"19 Kids and Counting" star Michelle Duggar revealed details of her honeymoon just days before the family announced that the reality show was renewed for a ninth season.
Michelle's limited-income wedding tips came in handy at the recent wedding of her daughter, Jill. Jill's wedding to Derick Dillard is set to be prominently featured in the upcoming season.
Michelle and Jim Bob recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, but Michelle remembers many details of the momentous occasion and its honeymoon. Because of their limited income, their honeymoon was not in a far away destination.
"For our honeymoon, Jim Bob and I planned a trip near our home because that's what we could afford," she wrote on the family's blog. "We were going to go to Mount Nebo and Lake Fort Smith, both in Arkansas. We chose state parks for our destinations because the cabins there were so reasonable."
Their romantic staycation went a bit differently than expected, however.
"When we arrived at our first destination, we couldn't believe the difference between the photo on the brochure and the reality. We chuckle about this now, but I did not go and look at the places ahead of time.
"The cabin was really rundown with awful orange curtains -- and cobwebs everywhere! On top of that, the river was completely dried up; there was no water at all. So we opted instead to go into town and stayed at a hotel in Fort Smith. We didn't get the setting we were anticipating for our first night together, but it was still sweet."
Jill and Derick spent their honeymoon in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Jill said that it was amazing.
"Every morning, we would wake up and go out and sit on the deck and listen to the waves," Jill told PEOPLE. "It was beautiful. It was very private without a lot of people there yet for the season. It was so relaxing."
The large wedding, which included 1,500 guests and thousands of servings of food and drinks, will be featured in a special episode of the new season of "19 Kids and Counting."
TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" season nine will premiere this fall.
