A honeymoon is a

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...

taken by newlyweds after their

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

to celebrate their

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. 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

The custom in

Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

and some westernized countries' cultures of a newlywed couple going on a holiday together originated in early-19th-century 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

. The practice soon spread to the European continent and was known in France as a ('English-style voyage'), from the 1820s onwards. Honeymoons in the modern sense—a pure holiday voyage undertaken by the couple—became widespread during the ''

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

'', in the late 1800s as one of the first instances of modern

mass tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

. According to some sources, the honeymoon is a relic of

marriage by capture Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry. Bride kidnapping (hence the portmanteau bridenapping) has been practiced around the world and t ...

, 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 Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

by the end of the month.

Etymology

The honeymoon was originally the period following marriage, "characterized by love and happiness," as attested since 1546. ''s.v.'' The word may allude to "the idea that the first month of marriage is the sweetest". According to a different version, of the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

: Today, ''honeymoon'' has a positive meaning, but originally it may have referred to the inevitable waning of love, like a

phase of the moon A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth. In common usage, the four major ...

. In 1552,

Richard Huloet Richard Huloet was a 16th-century English lexicographer. He was born at Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire. He was a contemporary of Peter Levens, John Withals, and John Véron. According to some sources, Samuel Johnson and he were the first ...

wrote: In many modern languages, the word for a honeymoon is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

(e.g., ) or near-calque. Persian has a similar word, , which translates to 'month of honey' or 'moon of honey'. A 19th-century theory claimed that the word alludes to "the custom of the higher order of the Teutones to drink

Mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

, or Metheglin, a beverage made with ''honey'', for thirty days after every wedding", but the theory has been challenged. 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.

Modern practice

The modern purpose of honeymooning varies by culture. For those in an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...

, 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. According to the 2023 Global Wedding Report done by '' 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.

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

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.

Solomoon or unimoon

An emerging 21st-century travel trend is the "solomoon" or "unimoon", a separate, solo holiday the newlyweds take without their spouse. ''The New Zealand Herald'' cites a report by ''The New York Times'' that such alternatives to honeymoons are "particularly suited for couples who just cannot agree on where to go".

Effects

One 2015 scholarly study concluded that going on a honeymoon is associated with a somewhat lower risk of

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, regardless of how much or little is spent on the honeymoon itself. However, high spending and incurring significant debt on other wedding-related expenses, such as

engagement ring An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse ...

s and wedding ceremonies, is associated with a high risk of divorce.

References

{{Authority control Wedding Types of tourism Types of travel