Where to Go? Everywhere!

As much as I never fantasized about my wedding, I have dreamt about my honeymoon for as long as I can remember. I love to travel and I guess I see a honeymoon as the ultimate vacation. Cost is less of an issue than usual, and people do things they wouldn't normally - swim with the dolphins, stay in a hut on a remote beach, explore a cave with a flashlight, visit a monastery at sunrise, etc. I used to always say I'd take a 3-month honeymoon when I finally got married, go to multiple countries, and just explore. So you can imagine that the honeymoon destination conversation has been a big one with MJ. Unfortunately, reality strikes and 3 months is more likely to be 2 weeks (though I have suggested on occasion that I could continue on the honeymoon without him...this idea was not well received). MJ really wants to go to Hawaii. He gets so excited thinking about exploring a volcano it makes me laugh. I wouldn't mind Hawaii, but it doesn't excite me as much. I was pushing for Australia/New Zealand on the pretense that it's so far that we're unlikely to go again for some time. Plus, his cousin has a beach house in New Zealand he's told us we could use. But it'll likely be winter there when we go, so that's not quite as compelling. I'm also trying to put Thailand, Bali, Morocco, and the Galapagos Islands in the mix. (Let me know if you have other ideas!) MJ also wants to include South America, Greece, and Japan, so I think we've covered almost every continent! It's such a big decision! I wish we could go everywhere! Until we have a confirmed date, it doesn't make sense to try to decide on a honeymoon, but honestly I'm more excited about confirming it! ;)

Speaking of dates... though we don't have a final date, it looks more and more like it'll be either 6/26 or 8/21. Woohoo! To finalize our date options, I had to call a panditji's cell phone yesterday, which was an interesting experience. But we got what we needed and everyone seems comfortable with these options. I'm hoping for 8/21 to give us a little more time to plan and it seems like a better date for a honeymoon and future anniversary trips :) We're still researching invitations as well. My mom wants them printed on both sides (Hindi on one, English on the other), which may limit our options. Some of them are so pretty, I'd really like to see some physically.

The funny thing about being the first in my family to get married is all the unknowns. Luckily I have a few friends who have been helpful and willing to share their information. Both got married in TX, one a year ago and one three years ago. My mom has a few good friends she can ask as well. But it's a touchy subject with some and we don't want to make anyone uncomfortable by asking them certain questions. Which makes it hard to find out stuff - like how much are you supposed to spend on flowers? How much jewelry should we buy? What are the challenges with getting invitations printed in India?

The other exciting news is that we setup our engagement party! We were able to confirm the upstairs bar at Pravda for a celebratory drink with some friends the night before the Superbowl. I think MJ and my brothers are going to stay to watch the game together too! We sent out invites using pingg, which I like so much better than evite. So far it sounds like people liked it better as well and quite a few will be able to come. I'm looking forward to it!