Choices, choices

There are so many choices to make when planning a wedding. Right now my focus has turned to dresses. I want to have the attendant’s dress picked out by the end of September so I can get the flowers and candles going. I am on hold with those items since I need a color swatch from the dresses to match things up. I plan to get my dress done in early November when my mom is here for a visit. Adam’s on his own for the men’s clothing, but he’s pretty much decided on the colors and is just waiting to see where he wants to go for them.

With that kind of thing pretty much under control I have started thinking about honeymoon options. Originally Adam had suggested a cruise but he later changed his mind and rooted more for a European trip of some kind. I had at one point suggested The Grand Canyon but he shot that one down. I was all gung-ho for a European trip as well until I started really thinking about it. Let me try and organize my thoughts here:

Choice 1: Trip to Europe
I’d love to go to France again and see other countries in the vicinity (Germany, Italy, etc.) My main apprehension now is that a honeymoon might not be the right time to do this kind of trip. Honeymoons are supposed to be relaxing times to spend with the person you love. You unwind from the craziness that weddings tend to be and you just want to spend as much time doing nothing as you can. Europe is not really conducive to being relaxing and you’re more likely to run around trying to see everything than spend time doing nothing. It would be a waste to fly all the way over there and then spend the whole time in a hotel. Even with a great travel agent there are so many opportunities for things to go wrong. The food is very different, the people are very different, and I think there may be too many chances for us to get completely pissed at each other. Not a good way to spend our honeymoon. Still, it has been a few years since I’ve been to France…

Choice 2: Alaskan Cruise
We had discussed this previously. He’s never been on an Alaskan cruise and I’ve never been on a cruise period. My mom and sister went on one this past spring and they loved it. I’d like to try one out and a honeymoon seems like it might be the perfect time. Once you get on the ship you’re basically taken care of for a week. No running around, no strange food, no potentially confusing customs. You’ve got a lovely room to hole up in. There are ports of call you can go explore if you want. If not, there’s still that lovely room waiting for you. Romantic spas, breath-taking views. As talented as we are, I think there’d be fewer opportunities to pick fights when things are basically taken care of and there’s no risk of getting lost. Of course people always say you eat too much on a cruise. It’s also potentially more expensive than a trip to Europe, depending on what kind of room you get and what is all included.

I think you can tell which way I’m leaning. To me it just makes more sense to do something relaxing and mindless. I haven’t really talked to Adam about this yet. I’m just kicking ideas around. I do know that there are four different cruises that go Seattle roundtrip leaving the 19th though… :) Perhaps some outside input would help?