Honeymoon History

Old Wedding Picture For many couples, the high point of the wedding is the honeymoon. While modern societies view the honeymoon as a chance for newlyweds to leave behind all the worries of their regular lives and all of the stress of planning the wedding to enjoy themselves in private, usually at an exotic location.

That wasn't always the case.

Unfortunately, no one knows for sure where the honeymoon tradition began or even where the word originated, but there are a few theories.

The oldest explanation dates back to ancient Babylonian times. According to this theory, the bride's father would provide the couple with mead for one month after the marriage which the couple drank daily during that time. Because the mead was made of honey and because the month would have been measured by the phases of the moon, not by a modern calendar, this period became known as the honeymoon.

A later, less pleasant, explanation is slightly more recent and comes from the Scandinavian region of Europe around the area and the time when Vikings called it home. Folklore claims that the way to find a bride then was to capture one from a neighboring village. Since the kidnapping would not be taken well by a bride's family, the �husband� would have to take her into hiding. During this time, her family would be searching for her. However, when they gave up the search, the couple could emerge and go on with their new lives.

Young Couple A different variation of this tale explains the connection between sex and the honeymoon. Basically, the husband knew the only way he could keep the wife was if she became pregnant. This meant that while they were in hiding he would be spending the time trying to accomplish that feat. Only when the new bride was �with child� would it be safe for him and her to leave their hiding place.

While these stories are interesting, there aren't many facts to support any of these theories. What we do know is that according to the Oxford English Dictionary the word �honeymoon� was first used in the mid-16^th century to describe the inconsistency of marital bliss. The marriage begins sweetly and pleasantly like honey but doesn't stay that way for long just as the moon never stays in one phase for very long. At the time when the word was first being used, there was no connection between it and any kind of trip for recently married couples.

By the Victorian era, however, married couples were already engaging in what we traditionally think of as a honeymoon. They would leave after their early morning reception with the best man accompanying them to the train station (the most common method of transportation at the time). Only the best man would know their destination, and he was forbidden to tell anyone so the couple would not be bothered during their trip. Incidentally, the couple would try to keep a low profile because Victorian era men were embarrassed if others recognized them as newly married.