how we picked our mini-moon

Photo courtesy of The White Elephant

In today's dispatch from the First World: the mini-moon.

Now most of you (minus my other Manhattan bride-friends) are saying. What the fuck is a mini-moon?

Is it just like, it's just like a mini-mall?

No.

And it's also not some delectable moonpie-like confection. Blame Hostess for that one.

A mini-moon, for the uninitiated, is a truncated honeymoon, generally taken immediately after the wedding. It's a common occurrence when the couple is planning a longer, true honeymoon for later in the year, but can't fathom the idea of going back to work just one short day after their nuptials. Like I said: First World.

Since Mike and I are planning a year-long trip around the world like someone in an Edith Wharton novel a rather extended voyage to Southeast Asia in winter 2013-2014, we decided that a minimoon, regardless of its First World-ness, was going to be necessary if only for the few days of relaxation it offered.

Everyone tells me that you never sleep so soundly as you do in the few days after your wedding and I totally believe it. Just yesterday I made myself a mini-timeline (mini!) of everything we still need to schedule, order and plan and I legitimately needed a nap just after reading it through. So the thought of returning to work less than a day after our guests go home was definitely shiver-inducing.

Plus, mentally, don't you want that time to be with your new HUSBAND alone? And not just for those reasons, although I am taking up a collection for lingerie, if anyone would like to donate. But I think both of us will want a few days to be able to process everything that happened, whether that's cackling over which members of the wedding party hooked up or just how much I love looking at Mike in a tux.

From our home base in NYC, we ruled out anything longer than about a four-hour flight. Minimoons are meant to be rejuvenating, after all, and a quick trek to Iceland is both not quick enough and far too trekky.  Our shortlist included The Hamptons, Charleston, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. We also toyed with the idea of Paris, but I've decided that's a far better first anniversary trip. So if someone could fill Mike in on my favorite hotel there, that would be great.

We ultimately decided on Nantucket, as it's the perfect mix of beach, New Englandy sea air, and there's even a little downtown, should we feel the need to wrest ourselves from a deep slumber and inhale a few lobster rolls. After consulting with the ever-fabulous editor in chief of Niche's Boston Common, we chose The White Elephant for its accessible location and giant elephant statue on the yard. Also, according to the website, there's complimentary afternoon port and cheese. And Lords knows after my pre-wedding diet of air and fizzy water, I will be snorting lines of lardo and burrata for about a solid week.

I digress.

If anyone has any Nantucket recommendations for beaches, food, bars, food, and food, do drop me a line. We're going old-school and leaving straight from our post-wedding brunch (I'm still finding an appropriate hat to wave "ta-ta" with), so we'll have about three days of beach bopping. Woo!