The history of honeymoons
A honeymoon is an important part of the getting married for most couples. It is a chance to get away from family and friends and spend some time alone together. After the stress of the wedding most couples appreciate having the opportunity to do just that. Honeymoons have been important for newly married couples for a long time now, although nobody is sure just how long they have been around.
The origin of the honeymoon is not clear. The best theory is that it first came about from Norse culture when men used to literally kidnap their bride. The idea was that they would take the bride away into hiding and not appear in public again until she was pregnant. At this point with would be too late to do anything about the marriage so that the family of the bride would just have to accept the marriage. There are a few other theories about the how honeymoons got started but nobody really knows for sure.
Honeymoons as we know them today first got started during the Victorian era. During this period it was common for the upper classes to go on a tour of Europe. Usually they would make their first visit to the continent when they were young adults and then they would do it again when they got married. This was where most of the traditions that we associate with honeymoons got started. Back in the Victorian period a honeymoon could last for months; this was mainly because of the time involved in travelling back during those days.
In the early part of the twentieth century particularly after the end of the First World War the honeymoon started to become common amongst the middle classes and was no longer something that just the wealthy did. The reason for this was largely that it became a lot easier to travel long distances as trains came into widespread use. The result was that more and more people could afford to take a trip for their honeymoon so most of them did. During this period most honeymoons involved taking a trip to Europe just like the Victorians had done, although the trip was usually much shorter as most people really couldn’t afford to spend several months travelling.
As the twentieth century progressed honeymoons changed again as the choice of destinations increased. These days most people prefer to go to a tropical destination although there are plenty of people who still honeymoon in Europe. One of the other changes that has occurred is that people tend to go on honeymoons that involve a lot more activities. Rather than just going to see the sites they go to have an experience. These days you can go almost anywhere that you want and do almost anything on your honeymoon.