Honeymoon Blues

After much discussion, Arthur and I picked Morocco as our ideal honeymoon destination. I am sure you might be thinking, "huh. interesting." We chose it because a) neither one of us has ever been there b) it is not a typical honeymoon destination c) there is lots of history and culture d) there is lots to do e) there is still plenty of resort type areas for those days of relaxation.

Marrakesh




Agadir

So Arthur put in his passport application and I put in my renewal. I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from those of you have seen my passport photo. Twenty-three year old me - uh, not so pretty. We then went on an adventure to Liberty Travel. Once there, we informed a bearded, burly and overly enthusiastic gentleman travel agent that we were thinking about Morocco, but we were open to other ideas. This, apparently, was a mistake. He had just come back from a trip to Argentina you see. He was singularly focused. Don't get me wrong, it looked and sounded amazing. However, we had said we were open to other places, not another place. Our conversation was akin to the World Cup - Argenina vs. Morocco. He would highlight some fabulous aspect of Argentina and then sort of mumble something about Morocco. His enthusiasm was significantly dampened, however, by the mention of our budget. One could practically feel the wind from the slamming of the South American brochure. "You are probably better off looking into Morocco if that's what you want to spend."

Needless to say we left there unsatisfied and with a brochure of Argentina. Arthur and I decided to stop by the travel section of Barnes and Noble to make ourselves feel better. There we found lots of interesting tidbits and renewed our determination. We looked on-line, but did not find anything that seemed like more than 30 person guided tour - not exactly romantic. Finally, I remembered to look up the company I used to travel through Egypt - Imaginative Traveller. They were great then with just the right amount of tour without overdoing it. It turns out that they actually have honeymoon trips to places like India, Kenya and ...gasp...Morocco! I have been in contact with one of their people and she has been very informative. Almost too informative. The bottom line is staggering - at least it is to me.

I guess it has been a while since I went on a full-fledged vacation. This is the only possible explanation as to why I am absolutely blown away by how much it may cost us to go on the honeymoon we want. Fundamentally, I understood that it would be a few grand, but I just didn't imagine that the honeymoon would cost nearly as much as the wedding.

It saddens me to think for practical reasons we may not be able to go on this trip. Logically, I understand that I am a big girl and should be able to get over it. Illogically, I just want us to be able to go on the honeymoon that we want. We don't even have Paris.

Should We Have Just Eloped?

Sometimes I feel that we made the wrong decision to go forward with a somewhat full blown wedding. When we first spoke of getting married, we discussed just going to city hall to get married. We thought, let's keep it simple and then have a great party after the deed. Yet, as we began making plans, it seemed less and less plausible to have a party in which we invite all those that we wanted to invite without renting a space for the event and all that comes with it. So we went ahead and found a venue we both felt comfortable with and ultimately we were/are happy with our decision. Yet there are times when I feel that it is a mistake. It isn't a mistake for Arthur and I to get married. And it isn't a mistake for us to wish to share with those we love this symbolic ceremony of our commitment to one another and to our future. But was it a mistake to try to throw a big ole wedding? We have tried out best to keep the costs down. While we will have no florist, no limos, no crazy wedding halls, no ornate decorations, it still adds up to a sum that leaves me slightly dizzy and with a nagging feeling of fear. Should we have just tied the knot A la Sex and the City, saving what money we have (damn you Lehman Brothers) to put towards our future? Probably.

And we probably shouldn't have hired a wedding planner from Platinum Weddings. Oh, well...