Inexpensive honeymoon ideas?

[sept07bride]

So we're on a super tight wedding budget. Fh said that we should postpone a honeymoon for a year until we have more money. But I already know how that'll go. After a year, we'll want to be saving up for kids, or a house if we haven't already bought one. Then we won't have a honeymoon. So I said that I don't care if we just go camping for our honeymoon, but I want one within a month or two after we marry. But he said that we need something better than that because we go camping all the time. We were thinking we could use our gift money, but we don't want to spend more than $500 for sure. A lot less would be great.
So here's what we were originally thinking. We have a friend that lives in Montana (we are in WI) so we were thinking we could drive over there and visit him. Go to Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Yellowstone, etc on the way. Then we could stay with him for a night or two and drive back. It would be pretty inexpensive b/c all the sightseeing things are cheap. We would have to worry about hotels though. Maybe 3 nights.
It sounds like fun, but also a little exhausting. Not too romantic. So I'm not completely convinced.
Anyone got any ideas for me? We live in Wisconsin and would be going either at the end of september or maybe around my birthday (oct 14).
Thanks! (sorry this is so long!)

[KatylovesNick]

Why not find a B&B close by, but not to far. Somewhere you haven't been just an hour or so outside of where you live. THey are realitively inexpensive and really cute and fun to stay at as newlyweds. Find one near a lake or a quaint little town. Do something relaxing and romantic. Even just staying at a hotel near your house can be fun!!

[sept07bride]

He's not into the whole B & B idea, he doesn't like people. :p
Our problem is that we live in a quaint little town, so finding another one wouldn't be much of a honeymoon for us.
Something on a lake would be nice though. His parents have a cabin, but it's tiny and has an outhouse....not very romantic. Except in the winter. I don't want to go there as a honeymoon. But I think I'll look into other cabins (nicer ones) and see if I can find a reasonable priced one that we can stay in for like 5 days. Maybe I can find one in an area where there are things to do.

[sept07bride]

I found this-
http://www.greatriver.com/laxqueen/champaign%20brunch.htm
I thought it would be a good idea to do on a honeymoon if we stayed in the area. Even if we didn't, we could do it on the way to wherever we go. It's only like an hour and a half away from us.

[MrsMasonToBe]

http://www.gatlinburgfallsresort.com/ This is where we are going, the rooms are about $115 a night, but there are hot tubs and the mountains are beautiful.

[sept07bride]

Wow, that's awesome! So the one bedroom cabins, you get the whole thing to yourself for that price? That's a really great deal.

[MrsMasonToBe]

Yep, and they have specials too. There is quite a bit of info on the site and anything that isn't just call, they are really really nice there!

[sept07bride]

The romantic 3 night retreat sounds so nice!

[MrsMasonToBe]

We really like that one too! :D

[sept07bride]

I'm going to look into it, it sounds really great. We'd love something like this.

[sept07bride]

Have you ever been there before? If you have, what did you all do?

[KatylovesNick]

CUTE PLACE!!!! :) I wanna go there. haha

[MrsMasonToBe]

We haven't been there yet, but my mom and step-dad took their honeymoon there. They camped in another part of Gatlinburg though, there are all kinds of things to do there, I'll see what I can find.

[KatylovesNick]

Just adorable. what a find!!

[MrsMasonToBe]

Gatlinburg is full of little cabins and camp sites! (haha gotta love dogpile.com searches!)

[KatylovesNick]

hahaha, yea excatly. To bad we live so far away. :( I wanna go there. ahha

[MrsMasonToBe]

aww the cabins aren't much and booking early flights shouldn't be too bad, it's not impossible. :D

[KatylovesNick]

hahaha. I think FH has his heart set on a cruise. Plus we are doing a double honeymoon with laura, who hasn't been on here in awhile.. I miss her :( but we are all going on a cruise in September of next year. haha

[MrsMasonToBe]

Save the info for a second honeymoon or vacation, then you can do both! :D

[KatylovesNick]

now there is a good idea. hahaha

[INSANEbride2B]

Well vegas is always cheap and flights are usually reasonable. I dont know if you have ever been but htere are tons of cool things to see and do. I want to go to vegas for my honey moon as well as other places. I cant even begin to think about that yet. I need to plan the wedding!

[KatylovesNick]

Vegas is a blast. Plus you can rent a car for a day and head to the hoover dam!!! VERY MUCH fun!!

[MrsMasonToBe]

now there is a good idea. hahaha

I seem to be full of those today! :D

[KatylovesNick]

You have been!!!! :) You are on the ball.

[MrsMasonToBe]

I try. :D

[sept07bride]

I forgot about Vegas. I know we had talked a bit about that before too. We've never been there. I think that would be a blast too. Thanks for the idea.
I'm looking at the Gatinburg website again....these cabins are awesome. Heart shaped jacuzzi, hot tub, fireplaces, AND air hockey?! Doesn't get much bettter than that.

[jennandgreg]

I just wanted to let you know that I too am getting married on 09/08 and noticed your birthday is Oct 14 and so is mine. Small world.

[sept07bride]

Haha, it is a small world. What year were you born? Because if we were born the same year...well, that would be freaky.

[sept07bride]

We haven't been there yet, but my mom and step-dad took their honeymoon there. They camped in another part of Gatlinburg though, there are all kinds of things to do there, I'll see what I can find.
Camping would be fun too! Hmmmm...we could do both. I showed my FH the website and he really wants to go there too. He's not fond of how close some the cabins are, but other than that he's loving it. Right now they have a buy 2 nights, get 2 free deal. That would be pretty sweet if they had that again next fall.
We'll see I guess. I don't know what we'll end up doing. I REALLY want to go to Gatlinburg, but I'm open to more ideas if anyone has any.

[MrsMasonToBe]

I saw that deal, it's a good one, they also do a deal (year round from what I understand) where if you get five nights the sixth one is free. Who knows, maybe by the time you are ready to book they will have better deals! :)

[sept07bride]

Yeh, I'll keep checking to see what kind of deals they do. I think the kitchens are great. At least we could save a lot of money on food by bringing in our own groceries!
The one thing I find odd is that they show pics of all the games and pool tables and rockers, but I have yet to see a pic of a bathroom.

[MrsMasonToBe]

haha that's a very good point! I seriously hope it's not outhouses, but it seems that if there is a hot tub there should be a toilet.

[sept07bride]

Even some of the 1 bedroom cabins list 2 bathrooms. So they must have them, but they don't like taking pics of them for some reason....

[MrsMasonToBe]

I hadn't even thought of that before.

[sept07bride]

So I've been doing some research on Gatlinburg and it looks like there are a million cabins! There are so many different cabin companies. We really want to go, but we need to find one that's secluded.
It's a 15 hour drive, which is great because then we wouldn't need a hotel on the way there or the way back.
FH knows someone that used to live in TN, so he's going to talk to him and see if he's familiar with the Gatlinburg area.

[PrincessLaura]

Ashley, you are absolutely the bravest woman I know! You want to drive 15 hours somewhere to spend 2-3 days and then drive 15 hours back! I have done a 13 hour road trip and I was dying after that, and I was not looking forward to driving back! That is a long time to be in a car...and if you get irritated by his driving or whatever, it will all be compounded in the 15 hours on the road. I think that maybe you should look for something a little closer! Try going to www.citysearch.com it might have some things to do nearby or a lot closer than you are now. Maybe you could go to Canada, do something there!!!

[sept07bride]

We thought about Canada, but we don't want to deal with whole currency thing.
I've been on family vacations where we drove a lot more than 15 hours. I think we can do it. But I agree, the drive home will suck. We just have to try to get along. We drove 6 hours one time and we got pretty irritated with each other. :p
Believe me, if we drive 15 hours, we will be staying there at least 4 nights so we have time to rest up.

[PrincessLaura]

What part of WI do you live in...I will try to google something for you!

[sept07bride]

We live in west central... Eau Claire/Chippewa/Menomonie area.
Don't even say the Dells though! My parents went there on their 'honeymoon'. I've been there too many times.

[KatylovesNick]

I love road trips, but unfortunately FH drives like a 90 year old man!! So it irritates me when we are on the highway and a turtle passes us... hahaha

[PrincessLaura]

Poor Katy! I get upset sometimes when John drives, I have a fear of being in a car crash. He is getting better though!!!

[KatylovesNick]

Poor Laura. haha. So funny, I hate to drive so I settle for slow poke driver. haha. Ever since I got into my car accident I get so scared.

[PrincessLaura]

http://www.crystalriver-inn.com/
How about this, they have a garden room if you look in their prices, it seems like a really sweet place for a honeymoon!

Thanks Katy, I feel your pain!

[sept07bride]

I think it looks really cute, but FH doesn't want to do a B&B. He doesn't like people. :p
We want to get out of the state...we never take trips so this is our one chance to do something.

[KatylovesNick]

if you don't like people B&B's would be hard to handle. Have you ever seen Ground Hogs day?

[PrincessLaura]

Honestly, I know that you want to take one soon, but I would highly reccomend taking one later if you can only spend $500 now! We are spending over 2.5 X our wedding budget on our honeymoon! We budgeted $5000 for the honeymoon!!! I think if you set aside a bank account ONLY for honeymoon, all your extra money you can put there. They say you should pay yourself first, so pay yourself first, and put that money towards your honeymoon!

[CntlAltDlt]

Hi. We are going camping for our honeymoon. We only get to go camping 3 times a year for 2 nights. When we go, we are planning on hitting a bunch of different campgrounds in the NY, VT, NH, Maine, and Massachussetts areas....for 2 nights each. Most of them state/federal/or private. We may try to make reservations at most, or play it by ear...drive for a while, then look for one.

If you have triple A, you can get their campgrounds book...I have never looked at it, but, I know they have one. I have been thinking of seeing WHAT it has....as I have used their guidebooks before for finding hotels on the road....and, they had some GREAT deals/listings/directions....and, it lists attractions/phone numbers/and what is available/when it is open.

We use www.reserveamerica.com all the time. It lets you see campgrounds across America....private, federal, and state. If you are thinking of going camping for your honey moon....it will let you see what kind of campgrounds are available, what sites they have...tent/cabin/trailer....some have pictures....weather there are hiking trails nearby, lakes, swimming, ect.

Good luck.

[sept07bride]

We're really thinking about going to Gatlinburg. FH says we can try to scrape up $1000 for the honeymoon (probably all gift money) but I'm still trying to keep it cheap.
I'm trying to find some cabins that are a bit secluded. Some of them are practically right on top of each other. One company says that they 'will not provide cabins for vacationing students or singles under the age of 25.' Does that mean that since we're married, we can get them? I guess I don't really understand. We'll be 22.

[joeyandwendyaced]

There's a resort there that I've been to called Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. It's very secluded with awesome views! All rooms have a living area and kitchen.... Might be a good alternative to a cabin.


http://www.deerridge.com/

[joeyandwendyaced]

To help with our honeymoon costs, we are going to have a small honeymoon in Charleston, SC, then we are planning on having our "real" honeymoon about a year later. That way we can save up extra.

[sept07bride]

Thanks! I'll look into it, but I'm pretty sure FH wants a cabin.

[sept07bride]

What are you doing in SC?

[joeyandwendyaced]

We're going to Charlestonfor all of the history. We're going to visit some of the old plantations and do some walking tours of the old homes. There's lots of great shopping (anything from Coach to vendors selling crafts in the market). Joey was in the army, so we are going to Patriots Point to tour the huge naval ships. We're probably going to find a hotel near the beach, to relax when we're not in touristr mode.