| Gege Anderson of Price Travel points out the multitude of choices couples have for planning their perfect honeymoon. |
Weddings are often planned far, far ahead and with every single detail checked and rechecked. But what about after it’s over and the two that are now one head off together for the honeymoon.
The meticulous attention paid to making the day perfect is more often than not applied to the getaway, according to a Price travel agent.
For 34 years GeGe Anderson has been helping couples find the right escape. The owner of Price Travel recommends that the bride and groom think through what they want before trying to book it.
“They should come in with an idea on how much they want to spend and how many days they want to be gone,” Anderson said.
Budget she said is one the most important aspects of planning the right trip.
Trips and cruises come in all sizes and prices and a travel agent can help you sort that all out, according Anderson.
The racks on the walls lining her office hold promises of adventures of every kind from holding up in a plush resort on a tropical paradise like Antigua or Bermuda to careening and screaming through Space Mountain.
Despite the plethora of global choices, Carbon County couples do appear to have some favorites.
“Cruises, Disneyland and all inclusive packages for Mexico are quite popular,” Anderson said.
Cruise lines offer packages that fit just about any budget these days. Choices are wide ranging and include everything from four to five days that hit a couple of Mexican hotspots to 12 days on the open sea stopping in Honolulu and Vancouver.
With all the changes and restrictions for travel these days couples should remember that they will need a passport to get back into the country if they go on a trip outside the United States.
Of course from here Las Vegas is also an easy option and a popular one as well, even for those who decide to combine the whole thing in one fell swoop – getting married and having the honeymoon.
Anderson said however, that casinos are no longer including show tickets in their packages. But she said she can book some shows separately for the couples.
As for the home of Mickey and Minnie there are a variety of packages at the theme park’s hotels that provide everything and anything Disney.
Another key thing that Anderson provides is a real live person handling all the details and the potential headaches that come with them.
“GeGe takes the stress out of it for the couple, that’s one of the major services she provides,” said Tom Anderson.
Another stress reducing suggestion, for those who do plan ahead, is to take out insurance on the trip or package in case something happens and they have to cancel, Anderson said.
Use of an actual travel agent to handle the details for couples is actually on the rise. It appears that there has been a backlash from the Internet traveling planning that is sending increasing numbers of people to seek out one on one help, according to a recent New York Times article the percentage of people using Internet travel sites to book honeymoons had dropped by 9 percent between 2005 and 2007.
This is probably not news to brides and grooms embarking on their honeymoon planning and who may find themselves turning to an experienced travel agent for the very first time in their lives, according to “Secrets You Should Know About Honeymoon Planning” from www.metrocreativeconnection.com.
Lounging on a white sand beach or zipping around a theme park are far cries from what the original honeymooners experienced.
The history of the tradition is traced to Northern Europe and was known in those days as “hjunottsmanathr” which is a Norse word and actually describes the ritual of abducting a bride from a village close by.
The husband being the captor then had to hide his soon to be betrothed away until it was safe to come out and return home with her, according to an article “Origin of the Honeymoon Tradition,” found on www.hudsonvalleyweddings.com.
During the time Attilla the Hun from, A.D. 433 to A.D. 453 the article goes on to say the tradition called for the couple to drink honeyed wine for the first month after they were wed.
As for the moon part the article says, “One piece of folklore relates that the origin of the word moon comes from a cynical inference. To the Northern Europeans the terms referred to the body’s monthly cycle and its combination with honey suggested that not all moon’s of married life were as sweet as the first. British prose writers and poets, in the 16th and 17th centuries, often made use of the Nordic interpretation of honeymoon as a waxing and waning of marital affection.”
Despite its inauspicious beginning the traditional honeymoon has certainly become something that couples look forward to start off their new life together on the best foot. And with help from a travel professional there can be nothing but smooth sailing for the bride and groom as long as they take some time to think it through, according to Anderson.