Miss Peacock, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Internet Whiz
Engagement Date: December 5, 2006
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 13, 2007
Venue: St. Clement Church, Cafe Brauer (or a big church wedding and a fancy party at a cafe in Lincoln Park.
About Me: I am a grad student with a secret obsession for all things wedding related. I also love to read, travel, drink champagne and go for walks with our dog, Maisy, and Mr. Peacock. We are planning our very vintage wedding in the greatest city in the world, our hometown of Chicago. I am so proud to be a Bee!
Our Minimoon in the Dells
June 5th, 2008 @ 10:59 am by Mrs. Peacock
I realized today that I started the honeymoon conversation a long time ago, but I never let you all know where we were going. It turns out that Marriott stopped allowing you to use points to make your trip all-inclusive this year (boo) so we gave up on that idea. We still aren’t able to go on a long trip in September. Now, our plans call for a quickie honeymoon right after the wedding and a full honeymoon in late December/early January.
After talking it over with our married friends, we realized that we wanted a little getaway right after the wedding. Everyone mentioned how exhausted they were for the first few days of their marriage. Mr. Peacock had heard great things about a small spa in Wisconsin, right outside of the Dells, and set to work convincing me that it was the place to go. The spa sounded wonderful, but a honeymoon in the Wisconsin Dells did not. I went to the Dells with my family when I was 8 for the Tommy Bartlett Air and Water Show. There was a squirrel on water skis. We road the Ducks. It was a wonderful family vacation, but romantic getaway? No.
Then I saw pictures of Sundara, and I changed my mind.
Doesn’t look relaxing? We are going during the off-season and during the week, so we even got a bit of a deal on it!
Anyone else planning a mini getaway before or instead of a long honeymoon?
15 Responses to “Our Minimoon in the Dells”
I am not married yet, but we are considering the same thing. I have a class the Friday after the wedding, so we are thinking of doing a shorter trip, then maybe a HUGE trip after I’m done with my masters, to celebrate both! Luckily, I live in TX, so it would be possible to go to Cozumel or (hopefully!) Belize, but we have to see about budget, too! 
So, we could just do a cute local B&B.
Mine will be almost a year apart, but I think your idea is a good one, especially if you are going to be tired. That way when you go to your “dream destination” you will hopefully have more energy!
Please keep us posted!
i worked in the dells for five summers through out high school and college….
you will be able to find some fun, appropriate, and hopefully not too ridiculous places to visit if you want to leave the spa. Going in the off season is going to give you so much more relaxation (lack of vacationing kids, much?)
not the fanciest place in the dells- but may i suggest The Moose Jaw Brew Pub-
There used to be this tiny pizza place called Pumphouse that was a local favorite- the owner, Mark, closed Pumphouse and opened Moosejaw, partnered with Dells legends, (part of the Noah’s Ark Waterpark Founders) Jack Waterman & Family- Moosejaws pizza is FANTASTIC (may i suggest the BBQ…to DIE FOR! i wish i could have it delievered to Texas)… and if you fancy beer- Moosejaw offers 6 year round microbrews plus 4 Seasonal brews. You can even purchase a moosejaw growler to take with you back to the spa if you find something delightful.
of course there are many other restaurants you can dine in, some a bit more fancy, some crazy fun themed (think Marley’s Jamaican
kareoke night if you want to liven it up- ;)) and some dive diners with the best homestyle food around. The place to go for burgers is Monk’s and if you want good dessert try The Cheese Factory Restaurant. yum.
just thought i would send you some Dells Love suggestion-
after five summers of living there, i have a bittersweet taste for it - i agree with famed Dells photographer HH Bennet (they have a WONDERFUL little museum for him down on the strip): ““Went to the Dells…it was terrible, awful, sublime, majestic, and grand!”
I have some friends who went on a mini-break to Sundara and just adored it. I think the word used was blissful.
We’re also doing the mini-moon right after for a few days and then the full-blown honeymoon later b/c my finance and I both recently moved companies and we both don’t want to take too much time off at our new jobs in addition to taking off the few days before the wedding…but now he has his dream job so it’s worth it and I like my new job so much more than my previous one 
Make this two votes for MooseJaw — their pizza is INSANE.
I am getting married in Seattle and we are honeymooning in Seattle as well. In fact, if we can find a way to afford it, we are going to honeymoon at the hotel we have our ceremony and reception at! We don’t live there, which is why I think the idea of staying there seems so exotic and fun to us. I know most people want to get away and fly somewhere, but we just want to relax and enjoy our time together as husband and wife.
It looks like the spot you picked will be perfect, based on the great reviews and the pictures. You will have so much fun!
We are also going to take a minimoon after our wedding (most likely Tahoe or Jackson from Denver) because the FI is a project manager for a wind energy company and spring/summer is his busy season. We are planning to go to South America in the winter (6 months after our wedding).
my soon-to-be fiance is in the Army and can’t take too long of a leave when we get married, pretty much just a long weekend so just after the wedding we’ll have a 2 or 3 day minimoon somewhere domestic. then we’re planning on saving up over his deployment to Iraq and going on a cruise of the Mediterranean and quick jaunt around Europe (he’s never been) once he’s home for good and we can really honeymoon and celebrate.
We are also going on a mini-moon right after the wedding and then a full super honeymoon in January (it is cold in Jan, not in Oct…who wants to ESCAPE in October?!?!)
Thanks for the Sundara suggestion, you will have to let us know how it is. We have a wedding next fall in the dells, I might just have to stay there instead of the kid-centric Wilderness!
thanks peacock!
Love the mini-moon idea, and the spa looks heavenly. But what’s not romantic about a water-skiing squirrel?!?!
(And of course you have to watch the German Shepard jump between big rocks, if they still have that show. It’s just so … random.)
We too are doing a mini-moon right after the wedding (Hawaii) to relax and recover and then the full-blown honeymoon about half a year later, to Spain. Hopefully the dollar will have recovered at least somewhat by then!
That place looks amazing, Miss Peacock! I think a spa is a great idea for right after the wedding — it’s going to be so strenuous, both emotionally and physically, so that’s a great idea to get away and relax for a few days, but not break the bank. :o)
We are also doing a mini-moon after the wedding to recover, so we decided that Bar Harbor, ME would be a great place for that. It’s a 4 hour drive from our home, but I don’t think it will be too strenuous, and it will be beautiful at the end of October. We are hoping to have a big honeymoon in January, when my fiance will have vacation time (he’s a chef at a countryclub, so golf season will be over — YES!)Z…
I’m glad I’m not the only one, because people look at me like I have twelve heads when I say we’re not really doing anything big.
That’s where my reception is!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, not at Sundara, but at Glacier Canyon, which is the same property!! Your post made me so excited! A lot of our guest are OOTers and I’ve put together a packet of things as ideas for them to do - The Ducks, Noah’s Ark, Pirates Cove, etc.
The second photo is of our reception hall:
http://www.glaciercanyonlodge.com/glaciercanyon-meetings/glacier-canyon-meetings.html
We’re getting married in my hometown, which is a neighboring town, but the main festivities are in the Dells.
I went to the Dells with my family as a kid too. I had no idea that this spa was there. It looks amazing!!!
Next time my husband and I go home for a visit, I’ll try to convince him to stay there for a night.
And yes, we had a mini-moon as well. Our honeymoon was 1 1/2 months after our wedding day, so for our mini-moon we went to Disneyland for the day. We didn’t spend the night, but it was still a day to relax after the all the wedding events. (Plus we got to wear the Mickey and Minnie wedding ears!)
