It was 9 P.M. We'd just finished unpacking, and Charlene asked me to go buy her some aspirin," said Leon. "I thought, 'Great, our first night together and she has a headache.' But I returned to find our hotel room glowing with candle light, a bottle of champagne on ice, and decorations our wedding around the room. I can't believe that with all the details of the wedding, she thought to organize this, too. It was one of the most beautiful surprises of my life."

The Packing Game

Experienced travelers try to pack exactly what they'll need-no more, no less. It helps to think of packing as a game. You lose one point for each item you bring but don't use (three points if the unused item takes up lots of space or is heavy); subtract three points for any hard-to-find items you forget to bring and one point for any other forgotten items. Give yourself a point for packing a sensible first-aid kit and five points if everything fits into carry-on luggage. If you are traveling in your own car, then you needn't subtract any points for bringing extra items if you organize them well.

Why the emphasis on packing light? The most important reason is that although you'll sometimes find porters and bellhops to carry your bags, you will often be left to handle them yourselves. Enough said? Frequent flyers usually pack only carry-on luggage so that they won't have to entrust their bags to the airlines, risking loss-temporary or otherwise--and pilferage. Although the airlines have improved their baggage handling, there still is a fair chance that you'll arrive at your destination without your bags. Finally, there is the aesthetic joy you'll feel in the precision of having brought just the right items.

The Basics

Whether you decide to play the "efficient packer" game or not, the key to bringing what you need is advance planning. I view this as a four-step process:

1. Find out what the weather is likely to be.
2. Think about what types of activities (sight-seeing, lounging at the beach, going out to a fancy restaurant) you're planning to enjoy and make a rough day-by-day itinerary.
3. Decide what you want to wear for each activity and make a head-to-toe clothing list for each one, including shoes, jewelry, undergarments, and accessories.
4. A few weeks before your trip, post a piece of paper on your wall in the morning and as you get ready to get dressed, write down each item you use (toothbrush, shampoo, moisturizer, hair dryer, comb . . .). Keep the list posted so you can add items as you think of them.

Plugged In

If you don't have a drip-dry hairstyle or like to touch up your clothes with an iron, you'll want to check ahead with your hotel to see which items they provide.

Hair dryers are standard in many hotel rooms; irons are usually available on request. Some hotel rooms have coffeemakers; if yours does not and you like coffee before you're out of bed, you may want to bring a small coffeepot to avoid having to wait for-and pay for-room service every morning.

If you're going abroad, be sure to inquire about the voltage and whether converters are provided. Even if you're not bringing any personal appliances, you may need a converter, for example, if you have a video camera with rechargeable batteries.

Packing Light

It's your honeymoon. You want to look your best every day. Of course, you'll pack your favorite outfits. But even for a two-or three-week honeymoon, you don't need to fill a trunk to always have something fresh and special to wear. In fact, staying away longer doesn't necessarily mean packing more. You can pack the same amount for one week or three weeks. How?

Do laundry at the hotel. Either let the hotel handle it or hand wash.

Bring easy-care fabrics. Washable silks - especially shirts and underwear generally dry wrinkle-free in a few hours. Some treated cottons never wrinkle and dry overnight. For cold-weather destinations, silk long johns add a lightweight, warm layer to your clothing and are hand washable and quick-drying.

Pack coordinates. Clothes that mix and match with each other let you create new looks with a few versatile items.

Staying Wrinkle-Free

You don't want to spend your honeymoon ironing, but traveling tends to crumple clothes, and you're not into the just-rolled-out-of-bed look. What can you do? The first step is picking the right fabrics. Silks and wools can be shower steamed to smooth out wrinkles (hang the items in the shower where they won't get wet, close the bathroom door, and let the hot water run until the bathroom steams up). Many synthetic fabrics never wrinkle.

If your clothes are not crease resistant, take heart. It's not only what you pack but how you pack as well. Every frequent traveler seems to have a special method to minimize wrinkling. Here are a few basic principles:

Place heavy items, such as shoes and toilet kits, at the bottom so they don't press down on clothing. If clothing is rolled carefully without folds, it will usually unroll wrinkle-free on arrival. This is especially good for tee shirts.

If you're not bringing a garment bag, clothes that tend to wrinkle can be laid out neatly, with plastic between each layer, and then either folded gently around a sweater or laid out and placed carefully into the suitcase. If you're packing a garment bag, placing rolled items in the corners helps prevent shifting.

Your clothes are less likely to wrinkle if you pack your suitcase full enough so that they won't have room to shift much en route but not so stuffed that they get crushed. Use plastic bags to fill in some empty spaces that may be taken up with souvenirs on the way home.

Once you arrive, unpack so you have time to get any wrinkled items pressed. Most wrinkles will disappear if you hang your clothes in a closed, steamy bathroom.

Carry It On

If you are flying, be sure you have one bag that you never check. That bag should contain your passports, visas, and other travel documents as well as tickets, confirmations, and vouchers. Money, credit cards, cameras, jewelry, and other valuables should also be kept with you. Also carry on your glasses, prescription medication, and a change of clothes in case your suitcases are delayed as well as books, magazines, and games to play in flight. Some couples also like to bring their wedding gift list, address book, and stationery so they can write their thank-you notes en route.

Romantic Flourishes

Just back from a long day of sight-seeing, Hugh called Amber to join him in a bath."Our hotel room had a gorgeous marble whirlpool tub, and he was sitting there in bubbles-he had thought to pack my favorite bubble bath!" said Amber.

"I had decided to bring the bubble bath on our honeymoon about three weeks before we left," Hugh explained. "We were so stressed out that every night, we were taking these bubble baths together, and it was really nice."

Whether you decide to bring a taste of the familiar, as Hugh did, or to set a romantic mood with candles and champagne, like Charlene, it's fun to think ahead and pack for romance. Negligees and silk pajamas, a cassette or compact disc player with your favorite romantic music-or perhaps, a portable radio so you can pick up local programs, scented candles ... these are just a few ideas. Use your imagination to add the ingredients for a romantic surprise to your packing list, and you'll be set to create honeymoon memories to last a lifetime.

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