Wedding Blog
So… I was supposed to let Mr. D surprise me with the honeymoon. Here’s the thing though: I’m terrible with surprises. I’m so bad with surprises that it’s difficult for me to surprise others because I usually tell them what the surprise is. Basically, I’m a big surprise FAIL.
So I’ve begun taking a preliminary look into destinations. As the D’orsays, we have a few complicating factors. For instance, is Mr. D even allowed to leave the country after we get married? Once we receive the government approval to marry, we have to apply for the Adjustment of Status so Mr. D can do things like live/work/function in the USA. Because he’ll be in limbo, we aren’t sure of what the rules are. But enough serious talk - let’s just hope we can leave the country!
New Zealand, Australia, Egypt and Hawaii were high on my “go-to” list. Unfortunately, the airfare is also high. So let’s forget those for now (we’ve got visas to pay for!). Next I turned to Miss Gloss who is also hunting for a hurricane-free honeymoon. I started with researching airfare on sidestep, because if we can’t afford to get there then what’s the point? For example, flights from Baltimore/DC to Egypt are about $1390. Although the exchange rate in Egypt would be to our advantage, getting the flights together AND finding somewhere to stay and eat would be difficult.
All of these prices are from the Baltimore/DC area. There are 3 airports we could use, so all of these are averages for late August/early September. Hawaii came in around $700, Aruba around $400, Curacao around $620, Bermuda at $350, Cabo San Lucas at $440, and Puerto Vallarta at $400. Hmmmmm… would Curacao and Hawaii please leave the arena? All other destinations can stay.
What’s next?
Weather. Some like it hot - and that includes us. Except Mr. D will need SPF 100… ’cause he’s English and well… you know. Aruba weather in September is apparently “relentless heat with little to no breeze” (we don’t like it THAT hot). Bermuda seems cool and breezy - but I have hurricane paranoia. Cabo San Lucas sounds like it can be in the realm of the 90s all the way to 100+, which is okay if it’s in the 90s, but not so much if it’s 100. This leaves Puerto Vallarta - where the rainy season is in September…
I started checking out the housing options on VRBO and reviews of hotels on TripAdvisor to see what people were saying about these destinations and their general pricing when…
… Weddingbee reader (and my fellow compatriot in the US/UK visa torture) BlightyGirl informed me that we in fact, could not leave the country. Or even the lower 48! So again, Hawaii is out. This more than likely means a domestic minimoon destination. I’m okay with this because we’ll most likely save money and be able to save (who am I kidding) it, or spend it on another wedding expense (hello videographer). Maybe we’ll just have our real honeymoon on our one year anniversary or when it’s not hurricane season.
So my question to the hive is this: Where would you recommend a minimoon for the D’orsays? We’d prefer within driving distance (5 hours or so?) from MD/DC, but wouldn’t rule out options in sunnier/beachy locales. Muchas gracias in advance!
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New Orleans or Key West.
Though, that would be risky bc of hurricaine season. How about San Diego? Or Napa?
New York City is wonderful and so romantic. Though I second the Greenbrier.
Kiawah Island, SC or Destin, FL would be two of my top choices for beautiful beaches.
I’ve never been there myself, but people always say Martha’s Vineyard is beautiful and very relaxing.
Amelia Island! Beautiful beaches and old fashion romance charm!
I love the Greenbrier, but how about someplace like Block Island or Narragansett, RI? My family has a vacation home there and I look more forward each summer to going back…You can take ferries to Boston, Providence, etc, all the lighthouses are gorgeous. PS-I used to live in Annapolis (*sigh* my heart breaks every time I think about it…I want to go back SO BADLY!) and those places are very reminiscent of an older towne Annapolis
New England, New York, Williamsburg VA, further away - Vegas, Napa, San Diego, San Francisco, Grand Canyon
Charleston, SC!!! 
every area of Charleston is beautiful!
You have the beach, the charm of downtown, amazing restaurants and shops, not too mention lots of cute hotel/rental home options!
I would definitely speak with an immigration attorney so that they can better assess your fiance’s situation. I work in immigration and I’ve never heard that you can’t even travel within the US - that is ridiculous. Depending on the type of visa he has and where in the process he is it may be a possibility that you can travel abroad. Send me a message if you want to talk more.
We went to Charleston, SC for our “mini-moon” and it was perfect! It has everything - the beach, history, architecture, and southern romantic charm.
Hmm. Can I suggest Maine? It’s super relaxing and won’t be too hot. There is an amazing coastline and super cute bed and breakfasts EVERYWHERE. Bar Harbor is amazing - and you’ll be WAAY out of the hurricane zone!
If you want to stay more local, Northern Virginia has a great wine county and TONS of cute b&bs. If you are winos you would love checking out the vineyards and the scenery late summer is beautiful!!!
If you’re thinking of traveling locally, I’ve spent an extremely romantic weekend in Virginia wine country and highly recommend it! There are a lot of quaint Civil War-era towns, beautiful lush vineyards, presidential and historical estates to tour, and gorgeous scenery. It could be a very nice local option!
What about Cape Cod, or the Outer Banks in North Carolina?
Now I’m wishing we were going there instead of Boston! Ah, well at least we’ll have ‘forever’ to take another vacay. It’s not like your honeymoon is the only grand vacation you’re ever supposed to have.
Good luck, there’s so many great options!
Virginia Beach? NC? Nag’s Head? I say decide what kind of vacation you want, what you guys like to do and do a intense google destination search as MD as your centerpoint and see what your options are. Have you checked out Travel Channel for great US Destinations?
Our friends minimooned up at Wildwood beach in NJ for their September wedding. You could also consider Cape May - NJ beaches are nicer than the MD/DE beaches (you people know I’m right. they’re cleaner. and they don’t have jellyfish.)
You could also consider Williamsburg/Virginia Beach/Busch Gardens if you want to do some adventuring.
Also, what about Deep Creek? It’s close by, so you could splurge on a really nice hotel or spa or something.
outer banks nc!
I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot, both internationally and within the US. One of the best trips I’ve taken with my fiance is to Napa valley. SO relaxing and romantic. If you’d like details, let me know.
There are also some amazing lodges in the southwest, but it may be hotter than you’d like.
NJ Shore! I agree with edb about Cape May - it is very charming.
The Outer Banks! Beautiful in September but not so crowded. And not a bad drive from DC.
My suggestions would be (in no particular order):
Williamsburg, VA
Lexington, VA
Charlottesville, VA
St. Michael’s, MD
Annapolis, MD
Harper’s Ferry, WV
Cape May, NJ
All of these are within a 5 hour drive of DC and are charming. The weather should still be great in September as well!
I vote for the outer banks, NC. We actually stayed at the “inner banks” Emerald Island. It was beautiful. We got an ocean front house and just realxed for a week.
Our wedding was in Fairfax VA and we live there. It’s only about a 5-6 hour drive to Emerald Island from there.
Many houses also do Sunday-Sunday retals which is what we did. Let me know if you want more details.
P.S. vrbo/homeaway is the way to go!!! I’m looking at apts for our HM to Europe and finding apts as low as $80/nt in Rome!
I’d say make the end destination Florida (Miami’s great and Palm Beach is just beautiful) but make stops along the way. It’s a 12-15 drive total, but break it up with a night in Savannah or wherever! It’s still hurricane season though, so make a contingency plan.
I second the vote for Charleston. It was my dream honeymoon for years. We’re headed to Cape Cod on ours in a few months, but in September, going south is probably a better idea.
Cape Cod (LOVE IT), Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Outer Banks (NC)! I really want to go to one of these places this summer.
Naples, Fl! Yes we’re still in the hurricane zone and yes it will hot, but the beaches are beautiful and not a lot of people travel down here in September. That means empty beaches, not long waits at restaurants and probably better prices when it comes to hotels/rentals. The people in Naples are older, so it will be a great quiet relaxing honeymoon. 
Martha’s Vineyard!!!! I think I read a post recently on a minimoon there. Maybe you can do a few days in Hyannis and then take the ferry to the vineyard and then maybe even take in Nantucket.
Very relaxing.
I would say Cape May, NJ for a quaint little beach town. You can take the ferry from Lewes, DE (near Rehobeth) and head right over. They have cute B&Bs, great food, and just a laid back feel.
For pricer I’d say Charleston, SC, maybe Jeykell Island, GA, or Amelia Island.
If you’re outdoorsy folk, how about the Poconos or West Virginia (which is way overrated).
Another idea if you would veer a bit away from beaches would be Hudson Valley, NY. Lots of great history and very quaint. You can see the Rockefeller mansion (Kykuit), which is very cool!
Considering that it’s going to be August and the Mid-Atlantic is super-muggy, I would suggest a B&B in the mountains:
Shepherdtown, WV
Stauton, VA
Great Smokies National Park, TN (the Washington Post just had an article on this)
I love the idea of Maine but that’s just me. Charleston is lovely.
I wish I could be of more help regarding minimoons…I’m clueless about 5 hour driving. But the Outer Banks are gorgeous.
@AS: Sorry if I wasn’t more clear about the travelling thing. My immigration lawyer told me that it’s fine to travel within the continous 48 states (including flying). The problems occur when you’re in the limbo of “adjustment of status,” and your beloved K-1 visa holder travels out of the country (including Alaska/Hawaii). Until you have that piece of paper proving your adjustment, you have then broken the terms of the K-1 visa. K-1 visas only allow you to legally marry in the US, not legally stay. You leave, you have no visa to get back in.
Don’t you love the US Goverment?
I vote for New York City.
I thought I was going to be all original and suggest the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but I was wrong. I am a North Carolina girl and LOVE LOVE LOVE the coast there (i’m now in Atlanta). August/September is still warm, but not crowded. Beautiful secluded beaches, friendly towns. The Best!!
When you do go to Egypt someday…. TOTALLY 100% go on this trip:
http://scheherezadeimports.com/tourEgypt.asp
I went in 2007 with Lucy who’s the owner of Scheherezade Imports and it was amazing! I am a belly dancer, but a few people came on the trip who weren’t and it’s an insanely great back-stage tour of the country! Lucy has been running her import business since the 1980s and she has all kinds of friends over in Egypt. We got to go to places that no tourists EVER go to because she knows the people and culture so well. My favorite part was being invited to Memo’s house (a perfume salesman Lucy is good friends with.) We ate and hung out with this man’s wonderful family and got to experience was it was like to be an Egyptian living in Egypt. If you go for the “I Want it all” tour you see EVERYTHING! And while other people are taking classes at the belly dance festival, you can go off and do whatever you’d like to do! She teaches you how to blend in the with culture and how to respect it so that you create a good impression of Americans/British instead of a bad one. It’s awesome! And I learned and saw SO MUCH! It’s not like other tours where I’ve been forced to miss things in order to keep up with the group….she designs it around you. She has what she calls “Camp Councilors” who figure out what everyone wants to see/do and then she makes sure, as best she can, that if you want to go into Cairo and don’t feel comfortable on your own, she’ll get a group together with one of the camp councilors as leaders. (They are people who have toured with her in Egypt before and have more experience.) I promise you….this is the best in terms of experiences, quality and price–tour of Egypt you’ll find! Enjoy!!!! Feel free to PM me if you want pictures or more info!
Good luck with the Minimoon destination. St. Michael’s Maryland is fun….
I don’t know if anyone’s said it but Charleston, and Savannah are gorgeous. St. Simon’s island is also quiet and peaceful.
Not really within driving distance, but Hubs and I had a rocking time in Chicago for our honeymoon last fall. The lake is gorgeous (and the beaches are heavily used when the weather is good), food’s amazing, theater is plentiful. Lots to do and easy to navigate. Good luck! Can’t wait to hear what you two decide on.
This isn’t driving distance either, but a friend of mine had her real honeymoon in Northern California wine country. . . and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! She said there was so much to do, spas, restaurants, hot air balloons, wineries. . . and since few people honeymoon there, all of the people that waited on them were so excited to serve them and treated them like royalty! I’d go there myself if I didn’t have family in the area that I visit all the time!
The Outer Banks that time of year are absolutely beautiful! If you want something a little quieter try to stay further North (by Corolla) or much further south. Kitty Hawk/Nags Head/Duck are all pretty but tend to get very crowded and touristy.
Try Destin, or anywhere else in Florida. I suggest Destin because it is the most northern region (or Amelia Island), but you should definitely consider Florida locations. (Really, I’m not biased lol)
Cape Cod (or Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard) or the Outer Banks in North Carolina!
Miss D’orsay, what kind of visa process does not let you leave the 48 states? Are you sure about this? I was just asking because my fiance is Mexican, and has a work visa to stay and work in the States. His lawyer informed us that there is no problem to travel to Hawaii after we get married. Maybe your situation is different. Just wanted to make sure you were able to go where you wanted!
puerto rico. or key west. or martha’s vineyard. or myrtle beach.
but i really think you should look more into the rules and if you can go to hawaii. and 700 from DC to hawaii isn’t bad. I just paid 840 for our honeymoon flight from minneapolis to hawaii. And minneapolis is even closer to hawaii than DC is!
I immediately thought of Cape Cod, and I see I was not the only one. Newport, RI is really nice in the summer too with beaches, great restaurants, bars, and mansions, however it is a bit pricey and over 5 hours but New England is really at it’s best in the summer, you can get a good deal in renting a beach house/cottage for the week and just relax. Good luck on your planning.
We had the same kind of lost issue. My FI is from Luxembourg, so really choosing anywhere out of the country was going to not be that easy. We are also getting married in September, so hurricane season was against us.
We ended up choosing Hawaii for six days (he has to go back to grad school the following week) to make it all easier. I initially did NOT want to do cliche Hawaii but we are making it our own.
Good luck deciding! Will you two be full time in the states after the wedding? How are you living in the UK legally? I have lots of visa/ international questions.
The Cape or The Vineyard. Early fall in New England is absolutely HEAVEN! (especially once the tourists have cleared out)
There are plenty of fabulous B&Bs and small inns on the Eastern Shore, but I recently became aware of Mountain Lake Park, a minuscule town of gorgeous homes wayyyy out west. Driving tour from DC, you’d pass through Maryland’s “wine country.”
Mountain Lake Park is in scenic Garrett County:
http://www.garrettchamber.com/
And about a quarter of the wineries in Maryland are in Frederick County:
http://www.frederickwinetrail.com/
Charleston, SC. Maine is also beautiful in the summer.
Wow! Thank you all so much for all your suggestions so far - you guys rock!!!
@MoSnow: I’m in the UK on the Visa Waiver Program, so I’m not allowed to work or anything. I LOVE Hawaii and if we had the money/no visa issues we’d go!
How about Naples, FL? I’ve heard good things about it from my friends who went there for they’re “mini”-moon.
I see there are plenty of suggestions for Cape Cod, but I’m going to throw out Cape Ann instead! It’s MA’s north shore and includes Rockport, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex, Salem, Marblehead, and a ton of other great towns. They’re all really quaint and history-laden, and there are plenty of great beaches! Plus, you can visit Boston and Southern New Hampshire (day trip in Portsmouth, perhaps?) while you’re there– both are within 20-30 minute drives.
Newport, RI is also a good choice, but it is pricey.
You might also think about Burlington, VT or Lake Placid, NY– Lake Champlain is gorgeous, and both are very laid-back, comfortable destinations.
I can’t suggest places on the East coast b/c I’m all the way over here on the West coast, but…FH and I managed to find SUPER cheep airfare to VT from CA for our honeymoon to Canada. If you start searching now you could probably make it to CA and drive up the coast or stay in Santa Barbara, San Diego or Napa
If you could leave the country I would definitely recommend Puerto Vallarta! We are getting married there in November and had a great time on our scouting trip last fall! If you consider the west coast, what about flying into Seattle, renting a car and driving the Pacific coast highway? That time of year the weather is great, flights are pretty reasonable, and there are tons of neat places to stop. Or I second votes for charleston/savannah!
Just a question, and not really for you, Miss D’Orsay — I understand not being able to leave the country because of visa issues, but why would one not be able to go to Hawaii or Alaska? The last time I checked, those places were definitely in the United States.
Hilton Head Island, North Carolina is really nice. It has alot of nice resorts. It has gorgeous waters, endangered sea turtles lay their eggs their in late August. You can go jet skiing, dolphin tours, fishing, golfing, parasoling. Just from the beach we saw dolphins swimming only feets away from the shore. They have world famous golf courses. They have world renowned spas. Its all around gorgeous.
The Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina. It is a gorgeous estate with an onsite vineyard. So much fun!
“Mr. D will need SPF 100… ’cause he’s English..” I actually nearly wet myself laughing!! That is hilarious!!!!!! x
DEFINITELY the Outer Banks! Gorgeous, charming, still the beach. . .you could rent a cute cottage right on the water and still enjoy a private, relaxing vacation for the 2 of you!
Hershey, PA…okay, I might be a lil’ biased on that one.
My suggestions are just repeating what the other bees already mentioned:
Poconos
New York
Myrtle Beach
Hilton Head
Altantic City
I’d second Kiawah Island or any North Carolina beaches, Charleston, if you want to keep it real local Cape May is lovely. I may be biased but I love my hometown of Philadelphia =)
I’m the same way with surprises! I can’t keep them to myself… Have you seen the Kristin Wiig skit from SNL with the surprise party and proposal? HILARIOUS!
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Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK
Age and Occupation: 24, Stay at home fiance (formerly in nonprofit communications)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop
Engagement Date: August 10, 2008
Wedding Date: August, 2009
Venue: Oakland Manor
About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
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