"Oh what a beautiful young couple, I hope they're happy together," is one of looking at it. "I can't believe he's marrying a girl half his age," is another. Then there's the more universal engagement announcement gripe, "Oh great another wedding-I guess I'll just get them some candles." Apparently, some of the blessed couples are about as sick of receiving candles, silverware, lava lamps, talking can openers and every other generic home appliance known to man, as you are of giving them out as wedding gifts.
Honeymoon Registries
In the age of IPOD's, DVD's and digital cameras, technology has found a new way to merge the worlds of nuptials and travel. In recent years, sites like thehoneymoon.com, honeymoonwishes.com and thebigday.com have emerged on the forefront of giving couples what they really want. Shockingly, that "thing that they really want" usually isn't a new blender. For many of today's couples the greatest wedding gift of all would come in the form of spending seven days on the shady beaches of Antigua with the sun beaming down on their bare legs-on your dime of course.
The aforementioned Internet sites are actually honeymoon registries. This isn't your Grandma's JC Penny's wedding registry, although they look a lot alike. Travel registry site, HoneyLuna.com, started up in 1995 as the first of its kind honeymoon registry. For all of the area couples in the midst of planning their big day, here's the run-down.
Couples visit one of the dozens of registry sites and create a wedding page. Couples planning Washington State marriages then plan the honeymoon of their choice determined by the sites offerings. Travel experts work with couples to coordinate and reserve airline tickets, hotels and cruise lines online. Hawaii, Mexico, Aruba, Jamaica and Tahiti were all top honeymoon locations in 2005, and honeymoon registries offer packages to them all. Thehoneymoon.com, for instance, offers a variety of packages to Occidental resorts worldwide.
A week long trip to the Occidental Caribbean Village in Cancun goes for anywhere from $650.00 to $2,500. Of course, the Caribbean Village is surrounded by world history and the Mexican night. The resort sits near ruins of Mayan temples, the beautiful blue sea, shopping malls and nightclubs. Affectionately dubbed discotheques in Mexico. The ocean view rooms are perfect for star-gazing from the six story hotel.
After their Washington State marriages, couples itemize everything they will need for a successful honeymoon. The same way they would if they were setting up a Macy's registry for household items. So, if the happy bride and groom decide to spend a few days in Pineapple Beach, Antigua, they would itemize things like sailboat ride for two, three nights in an overwater bungalow, taking a hike, souvenirs, taxi rides, dinner and drinks. Wedding guests then donate money or purchase site gift certificates to send the couple on their way.
If you're thinking just asking for monetary donations in lieu of wedding gifts it is difficult enough and there's no way anyone's going to outright ask for family and friends to buy them a honeymoon, you'll be surprised to know that three out of four engaged couples use honeymoon registries. Will that doesn't mean anyone's contributing to them, you say. Quite the contrary, forty-two percent of honeymooners earned enough money to vacation for more than two weeks. That sure beats the overnight stays at the local Holiday Inn that tend to replace more traditional honeymoon get-aways.
In fact, one couple booked $28,000 in donations from their honeymoon registry. Finally, there's the issue of how to tactfully introduce wedding guest to the honeymoon registry following-very delicately. Bridal shower and wedding invites are an ideal opportunity to direct guest to what should be identified as "the wedding webpage." Once the guests are watching, getting them to donate to the honeymoon shouldn't be too difficult-hey, it worked for Star Jones.
Washington, DC Weddings - Requirements
Washington State marriages have a way of creating bliss in the minds of charming couples. But Washington, DC weddings aren't a trip to Las Vegas. It takes more than an Elvis impersonator and a chapel drive-thru to get married in Washington.
•Proof of Age: Driver's Licenses, birth certificates and passports are all ways to prove age.
•Identification: Washington State marriages need to be valid, so be sure to supply proof of who you are with a Social Security Number.
•Contact Info: There's a five day waiting period for marriage licenses in Washington. So leave valid addresses and telephone numbers to be contacted on.
•Proof that you're not a bigamist: DC does allow second, third, or even tenth remarriages-just not all at the same time. If you have been married previously, bring certified copies of your divorce decree (although the original would be ideal). If you're trying your hand at love again after being widowed, good for you....as long as you proof that your spouse is really in eternal rest.