I’m excited to share the second mini-moon on Peonies to Palm Trees!  And this one is extra special because it features my best friend Alice and her husband Jason.  Since their super fun Carmel wedding was the weekend before Thanksgiving, they didn’t want to go on a long honeymoon right away, and why rush to leave such a nice resort anyway?  Check out their relaxing mini-moon below:

When and where did you honeymoon?

We’re doing a delayed honeymoon about a year after our wedding, but decided to do our mini-moon right at Carmel Valley Ranch**, where we got married [in November 2012].

Carmel Valley Ranch

How long was your trip?

Including the wedding weekend festivities, we were at CVR for a total of 6 days.

How did you decide on your honeymoon destination(s)?

We decided that we didn’t want to go back to reality right after our wedding, and since we just wanted to relax and drink lots of wine, we decided staying put at CVR would be the best bet since it included a spa, pool, hot tub (!), vino, and access to great restaurants in Carmel.

Just chilling in the infinity hot tub

The best part about our honeymoon was…

Relaxing poolside all day! The weather was pretty rainy on our actual wedding day, but it was beautiful after, so we were able to take advantage of the entire CVR area and just lounge all day. And hanging all day with Roxy the bulldog.

Hanging out with Roxy, the CVR mascot

If I knew then what I know now, I’d change…

I would have made earlier reservations to check out the bee-keeping area of CVR, sounds like so much fun!

How much planning did you do in advance?

Minimal for the mini-moon. Jason made reservations at some awesome restaurants (absolutely loved Casanova) but otherwise we did some good lounging.

Out on the town for a nice dinner

What was your biggest honeymoon splurge?

Long, extended, spa treatments.

Where do you want to go on your next big trip?

Our next big trip is to Dublin for a wedding, and  we will spend a few days in Barcelona as well. After that, it will be our actual honeymoon, which will be a combination of Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. :)

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** Carmel Valley Ranch was amaaazing.  I totally recommend it for weddings, honeymoons, weekend get-aways, whatever.  I just can’t wait to go back soon.

I also just need to add one more photo of Roxy the bulldog because I loved her so much.  Check out her pre-Thanksgiving outfit:

Happy thanksgiving, Roxy!