The California Wine Country for Your Honeymoon

How about a visit to California’s wine country for your honeymoon destination?

When you visit California you can’t help but make a stop at the wine country. California has 58 counties and out of those 58, there are 46 counties that are producing wine. California’s climate allows for optimal soil and growing conditions. With so many counties involved in growing wine the state of California offers several different events and activities geared toward the wine. Wine tasting can be quite enjoyable and educational as well. Sampling the wine is very important in order to appreciate the difference in the wines. California wineries are a old business that have been around for generations. Winery’s take a long time to perfect and to raise the grapes just right for picking.

If you want to arrange for a tour of the winery you need to do some checking around to find out the schedule, be sure to tell them you are on your honeymoon for that extra special service (and trust me, they will do just that!). Each one offers a schedule of tours and wine tasting and some require an appointment before touring. The wineries take their tours seriously and they offer the tourists several different options. When wine tasting is in season you will be able to access an endless amount of wineries. Each winery is different and they have their own set of rules. These rules include the number of guests per party and hours available to tour some require an appointment ahead of time.

Wine tours are scheduled around harvest time when everything is ready and being processed. Other events you may get to see while at the winery include crush events, concerts and auctions of vintage wines, balloon rides over the vineyards, gardens for the perfect atmosphere, museums of the winery and the vineyards, local restaurants come to the festival to display their variety of dishes, and other recreational activities that will make your visit to the winery the most enjoyable.

Because after several wine tasting events you may find that driving is difficult, you and your newly wed spouse may decide to rent a limo which will offer you a safe ride to and from the winery.  If you drive yourself, a lot of the roads leading to the wineries include long, narrow winding roads. It is important to drive slowly and carefully if you decide to drive yourself. They are well off the beaten path and you may not realize how long it takes you to travel to each vineyard. There are also hotels, motels and fantastic resorts to stay at near the vineyards that make beautiful honeymoon stops. Stay at just one or travel up and down the area and enjoy a few.  Many of the hotels and resorts offer spa packages as well as wine tasting tours, so check with them before booking your tour to save a few bucks.

Because California is so big you may not know where to go in order to find a winery. Here is the way that it is divided out:

Northern California offers the Napa Valley and Mendocino Wine sections

Central California offers Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Monterey Wine and Santa Barbara wine sections.

Southern California offers Temecula and San Diego wine sections.

The Central Valley offers Livermore, Clarksburg, Amador, Calaveras, Lodi, and Sierra wine sections.

There are so many places to enjoy during your stay. Viewing each vineyard is a picture perfect memory that will last you forever.

How to Get A Free HoneyMoon

The honeymoon after a wedding can be very expensive. It can pose an unnecessary burden to the new couple or the family. You can go on your honeymoon for free if you have it well planned in advance and are smart about it. After you have determined where you will honeymoon and the amount needed for your trip and all necessities, take that number and put it aside- time to find it free.

Tip #1

There will always be people who will ask you what would you like as a wedding gift. Ask those individuals for cash, a loaded cash card, or a donation made to the honeymoon destination of your choice. Cash, however, is indeed king and you can buy whatever you want including your honeymoon package.

Tip #2

Contact a new resort that has not been widely publicized, or perhaps an old resort that is offering specials. You can offer to write a review or document your honeymoon trip and get paid or receive a large discount on your trip for doing so. Not all resorts will do this, but if you search around and ask your local travel agents or even call the resorts on your own, sometimes you cna work out a great deal. This has worked really well at some of the smaller B&B’s that are looking for free publicity.
Tip #3

Join a honeymoon registry at. That’s right. Most people just sign up for a general bridal registry; then they pick out china, knives, linen, etc. You end up getting just those things. A honeymoon registry provides gift givers an opportunity to purchase services at the place of your honeymoon, such as a spa treatment or dinner for two. The gift givers can also give quantities (of their choosing) of cash to your registry that can be used toward your package or services at your travel site. This concept is not widely known and is under utilized. Its a fantastic concept because its pretty much the same as friends and family giving you cash for your honeymoon, but its more personal. Get enough gift givers to your honeymoon registry site and you will get your honeymoon for free along with the extras such as massages, facials, tours, etc.

Tip #4

Place a small money tree at every table at the wedding reception. This gives everyone a chance to give something. This is especially true for those persons who are too embarrassed to give smaller amounts of cash. You can also hold a cash dance in which people donate dollars to dance to dance with the bride and or groom.

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Planning Your Honeymoon Destination

When you begin to plan for your wedding you will need to plan for all the details of your big event. In fact, you also need to plan for something after your wedding, your honeymoon destination. Traditionally the honeymoon should be planned by the groom. However, it will make more sense if both you and your husband-to-be are planning the honeymoon together.

How to Plan a Honeymoon Together:

Similar to your wedding planning, the best way to plan for your honeymoon is to plan together. Since it is the first time you two travel together as a married couple. You do not want to be disappointed during your honeymoon. As a result, it will be better if all the decisions about the honeymoon is agreed by both of you.

The Honeymoon Destination

There is no definite formula to choose your honeymoon destination. You should just choose the destination based on both of your preferences. If both of you would like adventures, you might want to consider a honeymoon in Africa or Europe. Perhaps something quite and adventurous, Antarctica can be quite romantic in with the white scenery and all the little penguins and other animals in the area.

If you believe your honeymoon is meant to be relaxing, you might prefer a place like Bali as your destination. Sometimes just enjoying the sun shine on the beach and the beautiful tranquil views is the perfect plan. On the contrary, you may also consider places like India or Nepal if you love to explore different cultures. The key is that you should select a destination that both of you feel interested.

The Season

Another issue you have to consider is the season in your honeymoon destination. It may not be a good idea if you plan to join the hiking tour in Nepal during summer, which is the monsoon season. The season is even more important if you really choose to go to Antarctica. You can only go to Antarctica during the summer (in the southern hemisphere). Of course there will be less problem if your honeymoon destination is places with equatorial climate, such as Indonesia and northern Brazil.

The Budget

As for your wedding items, you need to consider the budget for your honeymoon. The tradition is that the groom should pay for the expenses of the honeymoon. However, I will suggest you forget all this tradition and try to plan the budget together. There is nothing wrong if both of you contribute to the expenses.

Undoubtedly, the destination will affect your expenses a lot. Traveling to Antarctica is certainly more expensive than traveling to Mexico (if you are living in the U.S.). However, you can try to save some money from your wedding items and use the extra for your honeymoon. At the end of the day the cost for your honeymoon is usually only a fraction of that of your wedding.

Planning for your honeymoon is not an easy task. If you can plan it well, however, I am sure that you will have a really memorable honeymoon.