Editing Honeymoon

{{Short description|Vacation after the wedding to celebrate recent marriage}}
{{Other uses}}

A '''honeymoon''' is a [[vacation]] taken by newlyweds after their [[wedding]] to celebrate their [[marriage]]. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple's relationship—whether they are in matrimony or not—that exists before getting used to everyday life together.

==History==
[[File:Wedding. Yvette Villebon BAnQ P48S1P14609.jpg|thumb|Newlyweds leaving for their honeymoon boarding a [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]] plane, Montreal,      1946]]
[[File:Adolph Tidemand & Hans Gude - Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Bridal Journey in Hardanger'' by [[Adolph Tidemand]] and [[Hans Gude]], a [[Norwegian romantic nationalism|romanticized]] view of the customs of 19th-century Norwegian society]]
The custom in [[Western culture]] and some [[Westernization|westernized countries' cultures]] of a newlywed couple going on a holiday together originated in early-19th-century [[United Kingdom| Britain]]. Upper-class couples would take a "bridal tour", sometimes accompanied by friends or family, to visit relatives who had not been able to attend the [[wedding]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Selling Sex in Honeymoon Heaven|author=Strand, Ginger|work=[[The Believer (magazine)|The Believer]]|date=January 2008|url=http://www.believermag.com/issues/200801/?read=article_strand|author-link=Ginger Strand|access-date=2008-01-17|archive-date=2008-01-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121190208/http://www.believermag.com/issues/200801/?read=article_strand|url-status=live}}</ref> The practice soon spread to the European continent and was known in France as a {{lang|fr|voyage à la façon anglaise}} ('English-style voyage'), from the 1820s onwards.

Honeymoons in the modern sense&mdash;a pure holiday voyage undertaken by the couple&mdash;became widespread during the ''[[Belle Époque]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Venayre |first1=Sylvain |author1-link=:fr:Sylvain Venayre |title=Le Temps du voyage de noces |journal=[[L'Histoire]] |date=June 2007 |issue=321 |page=57 |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/le-temps-du-voyage-de-noces |access-date=10 November 2022 |trans-title=History of the Honeymoon Vacation |publisher=[[Sophia Publications]] |language=fr |issn=0182-2411 |quote=This article is often cited as ''Le Temps du voyage noces.''}}</ref> in the late 1800s as one of the first instances of modern [[mass tourism]].

According to some sources, the honeymoon is a relic of [[marriage by capture]], based on the practice of the husband going into hiding with his wife to avoid reprisals from her relatives, with the intention that the woman would be [[pregnant]] by the end of the month.<ref>''See, e.g., ''William Shepard Walsh, ''Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities'', (J.B. Lippincott Co., 1897), p. 654; John Lubbock, ''The Origin of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition of Man: Mental and Social Condition of Savages'', (Appleton, 1882), p. 122. Curtis Pesmen & Setiawan Djody, ''Your First Year of Marriage'' (Simon and Schuster, 1995) p. 37.  ''Compare with'' Edward Westermarck, ''The History of Human Marriage'' (Allerton Book Co., 1922), p. 277 (refuting the link between honeymoon and marriage by capture).</ref>

==Etymology==
The honeymoon was originally the period following marriage, "characterized by love and happiness," as attested since 1546.<ref name="oed">{{cite news |work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88181 |title=Honeymoon |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2019-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214032120/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/88181 |url-status=live }} ''s.v.''</ref> The word may allude to "the idea that the first month of marriage is the sweetest".<ref>{{cite news |work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honeymoon |title=Honeymoon |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2018-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616030121/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honeymoon |url-status=live }} ''s.v.''</ref>

According to a different version, of the [[Oxford English Dictionary]]:

{{Blockquote|The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but [[wikt:tenderness|tenderness]] and [[pleasure]] ([[Samuel Johnson]]); originally having no reference to the period of a month, but comparing the mutual affection of newly married persons to the changing moon which is no sooner full than it begins to wane; now, usually, the holiday spent together by a newly married couple, before settling down at home.}}

Today, ''honeymoon'' has a positive meaning, but originally it may have referred to the inevitable waning of love, like a [[moon phase|phase of the moon]]. In 1552, [[Richard Huloet]] wrote:

{{quote|Hony mone, a term proverbially applied to such as be newly married, which will not fall out at the first, but th'one loveth the other at the beginning exceedingly, the likelihood of their exceadinge love appearing to aswage, ye which time the vulgar people call the hony mone.|Abcedarium Anglico-Latinum pro Tyrunculis<ref name="oed"/>}}

In many modern languages, the word for a honeymoon is a [[calque]] (e.g., {{langx|fr|lune de miel}}) or near-calque.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Persian has a similar word, {{transliteration|fa|mah-e-asal}}, which translates to 'month of honey' or 'moon of honey'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ماه عس in English - Persian-English Dictionary |url=https://en.glosbe.com/fa/en/%25D9%2585%25D8%25A7%25D9%2587%2520%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B3 |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=Glosbe |archive-date=2022-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524035741/https://en.glosbe.com/fa/en/%25D9%2585%25D8%25A7%25D9%2587%2520%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A 19th-century theory claimed that the word alludes to "the custom of the higher order of the Teutones to drink [[Mead]], or Metheglin, a beverage made with ''honey'', for thirty days after every wedding",<ref>{{cite book |author=Pulleyn, William |title=The Etymological Compendium |date=1853 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAAXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA178 |page=178 |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2022-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524035746/https://books.google.com/books?id=NAAXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA178 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham |title=Dictionary of Phrase and Fable |edition=4th |date=c. 1870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8AARAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA413 |page=413 |author-link=Ebenezer Cobham Brewer |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2022-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524035741/https://books.google.com/books?id=8AARAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA413 |url-status=live }}</ref> but the theory has been challenged.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brohaugh |first1=Bill |title=Everything you know about English is wrong |url=https://archive.org/details/everythingyoukno0000broh |url-access=registration |date=2008 |publisher=Sourcebooks |location=Naperville, Ill. |isbn=9781402211355 |page=[https://archive.org/details/everythingyoukno0000broh/page/92 92]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Monger |first=George P. |title=Marriage customs of the world: An encyclopedia of dating customs and wedding traditions |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=9781598846645 |page=352 |edition=Expanded 2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=avDXAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA352 |access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref>

The first recorded use of the word ''honeymoon'' to refer to the vacation after the wedding appeared in 1791, in a translation of German folk stories. The first recorded native-English use of the word appeared in 1804.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shamsian |first=Jacob |title=The mysterious origin of the word 'honeymoon' |url=https://www.insider.com/honeymoon-word-meaning-etymology-2017-3 |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Modern practice ==
The modern purpose of honeymooning varies by culture. For those in an [[arranged marriage]], a honeymoon is a time to get to know one another. For some cultures, it is a time for the couple to become sexually intimate. For other cultures, the purpose of the honeymoon mainly involves spending time to relax, creating a shared memorable experience for the couple, and adjusting to married life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-08 |title=Why Go on a Honeymoon? |url=https://psychcentral.com/blog/why-go-on-a-honeymoon |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Psych Central |language=en}}</ref>

According to the 2023 Global Wedding Report done by ''[[The Knot Worldwide|The Knot]]'', among the 15 countries surveyed, an average of 75% of couples took a honeymoon. Honeymoons are most popular in European countries. Conversely, fewer than half of couples in India take a honeymoon. Beach resorts are the preferred location for many couples. 

=== United States ===
Honeymoons are a $12 billion a year industry. In the United States, an average couple spends an average of $4500 for their honeymoon.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-08 |title=Why Go on a Honeymoon? |url=https://psychcentral.com/blog/why-go-on-a-honeymoon |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Psych Central |language=en}}</ref> [[Niagara Falls]] was a popular honeymoon destination for Americans in the 1980s, but it has since become less favored due to the decreasing costs of air travel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1993-02-14 |title=Niagara, Traditional Honeymoon Mecca, Takes a Fall |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-14-mn-126-story.html |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Solomoon or unimoon===
An emerging 21st-century travel trend is the "solomoon" or "unimoon", a separate, solo holiday the newlyweds take without their spouse.<ref>{{cite news |work=Travel & Leisure |title=The 'unimoon' — a honeymoon without your new spouse — is a 'travel trend' we just can't get behind |author=Leasca, Stacey |date=15 March 2019 |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-tips/travel-trends/unimoon-solomoon-solo-honeymoons-not-with-spouses |access-date=17 March 2019 |archive-date=19 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319144713/https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-tips/travel-trends/unimoon-solomoon-solo-honeymoons-not-with-spouses |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The New Zealand Herald'' cites a report by ''The New York Times''<ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/fashion/weddings/until-honeymoon-we-do-part.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/fashion/weddings/until-honeymoon-we-do-part.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Until Honeymoon We Do Part |date=March 13, 2019 |author=Braff, Danielle Braff}}{{cbignore}}</ref> that such alternatives to honeymoons are "particularly suited for couples who just cannot agree on where to go".<ref>{{cite news |work=New Zealand Herald |title=The rise of the 'unimoon': People are going on honeymoons without their spouses |date=16 March 2019 |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12213319 |access-date=17 March 2019 |archive-date=18 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318115817/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12213319 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Effects==
One 2015 scholarly study concluded that going on a honeymoon is associated with a somewhat lower risk of [[divorce]], regardless of how much or little is spent on the honeymoon itself.<ref name=":0" />  However, high spending and incurring significant debt on other wedding-related expenses, such as [[engagement ring]]s and [[Wedding ceremony|wedding ceremonies]], is associated with a high risk of divorce.<ref name=":0">{{Cite report|last1=Francis-Tan|first1=Andrew|last2=Mialon|first2=Hugo M.|date=2014-09-15|title='A Diamond is Forever' and Other Fairy Tales: The Relationship between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration|language=en|location=Rochester, NY|doi=10.2139/ssrn.2501480|ssrn=2501480|s2cid=44741655}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Marriage leave]]
*[[Vacation]]
*[[Honeymoon rhinitis]]
*[[Urinary tract infection#Honeymoon cystitis|Honeymoon cystitis]]

==References==
{{Sister project links 
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|commonscat=Honeymoons 
|wikt=honeymoon 
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{{Reflist}}

{{Tourism}}
{{wedding}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Wedding]]
[[Category:Types of tourism]]
[[Category:Types of travel]]