Short (2-3 day) Honeymoons

[ari & scott]

I am a teacher and we are getting married next May. I wondered if anyone had advice on taking a short trip right after we are married (I can't get time off for the HM during the school year)? We still want to take a real HM in June or July, but would like to go somewhere for Sunday and Monday. Do you guys think this is a crazy thing? Thanks!

[SweetRed]

Not crazy at all. When DH and I got married last summer, we knew we wanted to do something special for a HM, but we also knew we needed to get away some place warm during the winter and we didn't have the vacation time to do both. So, we took a 4-day trip to Iceland after we got married (it's less than a 3-hour flight from Boston) and then did 10 days in Hawaii this past January.

Take whatever time you can get. You'll likely be exhausted after the wedding :)

[nettreefrog]

I don't think it is crazy at all. After a wedding, most people feel the need to unwind and just relax. I think a 2-3 day trip would be just what the doctor ordered especially if you don't travel too far for it.

[PeanutButter]

Not crazy at all! That's what we did...

DH was in b-school at the time, and had to be back for classes. We took a 3 day trip to Lake Placid, NY and stayed at this *beautiful* resort and spa.
www.mirrorlakeinn.com

It was driving distance from our wedding. We had the most relaxing time. We were exhausted, anyway, and it was perfect.

Almost a year later, we went our honeymoon to Belize. We relaxed there, as well, but because weren't totally wiped out, I think we had a more adventurous HM than we otherwise would have. We did a fair amount of hiking and biking.

I actually highly recommend the two-part honeymoon!

[Rosebud]

I think many couples do this, actually. I'd suggest looking for a romantic B&B, spa or nice hotel somewhere close to your wedding location for the weekend. It'll be nice to just relax and enjoy that time after the wedding. Then, you can take a longer trip when it's more convenient.

[j*east]

ITA with everyone else. Our HM was just 4-5 nights b/c we didn't have a lot of money, and it still felt great to get away. You will probably be exhausted, so I agree that it's best to go somewhere close and mellow. DH and I both felt achy and flu-ish the first day or two, and I know a lot of people who got sick on their honeymoons from all the excitement and stress leading up to the wedding. It's great to get married, but for most people, very tiring too!

[ari & scott]

Thank you all so much for replying! I think a relaxing trip somewhere close would be great.

PeanutButter - Thanks for the suggestion about Mirror Lake, it looks great. I'm a little more inspired to look at things now knowing other people have enjoyed a short HM.

[laura]

I think it's definitely do-able, but I would suggest somewhere close as my personal preference. Personally I would not want to fly more than about 2 hours or drive more than about 3 hours away for just 2 nights (actually I would prefer to not fly anywhere for just 2 nights, but I think it would be do-able). We were so exhausted after our wedding that I think 2 days of pure R&R would be fabulous. It is for this reason that I wouldn't want to go somewhere extremely tourist-y where I would feel pressured to DO a lot of stuff (like, say, Disney World, or the like - not that you were even considering there, just using it for comparison!). As others have said, a resort, spa or B&B in the relatively close area would make a great mini getaway. We went to Aruba for a week and we literally didn't move farther than the room to the pool/beach for 2 days - even deciding where to go to dinner was taxing. :p

[nicole]

I call these mini-moons. :) We're thinking (well, I'm thinking!) about doing something like this because we won't have any vacation time left after the wedding.

[SheRa]

We're taking a "mini-moon" (good term, nicole!) for the 4 days after the wedding. We researched just about every honeymoon imaginable, but since I just took a 2 week trip to Germany in March -- I used up all of my fun money AND all of my vacation time! So I will definitely not have enough vacation time saved up to take a week vacation (well, at least not a week vacation & a few days before the wedding, which I will NEED) -- so we're just heading up to Northern Minnesota & relaxing. Which...sounds perfect to me anyways.

I made him promise to take me on a "real" honeymoon on our first anniversary, though. :D

[springprincess]

That's what we're doing. We just got married (April 8!) and we're going to Savannah (so romantic, and tons of great inns and things to do) for a few days this summer, then a big honeymoon over New Years.

[Lil_Mrs_0702]

What area do you live in? If there is a nice lake by you or an ocean town I would suggest just going there for a weekend. My parents also find lots of great package deals at local casinos.
Or if you guys are outdoorsy you could go camping or even a cabin somewhere.

[Tonysweetie]

My DH and I took a short HM. We stayed 2 nights in a hotel on the beach a bout 15 minutes from home. Then we got on a 4 days cruise. So only gone for 6 days. But the 2 nights int he hotel were by far the best over the cruise. You could do something like that.

[honeygirl]

I wish we'd taken a short honeymoon. Our first honeymoon was about 5 days I think and I was SO READY to go home after the 2-3rd day. It's a long story, but the weather was crappy and it was bad timing.

We decided to re-do our honeymoon about 6 months later and spent a week in Hawaii. It was WONDERFUL. We refer to that as our honeymoon now. :)

[Renrel]

Not crazy at all. We also did two honeymoons though the first was not that short. We wanted to go to Africa on Safari for our Wedding Year Trip and wanted to be there in the winter but our wedding was end of the summer. We took a week in a boutique resort in St. Lucia for a week just after the wedding. We were married on a Sunday afternoon, drove home on Monday and left on the honeymoon Tuesday. Then 6mths later we were away for over 3 weeks in Tanzania. Though to be honest, I think we both tend to feel that the pre wedding trip we took to Greece during our engagement felt most like a honeymoon to us. But all three trips were wonderful in their own ways. I am glad we did so much travelling than and before we were engaged because with a kid I don't know see us doing any exciting travel in the near future.

I would definately suggest going someplace near by and just making the time about relaxing. A spa, a B and B, fancy hotel with room service, whatever your fantasy is. You will spend time talking about the wedding, looking at digital pictures if you have any, thinking about the future, sleeping and getting used to the fact that you are really married. I think you will get more attention at a place that does not cater specificly to honeymooners. They will see you as a novelty to faune over a bit, rather than another obnoxious couple of newlyweds expecting special attention, like the other 100 who came through in the last month, if you know what I mean.