Wedding Blog
6 months into our relationship, Mr. Meatball and I spent a month backpacking Europe together. It was one of the best times of our lives. It was also an amazing opportunity to get to know each other in a new way. Being together 24/7 for 31 days, navigating foreign countries in foreign languages, in the biggest heatwave of the decade was a true test of our strength. I really believe that traveling together should be a pre-requisite of marriage. There would probably be a lot less divorce that way.
(Collobriers, France 2003)
As evidenced by our taste, we’re big fans of the cultural and artistic influences of Asia, but neither of us have been there and we’re desperate to remedy that situation. The honeymoon seems like a perfect excuse. But affording a trip like that on top of a wedding is…. laughable in our circumstances.
So, we’re planning to visit either Thailand or Bali for our 1-year anniversary. It will be nice to do something special for the occasion, and I’m excited to have something to plan after the wedding, during my anticipated post-wedding slump. It will be a welcome diversion, I’m sure.
In the meantime, we both feel it’s really important to take at least a few days after the wedding to get away, slow down, and enjoy eachother as husband and wife. Enter the mini-moon!
Originally, we thought Napa was the obvious choice. We’ve always wanted to go. We love wine. The French Laundry, aka mecca for foodies, is there. It’s purportedly uber-romantic. I hear tell of a wine train which sounds like lots of fun…. or a bicycle wine tasting. Idyllic right?
But we began to question it when we went camping on Catalina Island for the 4th of July. It’s just a short ferry ride away from the California coast, but it feels like a cross between Cape Cod and the French Riviera! Very quaint and romantic. Wouldn’t it be fun to take a family trip out there one day after the wedding, and then just stay behind for a few days of lounging, hiking and romance?
The last wrench in the wheels is that Mr. Meatball has spent 2 out of the last 4 weekends in Las Vegas for various bachelor parties and family stuff. He’d never been there before and really enjoyed it. After seeing a dance performance on from the upcoming Criss Angel/Cirque show (choreographed by my hero, Wade Robson), I started to think it might be fun to go out there and see some shows, eat at some of the amazing restaurants (Thomas Keller, again), and lounge by the pool.
What do you think… Wine? Catalina? Dancing Rabbits? Which would be most affordable? Memorable? Special? Grrrr…. Too many options for this broke-ass to decide…
|
Share this post: Mini-Mooning It.
I’ve been to all three, and would say that Napa is definitely the most romantic. Catalina would be cool bc you could host your post-wedding brunch (casually!) on the island if your family joined you for Sunday out there… My fiance and I had one of our favorite times EVER wine-tasting in Napa, though, and you could buy special bottles to drink on upcoming anniversaries, to remind you of your wedding and mini-moon!!!
I might be a little biased since I live in San Francisco, but Napa is really a wonderful get-a-way and I think it would be the most relaxing and romantic.
In my opinion, the point of a honeymoon/mini-moon might not necessarily be to go to the most ROMANTIC place, but to go to the place that you would be least likely to visit otherwise. I don’t know my CA geography that well, since whenever I visit I just fly places, so I don’t know how far you are from Napa or how easy it would be for you to get there on your own for a visit on a trip other than your mini-moon. I also don’t know how cheap/convenient it would be for you to get to Vegas or how likely you would be to go otherwise, but I would pick the place you would be LEAST likely to go to for a regular old long-weekend style trip.
For some reason, people kept trying to steer us to the Caribbean for our honeymoon, but living on the east coast, it’s a quick enough flight that we can (and I have) flown down the Caribbean for just 4 nights. It seemed like a waste when we had 2 weeks to take off for our honeymoon to go somewhere that we could go for just a long weekend, so we went to Greece, because obviously you’re not going to go somewhere with an 11 hour flight for 4 days. Of course, the Caribbean is lovely, and I’m sure we would have had a wonderful time, but the point is that it’s a lot easier for us to get there, and we’ll be a lot more likely to wind up there in the future than we will be to go to Greece, had we not gone there on our honeymoon.
Hey Miss Meatball… While I’m definitely biased against Vegas, I will go ahead and throw in my vote for Napa, or anywhere in that general area. My husband and I did a minimoon near Guerneville (Sonoma county). I was also lucky enough to have my bachelorette weekend there. Rent a house with a hot tub, go hiking in the redwoods, go wine tasting… Even go canoeing on the Russian River. Paradise.
We also wanted to do a big trip to Asia right after the wedding but decided against it. Instead we are taking our ‘real’ honeymoon to South Africa next month… (5 months after our wedding). Can’t wait!
Napa, napa, napa! I haven’t been to Catalina, so I won’t opine on that. But as b/w Vegas and Napa; no contest. Napa is incredible - so relaxng and decadent and romantic. Vegas is fun and cool, but only in small doses. I’m wondering if by the third trip your guy will be a little “over it.” Napa was one of the best vacations I’ve ever been on, and FI and I have taken some pretty great ones. If you go, FL is definitely an experience, but we actually enjoyed Cyrus (in Sonoma) more. The hotel that Cyrus is at, Les Mars, is probably the best place I’ve stayed at, maybe tied with the Four Seasons in Budapest. There’s also a fun “burger shack” type restaurant in Napa that’s fun when you get tired of 3 hour gourmet meals (and your wallet needs a break).
If you go to Vegas, we really enjoyed Daniel Boloud Brasserie at the Wynn (and the club there, Tryst — and we’re not “club” people). Joel Rubuchon (not Atelier) was also very good. Although the restaurants in Napa and Sonoma were better, I thought.
I agree with most of the others–I think Napa would be nice for a mini-moon. I’ve been to all three, albeit only briefly in Napa. Vegas is glitzy and fun, but I don’t know, I guess I’m a little biased against it as well-especially for such a special occasion. Catalina is a great place to de-stress and it is beautiful and definitely budget friendly. However, Napa just seems so romantic and I think there is just more to do and see there as a couple. And how can devoted foodies say no to Napa?! May you have a blast wherever you choose, Ms. Meatball! Good luck!
I lived in LA for a number of years, and while Catalina is gorgeous, you may feel it’s a little too close to home to really leave everything behind.
I’m pretty biased since I live in Sonoma, but would would agree with many of the other posters on going to Napa.
My tip? Don’t stay in Napa proper; go to Calistoga, Sonoma, St. Helena, or Healdsburg (where Melissa stayed at Les Mars). These are all smaller cities in the counties, but have downtown cute walking areas with restaurants, bars, etc. Napa winetasting is really along one main highway through Napa– easy driving, but not so great for ambiance in a hotel/b&B.
If you decide on NorCal, feel free to email me and let me know if you have questions– I’d be happy to share favorite places!
Miss Meatball,
I think mini-mooning is a great idea, and my significant other and I plan on having one ourselves in Puerto Vallarta after a few days of wedding celebration in SoCal (I love that PV used to be an Old Hollywood destination and is not full of Spring Breakers these days). But, since you express how much you are inspired but asian cultures, I wanted to debunk your thoughts that asian travel is too expensive! I am a travel junkie and I love asia, especially Indonesia, Thailand, and Indochina! I love how friendly people are and how INEXPENSIVE the overall trip is. Please go and do not be dissuaded for fear of too much expense. In the end - if you keep your eyes open and plan for yourselves - it will be far cheaper than you ever imagined! Let me know if you need any tips.
Of course, you will have a wonderful time no matter where you are…..!
My vote is for Napa. There’s a lot to do (or not do!) to get away from it all. Catalina is too close to home (you’re still in LA County, for gosh sakes) and it’s kinda boring, IMO. Vegas would be too bachelor/bachelorette party for my taste.
we went to Catalina Island for 4 days as our mini-moon and it was perfect. we were married in LA so it was close and with such a short time, even wine country seemed too far. i highly recommend Catalina. it was away from everything, even though it’s physically close. there’s lots of outdoorsy things to do- hikes, snorkeling, peddle-boating, and more relaxing things like couples massages by the BEACH, etc.
not quite as foodie as wine country, but there’s some good seafood in Avalon. also, there is a beautiful art-deco theatre, the casino, which is worth going to!!
vegas is more of the get out of town, drink, eat, see shows, and have a hella good time. not very romantic. napa on theother hand, romantical, beautiful, relaxing!
Go to the most relaxing. According to all the brides i know, youll want to relax and unwind… and I agree. And - we’ll be doing something similar! We want to go to Fiji, but since we have to get approved leave for him (military) that will wait until our 1 year - adn we’ll be minimooning probably in Catalina or napa-ish area!
| Visit our sister sites | Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Fertile Thoughts Infertility Support |
Mrs. Meatball, Hollywood
Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer
Engagement Date: October 7, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: September 16, 2008
Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club
About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Latest Gallery Pics