I have some questions, and I want *YOUR* opinions. Yes, you. Right there. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Please? Share your thoughts. I *need* your help!
– We have already started receiving wedding gifts. We want to send out thank you notes right away so that the person who sent it will know that it made it here ok. Problem? Our “formal” thank you cards have our married name. I am not supposed to use them until after the wedding. I don’t want to wait a month to mail these notes. What should I do?
– The great honeymoon debate continues. Here are a list of citys, with the issues related to each one:
– Chicago: Fabulous city. I lived 60 miles south in Kankakee, IL when I was in elementary school, but we moved to Houston when I was 15. I’ve never been there as an adult. Mike’s never been there at all, and really wants to go. Fabulous food. Museums. Restaurants. Navy Pier. Lots of other stuff. Negatives? Doesn’t sound “honeymoony,” and I have seen some of it when I was a kid – I’m afraid that I’ll be disappointed by some things. Childhood memories not living up to reality and all that.
– Paris: I love the Eiffel Tower. We have both visited Paris, for a total of maybe 24 hours – combined. Less than one day each. We both want to see Paris again. It’s the city of love and all that. We have airline miles to pay for the flight, so going there probably won’t be much more expensive than staying in the US. Negatives? George Bush is an idiot and the French hate Americans right now. (I’ve heard that Americans that have loved Paris in the past were treated very rudely there.) Mike’s afraid it’s too touristy. He knows a little French, I know “Bon Jour.”
– London: I have always wanted to visit London. Always. Since I was a little girl. We’ll blame Mary Poppins for that, I guess. I want to see so many historic places, there are too many to list here. Mike lived there for a year, so he knows his way around the city – but he spent most of his time at work and never saw all the touristy things I want to see. He absolutely loves the city, and wants to share it with me. And the people speak English (with a heavy accent, but still – it’s English.) Negatives? He lived there, so he has memories associated with the city. That’s a pretty minor negative though, as there is so much he has never seen in the city – so much that will be new for us together.
– Danube River Cruise – This trip starts off with 3 days in Prague, and then you travel the river from Nuremberg to Budapest, stopping in Vienna and other cities. It’s a gorgeous part of Europe that we have never seen, and it would be nice leisurely travel. We won’t have to make decisions about where to go – we get an itinerary to follow, and the decisions are made. Negatives? We’re on their time schedule. If we like one city and want to stay there, we can’t – we will have to continue on. If the food is horrid or anything like that on the boat, it could really ruin the trip.
– Germany – I lived there in the early ’90s, and have wanted to go back since the day I left. I would love to take Mike to see Heidelberg, Rothenberg, Wurzburg, Neuschwanstein, Garmish and Munich. He would love to see all the cities I love so much. Negatives? My memories tied to Germany. There are so many places I want to see, we would be moving around from city to city every other day. We would have to rent a car probably to drive from one side of the country to the other.
– New Orleans – Originally, we wanted to go there. Unfortunately, the weekend after our wedding is the “Great French Market Tomato Festival” and all the rooms in New Orleans are booked. It was like a flashback of our trip there last year.
We’ve also talked about a bunch of other places, but I think the final three right now are Chicago, Paris, London or the Danube cruise. What do you think? Have you been to any of these places? Pros? Cons? If we go to one of the locations, what should we see? Have any tips to share? Come on, you know you’re thinking something about all of this.
26 replies on “It’s Sharing Time!”
Paris. Go to Paris. They don’t hate Americans, they hate Bush. There’s a difference that they understand. The food, the beauty, the shopping, the beauty, the art, the people, the food. Go to Paris.
Humble opinions to follow…
1- send a note card that says you recieved their gift and that you can’t wait to “discover what it is”. Don’t mention the item… just that you recieved it.
Chicago is still cool and just trendy enough to have some fun. The French will “hate” America for any reason – though a friend said that they have been extra nice to some tourists lately and asking if they’ve been nice enough! London, i have never associate with romance so my opinion is a bit biased. A Cruise is nice if it is a big fancy-shmancy ordeal. If you think the French hate America right now, then Germany is right there with them – my expatriot friend will attest to that. N.O. would be great… bummer on the hotels.
You have up to a year to send out the official Thank You cards. Send them out later. However, a quick note (not a thank you one) to let them know it was received, wouldn’t hurt. They’ll probably just be glad that you thought of them.
I’m in the “nice little note” school. I think an acknowledgment of receipt is good for now, and then a formal thank you note for after the reception or private gift-opening would be appropriate.
As for the honeymoon, does it really matter? Are you going to be sight-seeing or simply relaxing for the first time as a married couple. After all the stress of wedding planning, I’d opt for low-key and romantic. Just my humble opinion (especially since I can only dream of places like Germany, Prague, or London).
All I’m thinking is that I’d love to go to any of those places. I don’t know anything about honeymoons or thankyou cards, but it sounds to me you can’t go wrong with any of those honeymoon places. 🙂
i’m rooting for Paris – big time!! so romantic! as for London – Mike’s been there already… as for New Orleans – it’s too close. i like the sound of the cruise, but you’re miss picky eater! as for Germany – you’ve been there already, too…
those are great places to go for when you’re thinking of anniversary trips… but my money’s on Paris all the way!!!
as for the thank you notes, write them out already so you don’t have to write them all at once. then send them out after the wedding and get them out of the way asap.
The French hate Americans now…like they didn’t before! Sorry – tacky comment!
The cruise sounds wonderful to me!! Germany might be too busy – traveling from one place to another every day. You want to enjoy your trip, but remember it’s your honeymoon – at time to RELAX after all the wedding bru-ha-ha! It shouldn’t be too hectic, but again it’s YOUR honeymoon – do what makes you happy and what you will enjoy.
As for the cards – that’s why I didn’t order pre-printed formal thank you cards. If there aren’t too many and you really want to send a thank you now, get a few that aren’t pre-printed that you can mail out, otherwise wait till after the wedding! Emily is right – you have a year! I still haven’t rec’d a thank you from my coworker that got married in December!
There’s my two cents worth x ten!!
I’d go to Europe because I love Europe. London and Paris are both faboo, although personally, I think it’s hard to beat Venice for romance. You could also go to England and get out of London (frex, go to Edinburgh in Scotland).
By the time you get to your honeymoon, you’ll probably be glad to have your itinerary planned. I haven’t cruised the Danube, but I have travelled in that area and I’ve cruised both the Rhine and the Greek isles, and I loved both of those.
Send your thank-yous right away on plain cards, BTW. You’ll be glad they’re out of the way, and you won’t forget to send them later.
Paris – It’s someplace new to *both* of you so you will be exploring and discovering together. And it isn’t any more “touristy” than London is. I can tell you some places to check out too… I agree that the cruise may be a bit restictive and Chicago can be your 1st anniversary trip. Either way – I am sure you will have a fabulous time wherever you go…
a) write the cards NOW. Sign and seal, and place somewhere safe. Assign one of the bridesmaids to mail them THE DAY of the wedding. You’ll look like a STUD (she got married AND did thank you cards ALL ON THE SAME DAY!!!)
b)Paris all the way.
I’d say Spain, but it’s not on your list and it’s a different political climate there than it was a few years ago. My brother and SIL chose that for their “let’s travel seriously before we have kids” trip, since “everyone does London and Paris.” I think Paris sounds like the best choice, though, since it’s neutral for both of you, and you’ll be discovering things together instead of one of you showing the other around. But remember, it doesn’t really matter — you’ll be together, and that’s what counts!!
I’ve never been to any of those cities, except New Orleans. My top 2 choices of your list would be Chicago or London. Like you, I love history and the chance to see London is pretty incredible on the history geekometer. However, Chicago is rich in so many things. So, it all boils down to how much you want to travel to and from your honeymoon.
The thank you cards can wait, just send a little note saying you’ve received them.
Honeymoon, I’d say Paris as neither of you have been there at any length. You can discover it together.
Send a note – just not those notes. Then send those notes later. I know – double the work. 🙁
You can’t trust my choice for honeymoon, because my list would be different from yours. Suggestion – spend a few days in Chicago sharing your memories. Fly direct to London and share his. I think you’ll find that old memories and new memories work wonderfully together.
Have a great weekend!
Since I was in Paris not too long ago, I can attest that they don’t hate Americans. 🙂 And it’s a positively wonderful city. It’s not too touristy if you’re not always doing touristy things. It’s like New York that way – you can go to New York and do touristy things all the time, then feel like it’s a touristy city. But if you go to New York and see it like a New Yorker, well then it’s a grand city (for the most part).
Like you told me before I went, as long as I’m friendly, they’re friendly back.
Anyway, I’d go to any of the places you mentioned in a heartbeat, but if you really want to go to Paris, don’t let the reasons you gave stop you.
London, Paris or the Cruise are all good choices. You can go to Chicago or New Orleans anytime but Europe is … well, Europe. And I think it will be so much romantic. I love Europe, I have been to London, Paris and to Germany, and I have to tell I’m very partial to Paris … it’s soo beatiful and there is so much to do.
Just the way you are writing about it, it seems to me that you wrote the least negatively about London. It seems like this is the place you both would love to see, could do leisurely, not worry about language barrier. I’ve been to Paris, but not since 9/11. When I was there I knew NO french and got by fine and was treated nicely.
I LOVE all those places in Germany you listed. I absolutely adore Germany and all those places in Bavaria you listed are gorgeous.
But anyway, they all sound cool in their own way, I just think that the way you wrote the list, it seems like maybe you want to choose London?
Just a thought.
I’d vote for writing the thank you notes now and sending them on the day of the wedding. People don’t expect you to open presents before the wedding… (though everyone does I think).
As for honeymoons, my vote is for Paris – it’s just beautiful. If you wanted to you could take the bullet train over to London for a few days. Yeah – Paris and London would be my vote. (I know that’s not one of the options but that’s my 2 cents…)
I say you call them and thank them now, then just send all the thank you cards out after the wedding. That we they know you get it and appreciate the gift and you don’t have to fret over the technicalities of your cards.
Chicago and New Orleans – why stay in the US? Boring! Germany – see I’m originally from there so to ME it’s not super exciting. Not as pretty as other places may be. Danube cruise almost sounds rushed and stressful. I say maybe Paris, but mostly London. But why stay in the hemisphere at all? I plan on going to Australia or New Zealand!
I say send the notes! People will appreciate that you did this so promptly.
And I would go someplace in Europe. I hate New Orleans. I went there, and the crime sucked. It was dirty. Not very romantic.
Go to Jamaica!!! Oh wait… that wasn’t an option. 😉 Well that’s where we went. Had a total blast.
I would say London or Paris.
As for the notes. I’m trying to remember what we did. I’m sure we sent thank you notes right away – and I didn’t wait until after we were married to start using whatever the gift was. As far as what we USED for the thank you note… I honestly can’t remember… but I think I used “regular” thank you notes.
Write the notes now. Mail post-wedding.
London.
Btw, this is why I’ll be giving a wedding gift in like 6 months. All the wedding crap will be long over by then. 😉
Europe, definitely! Chicago, New Orleans.. well, those are weekend trips. Europe is an experience!
I’m with Icyshard on this one. It seems that the one you’re really excited about is London. Plus, after all of the wedding excitment and stress, it’s a place with no real language barrier, so you can just relax and see the sites, though all of the places in Europe sound great!
My only question is: why can’t you see all three places in Europe? Start in London, take the train and work your way down. Fly back from Germany. Everyone’s happy!
An Addition…
To address issues brought up in my previous post comments, I thought I would write another post. – Mike has…