Honeymooning in Bruce

In the midst of wedding planning we have also managed to plan a wonderful 4-night 5 day honeymoon in the Bruce Peninsula. When I was younger my parents used to rent a cottage in Sauble Beach on Lake Huron nearly every summer. I loved going there. I haven't been in quite a few years though and Ryan has never been. His one criteria for a honeymoon was a beach... mine was staying local and saving money while having a romantic experience. As you can see above. Sauble Beach has one of the top ten sunsets in the world!...truly amazing. I don't even feel bad in the slightest that we will not be going to some far off grand destination for our honeymoon. Ontario can be quite beautiful and it is all about spending time alone with eachother. Best of all... we're supporting Ontario tourism in this economic recession. I love it!

We are staying at bed and breakfasts for the 4 nights. The first two will be spent the closest to Sauble Beach so we can unwind from the wedding and sit on the beach. This B&B is the most private but also has a nice area outside for a nightly fire where guests can mingle (see below!) The other two B&B's will be further up the peninsula and are eco-friendly! The first one is an Edwardian style home (Same as ours - only much much larger) and we'll have a whirlpool tub and our own private balcony. The last B&B we'll stay at is a farm house that serves local and organic food :) For our meals, breakfast will be covered, we'll have a light lunch - maybe some picnics on the beach or wherever we are and then splurge for some fancy dinners. We usually do this sort of thing on all our vacations.. breakfast in the hotel..pack a lunch and have a very nice dinner. It will definitely be nice just the two of us.

So far our list of activities includes:

- Sunbathing on Sauble Beach

- Golfing

- Hiking the Bruce Trail (we plan on seeing the grotto). Likely we'll do outdoor activities every morning. We usually do when we vacation.

- Touring various historical light houses

- Taking a boat out to see the shipwrecks off Tobermory

- Visiting the Southampton Market

- Going to a drive-in movie (something we always used to do before Brendan)

- Buying some local artwork - a tradition my parents used to do on their anniversaries from Niagara-on-the-Lake or various places they travelled. This is something I'd really love to do with Ryan.

- Finding a live band to enjoy

SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!

Wedding Update

So.. The wedding is less than 4 months away now. I hadn't really been keeping track but yeah! Someone better light a fire under my ass now. So much to do still!

This past week I feel that I got a whole lot done.

- Finished off the guest list (106 people!)

- Narrowed down my colours: Peach, Green, Gold and Purple

- Got my flowers all sorted out with our local flower lady who operates out of her basement. She did the flowers for a friend of mine's wedding. We are doing the reception flowers on our own. For all the bouquets etc. for the wedding party the cost came to $350 including delivery...I plan on doing up a budget in the near future to highlight all the amazing deals I have been getting.

- Arranged to meet with the organist who has offered to provide her services free of charge! I've known her for quite some time from the church my parents went to since I was born!

- Got fabric swatches for the bridesmaids dresses. We are having my mom's seamstress make the dresses at a very reasonable price. I have decided to let the girls choose their own styles and they will all be in the same green stretch satin material. Gold shoes!

- We have been having some trouble deciding on a honeymoon destination. We are only planning on going for a 4-day weekend, likely in September, because we feel a week would be too long to leave Brendan and hard for Ryan to get off work. Ryan wants to go to a beach and drink but I really don't want to do something like that and it is hard to find an all-inclusive for only 4 days. Places like Mexico and the Dominican have also made me apprehensive these days with all the recent misfortunes of Canadian couple travellers. I would love to go to NYC or somewhere in New England. I have thought about Quebec City too. I'd love to hear any ideas anyone might have of somewhere budget friendly, close by and where I won't go crazy with nothing to do. I know the point of a honeymoon is to spend time alone as newlyweds but honestly, I think I would go crazy secluded with just booze, a beach, and a hotel room.