When my partner and I decided to get married during a global pandemic, we knew our honeymoon was going to have to wait.

Brandon and I got engaged in December 2020, and we knew we wanted to take advantage of a COVID wedding. Neither of us is particularly social. A small ceremony with close friends and family sounded perfect. And to be honest, it was quite beautiful.

So we tied the knot in September 2021, still knowing we’d have to wait until the world opened up again and we were both comfortable travelling before taking a flight for a honeymoon.

But Brandon’s parents are amazingly supportive, and for our wedding they gifted us a weekend getaway one month after the wedding to a little town in Niagara-on-the-Lake. For those who don’t know, Niagara-on-the-Lake is an area in Southern Ontario that’s essentially our nearby wine country.

Everything is very quaint and rustic and adorable. Kind of like having a piece of Europe only an hour and a half drive away. So we were able to have a tiny getaway after the wedding, and not entirely sacrifice a honeymoon.

So we got in the car and headed to our pre-planned mini-moon in Jordan, Ontario.

*Inn on the Twenty, Jordan, Ontario (Oct 2021)*

I’m so used to planning my own trips and experiences; it was so nice to have our entire two days organized for us.

After a gorgeous, picturesque drive through the fall foliage, we arrived at Inn on the Twenty on Saturday afternoon. The inn itself was so pretty, and our room was waiting for us with sweet treats and a giant bathtub (score).

*Our room and treats left by the inn management (Oct 2021)*

Brandon and I aren’t huge drinkers, but when in wine country… We walked across the street to Cave Spring Winery Tasting Room where we had reserved a tasting with some snacks.

It was neat to be able to have the wine-tasting experience, even though neither of us could tell them apart from one another.

We mostly just enjoyed sitting and sharing a drink together with some cheese and olives (double score).

*Wine tasting with some charcuterie snacks (Oct 2021)*

We had a chance to walk around Jordan’s Main Street and relax in the room a little before heading to our next scheduled event: dinner.

His parents had booked us a lovely dinner at the Inn on the Twenty Restaurant. The restaurant had beautiful views of the valley and the food was absolutely incredible. They serve fresh, local food and change their menu to match what is in season.

*Dinner and dessert at the Inn on the Twenty restaurant (Oct 2021)*

Once we were sufficiently stuffed, we went back to the room for a food coma sleep.

The next morning, we checked out of the inn – but that wasn’t the end of our adventure. My in-laws had one more plan in store: a spa morning!

We packed our things into the car and headed to the spa for a super relaxing massage and body scrub. Just thinking about it is making me calm and sleepy…

Overall we had such a lovely time on our mini-moon, and it was such a great way to get away for a couple of days – especially since the world had stopped and the idea of this kind of trip seemed so hard to reach for.

Again, I have to say a huge thank you, thank you, thank you to Brandon’s parents. They are fantastic and extremely generous. They let me live with them through the pandemic. His mom helped us DIY our entire wedding (all of the flowers, all of the decor, everything).

And on top of all that, they surprised us with such a thoughtful weekend away to ourselves. I can’t thank them enough.