We present a new approach to determine an accurate variational wave function for general quantum spin models, completely defined by a consistency requirement with the simple and well-known linear spin-wave expansion. With this wave function, it is also possible to obtain the correct behavior of the long distance correlation functions for the 1D S=1/2 antiferromagnet. In 2D the proposed spin-wave wave function represents an excellent approximation to the exact ground state of the S=1/2 XY model. We obtained accurate values for the correlation functions and discuss their physical relevance.
