? When the message out there is that "It's your day, do what you want!" why would you take away from yourself the single time of the wedding that is truly about you - the honeymoon, where no guests are invited (or expect to be there), when your employer doesn't even schedule important meetings for those days or weeks after the wedding date and simply asks "how long" you will be gone rather than "if" you'll be gone.
So perhaps it's a financial strain. I get that, I really do. But even that argument makes me wonder, how many guests at your wedding would rather eat a fancy steak than see you and your spouse-to-be enjoy a really nice honeymoon? Are guests really hoping to get a super nice meal, a fancy wedding favor, and then see you back at work on Monday!? If given the choice, I think most wedding guests would prefer to see a more moderate wedding with a happy couple who can then enjoy themselves on a honeymoon, rather than a high-end wedding filled with stress and debt with no post-wedding, honeymoon bliss.
It's sort of a quickie honeymoon, taken when newlyweds put off their major honeymoon trip and go off on a short getaway instead.
Want to know our spin on this trend? Read on.
The article and movement seems to lack the recognition as a society that a honeymoon is the once-in-a-life-time, unique opportunity to escape post wedding. It is a time when everyone expects you to be gone - family, employers, friends. It is a time to reconnect, decompress, process the wedding, and is that final bridge that gets you from "single but dating" to "we have wedding rings! You are now my husband and I'm your wife! It is even magical for those you come into contact with on the honeymoon. Like pregnant women and new babies, honeymooners elicit a sort of happy sign from people who remember the glory of that newly married time or who see it as the most romantic of all times the couple will experience as a married couple. Honeymooners know they can get free upgrades on planes, hotels, free desserts, and get a lot of smiles from people on their honeymoon travels plus a lot of "how was the wedding" questions.
While a honeymoon a year later may be more practical, financially, I am not sure it would then be a honeymoon. In essence you have given up the honeymoon and are just taking a vacation as a married couple (a wonderful practice but not with the same decompression as the honeymoon right after the wedding.) Or perhaps not a vacation but an anniversary-trip, not something I'm dissing at all, but anniversary celebrations imply celebrating the time you've spent already married. A honeymoon is the fresh beginning of married life.
This movement also begs the question: what has happened in the wedding planning world that it is too hard to plan for your own couple getaway to celebrate, alone, the transition from single to married? When the message out there is that "It's your day, do what you want!" why would you take away from yourself the single time of the wedding that is truly about you - the honeymoon, where no guests are invited (or expect to be there), when your employer doesn't even schedule important meetings for those days or weeks after the wedding date and simply asks "how long" you will be gone rather than "if" you'll be gone.
So perhaps it's a financial strain. I get that, I really do. But even that argument makes me wonder, how many guests at your wedding would rather eat a fancy steak than see you and your spouse-to-be enjoy a really nice honeymoon? Are guests really hoping to get a super nice meal, a fancy wedding favor, and then see you back at work on Monday!? If given the choice, I think most wedding guests would prefer to see a more moderate wedding with a happy couple who can then enjoy themselves on a honeymoon, rather than a high-end wedding filled with stress and debt with no post-wedding, honeymoon bliss.
Labels: honeymoon, mini-moon, wedding guests
posted by Elizabeth Doherty Thomas at
2:02 PM
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