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Modem
Whoopee
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by Joe Harkins - Jun 02, '99
It's June again and, as saucer-eyed Eddie Cantor
pointed out, it's time for, " . . . another bride, another groom, another sunny
honeymoon." Were he performing today, knowing what the Internet offers, instead
of singing, "Makin' Whoopee," he might have made it, "Modem
Whoopee."
For reasons that should not have to be explained, the honeymoon
virtually always follows the wedding, not the other way around. Wiser folks than I have
remarked that in too many situations where the honeymoon occurs first, the wedding never
happens at all. Your mother probably discussed this phenomenon quite clearly at one time
or another, and often.
Given the usual sequence in which the two events occur, it's
disappointing how many wedding-related web sites avoid the opportunity to deliver an
interactive honeymoon-planning tool. I'd expected to find at least a few good online
questionnaires that would lead couples through such issues as personal preferences, time
of year, costs, etc. with the goal of suggesting appropriate choices. One of the few I
found is Vacation.com.
As a matter of fact, there aren't many genuinely interactive honeymoon
planners online at all. Many of the web sites that claim to offer a "honeymoon
planner" actually are nothing more than a brochure site determined to sell you a
packaged tour to a destination chosen by an advertiser.
What's in a good planner? Money is always a big
issue, so a budget is fundamental. You'll find a simple but effective honeymoon
budget-making form at <site name
censored>. The identical form
(right down to the wording) is offered by Modern
Bride Magazine. I wonder how that happened?
(for the story behind that <site name
censored> click here )
In the absence of interactive guides, online directories are an
alternative. The biggest and best of all is the Honeymoons Guide Section of recently
renamed About.com,
whose maiden name was The Mining Company. Your real live human guide, Susan
Breslow Sardone, even has built a highly lucid section titled, "How to use
this site." If you visit that page, be sure to review her encyclopedic, "Honeymoons
A to Z"
A smaller
package of good articles can be found at All About
Weddings. When you get the home page, select "All About Honeymoons."
The Wedding
Channel has an impressive set of planning aids. The site is elegantly designed yet
swift in delivering pages. You can set up a totally detailed online scheduling calendar.
However, suggested destinations are limited to paid advertisers. That's not much help if
you are looking for creative input for one of the most heavily anticipated trips you'll
ever take.
Speaking of anticipation, during an earlier era of more virtuous
pre-nuptial behavior, Oscar Wilde said, "Niagara Falls is the second biggest
disappointment of the standard honeymoon." I must disagree with him. The Falls
are quite exciting.
But to return to our main topic, WedNet
offers a Library of honeymoon planning articles, as well as tips and tricks. Weather
Planner is a fee-based service promising, " . . . detailed, reliable and
customized forecasts up to one year in advance!" Somewhere on the site I'm sure
there's a disclaimer. I suggest you read it very carefully. Either that or pack an
umbrella.
The
Knot has archives of dozens of well-organized and well-written essays on where to go
and what to see. Likewise, Brides
and Grooms has links to many honeymoon ideas.
An excellent source of advice is the recent experience of other
couples. One of the best Chat Areas for that is Epicurious.
Scroll down to and click on Forums in the lower right corner of the page. On the next
page, scroll to and click on Two
On The Isle.
If you are familiar with Newsgroups, subscribe to the two leading
resources, news:soc.couples.wedding and news:alt.wedding. If these are news to you, subscribing is
simple. You can click on either of those links and it will open the program on your
computer called a "newsgroup reader" or go to the web site DejaNews and
follow directions
Finally, observant readers will have noticed that I've not once
mentioned the alleged state of wedded bliss that supposedly follows the honeymoon. I'm
referring now to the dreaded "m" word. Don't expect a Travel The Net
column about that in the foreseeable future.
-30-
the story behind
<site name
censored>
When
the existence of the identical planners was brought to their attention, a representative
of Modern Bride responded,
"We have had this
planner on ModernBride.com
since first quarter 1997. It was created by our editors and programmers, and I am sure
that anywhere else it appears online has come from us (without our permission) . . . it
seems that our planner has been copied."
Within
a short time after notice was sent to <other site
name censored> that this column was
about to reveal the pirated planner's existence on their site, the stolen page
disappeared. Although the webmaster there has admitted appropriating the Modern Bride
planner, he expressed no repentance and closed his last message with:
"Hopefully you can make a good story of it because it will surely
draw curiosity seekers to (my) site."
Because
some of Travel The Net's best friends are hard working programmers who code their own
work, I'm not going to abet the theft of Modern Bride's work by providing a link to the
offending site. back to where you were in
the column
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