First, congratulations on getting married!

It's hard to add anything to what Knot and Trek said (you two are so romantic!), and GLC, too. The wedding should be what you want. Make it so.

My D*H and I sort of eloped, meaning we just went down to City Hall and were married by a clerk there. We didn't go off anywhere - didn't have the time or the money then. We celebrated with a dinner at one of the city's best restaurants and I had some pretty flowers and a new dress. (Second marriage for me, first for him.)

We never really had a honeymoon, either, as I was working as a teacher at the time and couldn't leave until summer vacation, which was still a couple of months away. As soon as school ended, we packed up and moved house to California. We drove cross-country in four days in a 24-foot Ryder truck. Not exactly a honeymoon.

We just celebrated our 14th anniversary, though, and just returned from a really wonderful vacation in Hawaii. We spent a a week in Waikiki and a few days on Maui, and if you're into tropical hikes, snorkeling, diving, and the like, I can highly recommend Maui as a place for a destination wedding. Apparently a lot of people choose this option because I saw "Just Maui'd" t-shirts there, and one of the frequent questions was whether we were celebrating a wedding or anniversary.

It truly is a romantic place. I can recommend the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel. It's low key, laid back, not at all commercially fussy like some big chains, and the people were really wonderful, and they have a small lawn right on the beach for weddings.

There's snorkeling right off the beach, too, and if you walk north about 200 yards, there are turtles at Black Rock, one of the most sacred places of ancient Hawaii, so it's pretty cool if you can catch it just before sunset - really creates a mood when the Hawaiian guy goes out to light the tiki torches along the top of the rock, does a chant, throws a lei into the water, then dives in from 20 feet up.

You can rent decent snorkel gear there, too, which saves on the packing. Go as light as you can. I pretty much lived in my bathing suit and sarong all week, with a couple of dresses for dinners out.

Wherever you choose to go, I wish you luck and a safe journey.

Much love,

Roxy