The Honeymoon: Go big, go small, or not go at all?

May 16, 2011

Featured Bride Mary L., Wedding Location: Braham, MN | Wedding Date: October 1, 2011

A question I’ve been getting since Tim and I got engaged was where we were going to spend our honeymoon. Some people do extravagant trips, others stay close to home, and some people don’t go on one at all- and that is totally ok! Every couple has their ideal honeymoon. Some people like to go to relaxing places, such as a beach, or all inclusive resort. Tim and I, we’re theme park people. Fast rides? Deep fried food? Count us in! Just remember, your honeymoon shouldn’t be about where you go, but who you go there with. Any place can be romantic and special when you are there with the person you love.

 At first, Tim and I were thinking we would like to have a short, close-to-home honeymoon, because it would be a cheaper alternative than taking a big trip, or so we thought.  We both love the Duluth area, so we thought about going to a cute bed and breakfast we learned about when we did our engagement pictures last fall. But there was a little voice in our heads telling us we should want more.

Last March, we visited Disney World in Florida with my parents. It was my second time there, Tim’s first. He loved it; I knew I already loved it. We did a 5 night, 6 day stay and visited all the parks.  Even before we got home, we both told each other we just had to go back.  Are you connecting the dots yet? 

Then we really got to thinking. Tim asked if I knew how much our trip cost last spring when we went and I did. He asked “so we technically should be able to do it for half that then right?”  I replied “well yeah, plus we wouldn’t have to do as many ‘fancy’ dinners.”  That got the ball rolling! He said if we could do the trip for half what we paid last spring that we could seriously look into it! Tim hadn’t really been involved looking at prices for our honeymoon (he had delegated that to me), so I hopped on my laptop! As I started investigating prices at Disney World, I learned something very surprising.  We had planned on doing a 3 night stay at a resort up on the North Shore, and looked into a 5 night, 6 day stay at Disney. When broke it down to price per day, it was surprisingly close. It was just a bit more per day to go to Disney, but that included airfare, hotel, and our park passes as opposed to just our hotel stay and 1 meal at the resort on the North Shore.  I was beaming!!

I kept getting letters in the mail from Chase to apply for their Disney Rewards Visa. It offered 6 months 0% interest financing on any Disney Vacation, plus a free $150 Disney gift card. I had joked with Tim and told him I wanted a pre-nup saying that if we didn’t go back to Disney World within 2 years of our marriage, we were getting a divorce. (I wastotally kidding on this, which he knew as well, but it was fun for us to joke about it!) This was offer seemed like a golden ticket! I approached Tim with the idea of going back to Disney World for our honeymoon, if we were approved for the card of course.  He agreed, so I sent off the application and we waited.

Shortly after, we got the approval and cards in the mail! Our dreams were coming true! I had priced out the trip, and it met our requirements of being below half of what we spent going last year (actually a lot cheaper than half!). We watched the trip for a while, because airfare kept going down, and then booked it! We’re counting the days until our wedding and now counting down until we leave to go back to “the happiest place on earth”!

Thanks, Mary. Follow Mary and her wedding journey here on My Wedding Chat.  If you are interested in becoming a My Wedding Chat Featured Bride and sharing your wedding story with brides and wedding-lovers alike, email bmadsen@weddingshoppeinc.com for more information!

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