I’m excited today to announce a brand new section for GWS – Honeymoons! Our honeymoon was one of my most favorite parts of the whole wedding experience so I thought why not share amazing places, locations and resorts here on GWS. We are looking for destinations that are truly unique + super romantic. I’m so excited to share our first GWS recommended Honeymoon location today!
Last month, Jason (my husband) and I went on a fun adventure. We went glamping! What is glamping you ask? Well it is glamorous camping. I would describe it as all the best parts of camping and none of the bad. :) A perfect trip for a couple where one of you may love camping, but maybe the other is more of a Ritz kind of person. Well, if that is you and you are looking for a truly unique honeymoon or anniversary experience, The Resort at Paws Up (also featured in our Top 26 Coolest Places to Get Married) is for you. Where is The Resort at Paws Up? It’s in the middle of Montana. Greenough to be exact — a little town nestled in the heart of the Blackfoot Valley. Paws Up is located on 37,000 acres of pristine Montana wilderness. 10 miles of the Blackfoot River flows right through their property. And if you live in LA, you can book a direct flight through Allegiant Air – they fly direct and the flights are cheap! Direct flights are also available from SF via United Airlines. Perfect.
Once we landed in Missoula, Montana we were picked up from a driver from The Resort at Paws Up. Not only did our driver have snacks + drinks for us in the car, he was super friendly and told us everything we needed to know about Montana and Paws Up. When we arrived at the resort (a 45 minute ride), it was seriously amazing. I now know why Montana is called the Big Sky. :) You could see so far and the sky was so blue! And then our tent – just wow! It was huge and sat right next to a creek. The ensuite bathroom was crazy. A shower, toilet, two sinks and heated floors. Wow. I couldn’t believe that it was attached to our tent – kind of unreal in the best way. All the tents have electricity, a bed with a pillow-top mattress and come with canteens for water – so green of them. Love that.
The photos above are from our camp – Creekside Camp and below is from Tent City.
After sitting on our porch and enjoying the view and the quietness we ventured down to the camp’s private pavilion for dinner. Our camp had 6 tents and the pavilion was where we all had our breakfasts, dinners and just relaxed. There we were greeted by our camping butler – yep, we had a camping butler – really loved that. :) Dinner was “Game Night. ” We started off with venison meatballs (I’d never had venison, but it was pretty yummy with a bbq huckleberry sauce), then a salad, and a choice for entrees – I had the fish, Jason had the venison. Everything was delicious, and for dessert we had the most yummy huckleberry shortcake. Yes, huckleberries are real! I had no idea, they don’t grow in Cali, but I fell in love with them during the trip. :) It started raining during dinner, but we where in the pavilion and it didn’t really matter. It was actually pretty romantic: the sound of the rain(we don’t hear that much in LA), eating dinner by candlelight and then by the fireplace with some wine + s’mores. A perfect first night!
The next morning after a very peaceful sleep in our beds, we walked down to breakfast where our chef was there to cook us whatever we wanted. I have to say I really loved that. That does not happen when we go camping! Jason had an omelet and I had some huckleberry pancakes – yep, huckleberries again! Then we were off for a day of fun activities. They have lots of activities you can pick from. In the summer you can select from activities such as horseback riding, ATV rides, whitewater rafting, fly fishing on the Blackfoot River (made famous by the book and movie A River Runs Through It), hiking, hot air ballooning and more. We were off for a horseback ride. :) It was so nice and peaceful! I’ve only ridden a horse once back in middle school, so it was a lot of fun for me. It was really foggy that morning too, and the mountains and woods were just so pretty for the ride. All I could think about was how perfect this setting would be for a photo shoot (the art director in me!).
Then it was off for lunch. Each day I had the same thing because it was just that good. Honestly all the food here was delicious. Lunch was heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with the most yummy tomato soup. Don’t worry guys, Jason had a burger – which I can attest was also quite yummy! After lunch we headed out for our next activity – an ATV ride. We rode all over the resort – they have 37,000 acres! We rode by an old haunted house, this huge rock with AMAZING views, and by the river. Such pretty scenery. Then back to camp and dinner. Evenings at our pavilion relaxing with wine and yummy food were my favorite moments there. And even though our camp was full, we often felt like we were the only ones there since the resort is so huge – very romantic. :)
The next day we decided to relax a bit and go check out their Spa Town. Spa Town is on the edge of an expansive meadow and it’s a collection of lots of tents. Really gorgeous setting and such a great, much needed massage.
In the afternoon, we did some more relaxing and just explored the resort. Sat on the porch and enjoyed the views, walked over to see the baby farm animals – so cute!- and sat by the river. We also checked out some of the 28 luxury homes they have there to rent.
Yep, you can stay in one of their tents (they have 3 tented camp areas that are open May 20 – Sept 30) and they have lots of homes that house anywhere from 2-10 guests. The houses are really gorgeous and all have their own hot tub and are very private. The resort is so spread out that you feel like you are on your own private ranch. I need to mention that they do also do weddings here! I talked with some of the women in the Guest Relations and Events and they mentioned it was quite popular to rent a house for an intimate wedding or even the entire resort for an elaborate wedding. The resort is also happy to help make any idea you imagine come true – whether it be romantic picnic in a secluded field or surprising your honey with their favorite dinner by candlelight.
And we were one of the lucky guests to see a bear!! Luckily we were in a car at the time, but so exciting to see a bear out in nature!
Jason and I had SUCH a great time. We hadn’t been to Montana before and it really is so pretty and a great chance to relax with your significant other and forgot the rest of the world. Although the tents are all closed now for the winter, this is a great time to visit the resort since their rates are 50% off the normal summer rates (50% off discount is good Oct 1-31 and Jan 1-31). Thanks so much to The Resort at Paws Up for inviting us to the resort and hosting us so we could experience it for ourselves and share the experience with the GWS readers. It was truly a trip we won’t ever forget and think it would be the perfect honeymoon spot for those of you whether you are looking for romance, adventure or both!
{photos are a combination from myself and The Resort at Paws Up}
omg this looks awesome! brian would love it…must somehow secretly start dropping hints ;)
WOW!!! just wow, a perfect place for honeymoon. I am just wondering, do they have bears?
is this for real? i can’t even imagine a place like this in my wildest dreams. stunning.
I’m a huge fan of glamping! My husband and I got married this summer in Africa (where glamping originated), and our safari included private campsites and lodges, but my favorite was Kisima Ngeda. Unfortunately, their website needs some updating, but it was incredible!
love love love luv
That place looks like a dream come true in my eyes, wow.
Shierly- Thanks for reminding me! Just added one other photo – yes, we saw a black bear!! I guess it is not too common for guests to see them, but we did see one the one night before dinner. Super exciting for us!!
I’ve been looking for the perfect vacation spot to celebrate once my bf gets done with his year probation with the fire department…found it! Thanks for sharing Jen!!
What an amazing idea…glamping! My husband and I love hardcore, real drive deep into the bush camping…but this is such a great alternative for a romantic holiday!
This just might be an option for my honeymoon! I never would have considered “glamping”! These houses/tents look amazing. What a beautiful trip! (And thanks for using the Cross Process iPhone app to take some of these photos!) xo
Just so you know, they ABSOLUTELY have huckleberries in California! Please, let’s not mistake LA for our entire big beautiful, varied state!
Wow now that is my kind of camping!! This place looks amazing …
How crazy! My fiance and I will be going here for our honeymoon next October. We wanted to go somewhere different and I have always wanted to go to Montana. We just happend to find this place after a google search. Thanks for sharing more pictures!!
Sorry Kate! I know they don’t have huckleberries in LA, but I’m guessing up in northern Cali you can find them. Thanks for the correction :)
I. W.A.N.T. T.O. G.O. T.H.E.R.E.!!!
I’m sure they’ll be booked out for the next years after this post *haha*
wow. absolutely stunning. I am off to convince my city-loving husband to go there with me next year. hopefully the promises of a nice fluffly bed, ATVs and burgers will be enough to entice him.
what a gorgeous place!
Oh my, this place looks AMAZING! Nature for my husband and upscale camping for me…it’s perfect :)
Forget camping! I would never camp if I could GLAMP! Glamping looks so much more fun — these images are gorgeous!
This place is amazing! So jealous!
Glamping-how divine! My honey would be just green with envy; he keeps a shotgun propped in our entrance hallway to give our city apartment a country flavor!
Incredible! We may have a wedding at the Resort next September and are really hoping it happens. The venue is insane! Thanks for sharing Jen!
Here is one of my fav glamping spots! I think we will be spending many anniversary’s here. Its a great weekend getaway for the so cal people! We gifted a weekend there to my parents for all their generous help with the wedding- they just went last weekend.
http://www.elcapitancanyon.com/
I LOVE camping and my fiance just introduced me to the idea of glamping last night! I can’t believe I am reading about it in your blog today. I had to laugh. Looks amazing and definitely something I want to check out.
I’m so glad you featured them! I booked my Sept 2011 honeymoon with them back in August! Now I’m even more excited seeing that you were there and it’s just as awesome in your photos as it is on their website!
THANK YOU :-D
ohhh. i love this idea! hmmm… i think is the perfect place for a quiet getaway. nice.
This looks so amazingggggg!!!!!!
this looks awesome! such a great honeymoon idea! :]
xx libby
How spectacular! And thanks–now I want to build a (somewhat smaller) pavilion like that in my backyard!
these places are absolutely beautiful!!!!
I LOVE the snapshots/polaroids! Did you take those? They’re awesome.
WOW!!! SO AWESOME! great photos too! I must say thanks A LOT..(sarcastic undertone) now my wife wants to go! Guess we’ll be visiting Montana in the near future! Great post! So nice to see more stuff about you guys! :)
What an incredible place, Jen! Great images….Absolutely amazing place for a honeymoon or wedding anniversary.
I’m so glad you were able to experience a bit of the Big Sky beauty we have to offer here! And huckleberries, too! (Aren’t they just delicious?) Just as an FYI for any future brides and grooms – Missoula (just a hop and a skip away from Paws Up) boasts a fantastic selection of photographers if you’re looking for a fun and completely unique post-wedding day (or wedding day!) shoot. Not to toot my own horn, but there are some truly great photogs in the area. :)
Wow This seems incredible!!!! my fiance and i have been looking for places to go so we can put a fund on our myregistry.com registry and i think we found it! this is the perfect place for us!! =]
I am doing a wedding here in September! So fun to see that photos. What a great spot. Now I am even more excited.
What a fantastic selection of photos. Paws Up looks beautiful. I am looking forward to my first visit there. I love the aged photos! Very artsy
Thanks for the article, what a stunning place to stay. On my bucket list!
Wow, that looks like it must’ve been such a cool trip. Would love to go ‘glamping’ as well! :)