Honeymoon vs Wedding

For the past week I have been obsessed with honeymoon destinations. I just can’t stop looking at guides and websites, and in the process have discovered island nations I never knew of, such as Turks and Caicos, Antigua and other exotic-sounding places. Yesterday I dreamt I was in Cuba; the day before it was Brazil.  The world is so big, and I've spent hours writing down names of countries I would love to visit. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as just pointing to a country on a map and saying, “I am going there for my honeymoon.” There are so many factors that come into play, one of most important being the weather. But the biggest elephant in the room is the budget. In Egypt, there is (in my opinion) a ludicrous trend to spend much more money and effort on a big, lavish wedding than on a luxurious once-in-a-lifetime trip for your honeymoon. Yes, you could decide to have a low-cost wedding with a small number of guests in order to maximize your budget for the honeymoon. But as Passant Rabie, my colleague and fellow bride-to-be, voiced in her post about choosing a venue, options for the less-expensive outdoor weddings are limited so you don’t really have that much of a choice. And everybody knows that it is almost impossible to pull it off because you can never have a small number of guests with Egyptian parents. Those guests equal food, the biggest player in the budget. The compromises I know I'm talking a lot about money in this post, and before going ahead with my rants, I just want to say that I know that my situation is so much better than half the population who cannot even afford to get married and start a family. That said, the budget really is an important issue when it comes to any marriage, and what I’m still trying to understand is why you traditionally have to invest more in a wedding party that lasts for a couple of hours and overlook the honeymoon, a trip that lasts for at least 10 days and that actually requires a big budget. Even if my parents do say, why not have a “nice, respectable” wedding at a five-star hotel, for example, and then go to Brazil (the most expensive country in South America) for 15 days, I wouldn’t. It is just too expensive. I have to compromise my dream honeymoon to make my parents happy. It's a little frustrating, but I don't want to make a big deal out of it because it's not the end of the world. Everyone dreams of visiting exotic destinations in their life, but it's not always possible. So now you understand why I have been obsessed with travel websites and articles as I try to find a perfect spot for my honeymoon where I can combine luxury and a unique destination for a reasonable price. It’s tough, because I also need to look at so many other factors especially the weather. For example, the whole Caribbean area and Mexico where I initially wanted to go will be in hurricane season in September. To help me estimate the budget for transportation and hotels, I'm checking Expedia.comand Lastminute.com. The real fun is researching every detail about all my dream destinations. I've already bookmarked Time out Travel, Conde Naste Traveller, National Geographic Traveller, the Guardian's travel blogs and the BBC's Travel News. The Lonely Planet’s website has good feature articles but their guides to countries are sometimes a bit outdated. The best option is to buy the actual guide of the country during the year you are travelling in. The same applies to Frommers. Wanderlust Magazine has great resources but sometimes has outdated details too. Grab a copy of it if you can get a hold of one in Egypt. For general information on a destination, it is always easier to stick to the basic guides such as Lonely Planet or Frommers, or go the official tourism website for the city or country. For new, exciting ideas, though, always look for the latest articles posted on these travel websites. If you don’t know where you want to go yet, the best thing is to search for “best of” articles such as the top 12 cities or best romantic islands. Wanderlust Magazine runs a website dedicated to  unique honeymoon ideas. And don't forget, you can sometimes find interesting articles about honeymoons in bridal magazines and websites such as Conde Nast's Brides magazine. My search continues. I won't give up — it's too much fun.