Honeymoon History

So now that you’ve found out where you should take your dream honeymoon, let’s explore the origins of a honeymoon.

While it is now widely accepted as the first trip taken by the new couple (and the first time they can be officially alone as man and wife), there are historic meanings to this tradition.

Like most wedding traditions, the history of the honeymoon varies from one geographical location to the next. And, like a lot of human history, the story isn’t always pretty.

Possible Origins

The first written record of the word itself was a 1552 document called Abecedarium Anglico Latinum by Richard Huloet. Huloet defined the term “honeymoon” as “a term proverbially applied to such as be new married, which will not fall out at the first, but the one loueth the other at the beginning exceedingly, the likelihood of their exceeding love appearing to assuage, the which time the vulgar people call the honey moon”

Okay, the language might have flowed a little better in 1552, but this mostly implies that marital love started sweet but had the tendency to wane after time. Also, the way the definition is structured also implies that this was a term that was commonly used at the time and that its origins lay at an even earlier time.

This probably refers to the ancient practice of the groom’s capture of his bride-to-be. They would hide out for a month while her parents searched for her. The goal of this would be to hope for a pregnancy that would seal the deal before they were discovered.

Another possible source is the practice of a married couple drinking honey wine known as mead for a month after their nuptials. This would help ease the bride’s tensions as well as supposedly act as an aphrodisiac and fertility aid for the period.

Honey = Mead and Moon= Month in this scenario.

Whether you choose to believe this folklore or not, your honeymoon is certainly something to look forward to after the long wedding planning process.