Weddings and/or Honeymoons in Quebec City

[zoebartlett]

My boyfriend and I have been talking about what type of wedding and honeymoon we''d like. As of now, we''re planning on getting married in July 2008. We''re not engaged yet but I want to at least begin thinking of options that appeal to us. My boyfriend is 35 and I am 33, and neither of us really want a big wedding with bridesmaids, a traditional wedding party, etc. Neither of us want to be married in the Church either, as religion isn''t a part of our daily lives. Keeping it simple is what we''d ideally love (actually, my boyfriend would love to elope but I have friends and family that would be upset if we didn''t include them).

One idea that I''ve been thinking about is the possiblility of getting married in Quebec City. I don''t even know if this is a possibilty, as my boyfriend''s family, his parents specifically, don''t really travel. (We live within about a 6-8 hour drive to QC). However, I''d at least like to think this through and wondered if I could have some help. If we don''t do this, we''ve also thought of honeymooning in QC and then taking a family vacation to Portugal the following summer (to celebrate our first anniversary and to celebrate my dad''s future retirement -- his family is from the Azores). The Portugal idea sounds SO expensive but if we can swing it, we''d love to do it. I''m afraid I''m getting ahead of myself though...

My boyfriend and I spent our first New Year''s Eve together in QC 3 1/2 years ago. It was our first vacation together, even if it was only for 2 days. It was such a romantic time that means a lot to us.

All of this would need to be done on a budget, but we haven''t even really planned that part out, considering we''re not engaged yet. When we went to QC before, we stayed at the Loews le Concorde Hotel, right outside the walled city. We loved it but we''d like to probably stay within the walls the next time we go. We''d love to get ideas to start looking into.

I don''t mean to be vague and I know we''re pretty indecisive so far. I''m just thinking aloud so to speak and am open to suggestions. The July (200 time frame is pretty set. I''m a teacher so I''m tied to following my school''s holiday schedule.

Thanks so much for suggestions!

 

[anchor31]

Hey zoe! I''m from QC and I''d be happy to help you! I think first you should check out if there are any requirements for you to get married here since you''re not a Canadian citizen (I don''t think there are any, but you should check nonetheless). If you tell me more about what kind of wedding you''d like, I could do some research for you.

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Anchor! I was hoping you''d see this! I''ll look into the requirements -- thanks for the tip. I have a feeling that QC might be too far for my boyfriend''s parents to travel, but since it''s early, I thought I''d look into it and give my "arguements" for a QC wedding after I do some research. That way I''ll be prepared.

If we choose to do a honeymoon in QC instead of a wedding, I''m not even sure where to start looking. Sometimes info. on the internet is overwhelming, you know? Here are some places we''d love to visit, but I''m not sure how far one thing is from another. Although we don''t live too far from Canada (like I said, it''s about 6 hours or so), we''ve only been there once and we don''t know the geography too well. Anyway, we''d love to see Nova Scotia and PEI and maybe Montreal, as well as QC itself of course.

Our interests are enjoying the scenery, going into shops, maybe visiting galleries or museums, checking out great restaurants, and just really getting to know the culture of places we visit. We''re not really adventure seekers or big hikers.

Friends of ours mentioned that when they were on their honeymoon, they didn''t want to feel like they were spending the majority of their time on their way to someplace or another. Does that make sense? They believed that that was not the most relaxing way to spend their honeymoon.

I hope I''m being clear. I feel like I''m just rambling.

 

[anchor31]

Well, if you don''t want to spend most of your trip on the road, I''d recommend you stick to Québec and Montréal for now and go to PEI and NS on a later trip. Montréal is about 150 miles from Québec city and PEI is about 575 miles from Québec city; NS is even further.

Québec city has some pretty interesting museums and nature parks, beautiful sceneries as well as historical sites. The Old Québec is really nice for restaurants and a stroll after dinner... The Montmorency falls come to mind for a great day outdoors.

I think this website will interest you a lot! Québec City tourism

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks for letting me know about the distances between QC and PEI and NS. I thought they might be too far from one another to do in one leisurely trip. I just checked to see exactly how far we are, and it looks like we''re about 6 hours from QC and not quite 5 hours from Montreal.

We were thinking of taking a 5 day (roughly) honeymoon right after we get married. As much as I''d love to travel more, we''re also trying to save for a family trip to Portugal the following year, if we can make it work. Do you think 5 days is a good amount of time to spend sightseeing, etc? If so, what would be on your MUST SEE or MUST DO list (it would be over the summer -- July)?


Thank you so much for your help. We really appreciate it!

Zoe

 

[Kit]

Zoe,

Just wanted to chime in and say a wedding and/or hm in QC is a great idea! I went to a dw there 2 years ago, it was a July wedding and was utterly fabulous and wonderful...but also pretty much the opposite of a budget affair. However I was really charmed by the city and the surrounding areas. I say go for it!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Kit!

Thanks for chiming in! Can you tell me what the wedding you attended was like? We''re not sure what we want, but we don''t a want a huge affair. I want it to be a nice, classy, yet fairly casual day. I can''t picture myself in a wedding gown, I think we''d opt to have a dessert table instead of the more traditional wedding cake, I don''t think we''ll have attendants, etc. etc. My boyfriend would elope in a second!

 

[anchor31]

Yes, I do think that you can see some great thing in 5 days. As I already mentionned, the Montmorency fall are really beautiful in QC, and the Old Quebec is great. I also loved the Aquarium Park (the website seems to be down for now - http://www.aquarium.qc.ca/), FI and I went there on our second anniversary getaway and had a lot of fun. The "musée de la civilisation" (http://www.mcq.org/index_en.html) is a lot of fun to visit. QC has an music festival in July (http://www.infofestival.com/en/index.asp).

In Montréal, I would not miss the Biodôme (http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/biodome/site/site.php?langue=en), the Olympic stadium (the world''s highest leaning tower - http://www.rio.gouv.qc.ca/index2.jsp?locale=en) and the Botanical Garden (http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/menu.htm). They''re all in the same area, just next to Maisonneuve Park, a perfect place for a picnic (and where I was proposed to!

). The famous Montreal Jazz Festival is in July (http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/preFIJM2007/accueil_en.aspx).

As you can see, FI and I are pretty fun the outdoorsy and cultural type, I hope this is helpful to you!

 

[zoebartlett]

Thank you so much Anchor!!! I REALLY appreciate all your help. I''ll begin going through the links you provided. I think the things you mentioned are right up our alley.

 

[anchor31]

No problem! I love this province so much... I''m very happy when someone shows interest. Do you know some French?