Gator Bride - A Florida Gator Themed Wedding Blog » Honeymoon

Honeymoon Art for Any Price Range

Mrs Gator — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:11:25 +0000

Mr. Knight and I are big on Art. Not the fancy-smancy art gallery stuff (although we would LOVE to own something from one of those types of galleries), but more of a ‘local’ art. I have 2 requirements on every trip we take:

We purchase an ornament for our Christmas tree from the place we visit
We purchase local art from the place we visit

From the beginning of our relationship, Mr. Knight and I have wanted the walls of our home to be filled with pictures and art from our travels. No Target/Pottery Barn/Pier 1 mass-production art allowed here. :-)

We aren’t big spenders. We have a tight budget for art, and our honeymoon was no different. I believe you can find amazing art, on the cheap, while vacationing. You aren’t going to find it in those fancy-smancy art galleries but, if you look around you can find amazing pieces for great prices.

While in Maui, Mr. Knight and I were always on the look out for something great to bring home. We even made ‘special’ shopping trips to look for a great art piece to bring home. While in Maui I fell in LOVE with these sets of ‘old school’ 1940s-1950s postcards advertising vacations (through Pan-am) to Hawaii. They were beautiful. Mr. Knight and I decided we would buy a few to frame and hang in our kitchen. At $1.00 a pop, I was sold!

$1.00 per postcard, and $2.99 Ribba Frames from IKEA.
Total for Post Card Art – $11.97

Now I wasn’t content on having just postcards from our honeymoon as our ‘honeymoon art’ since they were neither handmade nor one-of-a-kind. I was on the search for something more. After eating at a great fish restaurant in Paia, Maui, we came across a little art gallery. There we found art by Kalani DeWitt Lickle (say that 10 times fast). He is the owner of the fish restaurant we had just ate at. Everyday he goes out and fishes, brings his catches into his art studio and makes ink prints of them, then turns the fish into yummy fish sandwiches at his restaurant. We loved the idea of having something handmade by a Maui local, so we checked out some of his pieces.

Kalani Dewitt Lickle working his magic. The style of printing is called Gyotaku, and it originated hundreds of years ago-before the “camera age” as a method to scientifically record the size and unique characteristics of the endless array of species of the “wet world.”
source: Gyotaku Maui

I fell in love with all his prints, especially this one:

I’m still kicking myself for not buying it, but Mr. Knight wanted the octopus print more and I felt two of these types of prints was just too much for our little condo.
source: Gyotaku Maui

Kelani’s octopus prints are actually made with the ink of the octopus. He has many pictures on his website of him laying out the octopus (I’ll save you the grossness/scary-ness) and pressing them into the paper. He then comes back and enhances the print.
source: Gyotaku Maui

And here’s our print, framed, in all it’s glory! The total for this piece was $175, and $113 for framing (Harmon’s). Still working on getting to that bathroom makeover, but till then, might as well enjoy our honeymoon art! Mr. Knight got all fancy and took the pick with his fisheye lens. This picture is apart of our “sell the condo” images. More on that, soon. :)
Grand Total – $288

A little expensive for our cheap as*es but we felt it was worth the $$$. I mean, when will we be in Maui again? And on our honeymoon?

When we got home I was eager to show everyone our little piece of Maui. I loved all the “oohs” and the “that’s interesting” or “that’s different.” I can tell no one liked it. But, WE DON’T CARE. There was something about that day, that location, that time when we bought it that we will always remember. We were on our honeymoon, newly married, head over heels for each other (and still are) and in the most beautiful place we had ever been.

I love how when we purchased the print at the art gallery in Paia, Maui, the sales lady asked me where we were going to hang it. I immediately responded “the bathroom.” You should have seen the look of pure horror on her face. She didn’t understand why we would hang it in our bathroom. I explained that we were doing a little make-over of our 1/2 bathroom for our guests and this would be replacing some ugly Albertson’s print (yes, Albertson’s sells framed prints of random stuff… don’t ask me why we have it).

So there you have it, honeymoon art on the cheap and the not-so-cheap-but-still-cheap. Here are a few of our other favorite pieces around our house from our travels, and our friend’s travels! {man do I have fabulous friends who bring me back art from different countries, love them}.

A gift from Sunny MOH when she was studying abroad in Peru. :)

A beautiful piece of art, brought back for me from Gator Bridesmaid when she was studying abroad in Italy. Love her♥

Moonlight Bay print purchased on our trip to Newfoundland, Canada. Also, my Marfa Postcard I purchased while on a school trip to Marfa, Texas (home of the Prada installation). I sure love myself some vintage-looking postcards!

When we went to Newfoundland, there were puffins EVERYWHERE. I always thought they were the cutest little birds. So, of course I had to have a print of them to remember our trip. :)

Do you plan to purchase art on your honeymoon? If you’ve already honeymooned with your honey, did you pick up any decor for your casa?

Just Mauied :: Honeymooning in Maui

Mrs Gator — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:14:08 +0000

In the “honeymoon recap” area, I’ve been quite lazy. It’s not like we didn’t have the most amazing time of our lives in Maui, it is just the MASSIVE amount of photos Mr. Knight took on our honeymoon is making this task quite daunting. (Massive amount = 1,500+ photos = out of control Husband)

The view from our condo in Maui… just breathtaking. It was the best view on the island, and we’re not just saying that, we checked! Waking up to THIS every morning was heaven!
photo by Mr Knight

I don’t want to bore you with a bazillion pictures of us in romantic locations, so I’m going to try and condense our honeymoon recap (and give you a fabulous view of Maui) in as little pictures as possible. :-) If you haven’t seen our honeymoon video, then you better get your butt on over there and view it. It truly captured the feeling of Maui and our honeymoon perfectly.

In Maui there were lots of Mai Tai’s to be consumed:

Mr. Knight enjoying a Mai Tai at Mama’s Fish House

Lots of Luau’s to attend:

Enjoying a Mai Tai at the Old Lahiana Luau. Yums.

Lots of posing on volcanic rock:

Mr. Knight chill-laxin on some volcanic rock.

Lots of scenic pictures to be taken:

View from the Five Palms Restaurant at the Mona Kai in Kihei.

Lots of romantic bike rides:

28 mile bike ride down a volcano is not everyone’s idea of ‘romantic’ but Mr. Knight and I loved it. One of the top 5 experiences of our life (so far). Biking through 10 different climate zones (starting in freezing 26 degrees at the top and ending at the ocean) was unbelievable.
Mr. Knight and Mrs. Gator exhibiting the “Honeymoon Pose;” photo by our Maui Guide from Mountain Riders

Lots of yummy food to chow down on:

Enjoying some calamari, sushi and shrimp at the Five Palms. Yes that is two raspberry mojitos you see in front of me. I was out of control that night, but hey, you have to get a little out of control on your honeymoon, right?

Lots of champagne to be devoured:

Not only did the owners of our condo leave us champagne, but Mr. Knight’s Mom also sent us champagne. So we celebrated watching the finale of “Lost” (in HAWAII, where it was filmed) by toasting to them with lots and lots of champagne. By the end of the night, I was whining on the floor of our bathroom (after I had slipped on… champagne). No more champagne for me. Bad little gator.

Lots of guard rails to pose for pictures on:

Mr. Knight and I on the Road to Hana (one of the most treacherous roads to drive).

Mr. Knight and I in the ‘desert’ portion of the Hana Highway (this is way past the point where rental vehicles are prohibited from driving). Did you know there was a desert in Maui? Now you know. I told you Maui had some ridiculous climates.

Lots of shopping while eating:

Planning out our shopping attack while catching a bite to eat at the crazy-delicious Longhi’s.

Lots of water sports to partake in:

Mr. Knight tearin’ it up on a jet ski. He had sooo much fun. I, on the other hand, was terrified. I decided that being his personal photographer/videographer while he played in the water, was more fun. :-) I’m not even going to tell you how much jet ski rentals are in Maui, you might throw up on yourself.

Lots of silly-ness:

Actin’ a fool up at the Seven Sacared Pools of Hana.

Lei-making to be learned:

Mr. Knight showing off the plumeria lei he made.

Feeling snazzy with my lei and hair flower. Plumeria smell = AMAZING.

Massages to be received:

Mr. Knight getting a massage at our condo before his tattoo appointment. Later, we decided this was a bad idea, he should have had the massage AFTER the tattoo appointment. Oh wells, I still felt like I was on cloud 9 after his tattoo appointment. :-)

Lots* of tattoos to get:
*Maybe not ‘lots’ of tattoos, but one very important one.

Mr. Knight getting his honeymoon/wedding/we-love-each-other-so-dang-much tattoo at the Maui Tattoo Company. Every time I see it, my heart just goes a flutter. I love this man sooo much. :-)

Mr. Knight’s tattoo. A little math equation I came up with; our intials^squared = LOVE and our wedding date. I love it and so does Mr. Knight. It is soo US. Guess what makes it extra special? He got it in Maui, so it is a little reminder of the fabulous trip we had to that incredibly beautiful island.

Where are you going on your honeymoon? If you already went, where did you go? Was it everything you dreamed of? If your still on the search, I highly (HIGHLY) suggest Maui. :-)

Just Mauied :: Our Honeymoon Video

Mrs Gator — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:40:44 +0000

Mr. Knight and I had a fantastic time on our honeymoon. We had the time of our lives. We never held back, if we wanted to go do something, we did it (which I think is a state of mind everyone should try and be in on their honeymoon). I could just post a bunch of pictures from our honeymoon… but what’s the fun in that? Instead, my awesome husband made this cute little video to give you a better idea of the ‘feeling’ of our honeymoon. Enjoy!

Just Mauied :: Our Honeymoon from Mrs Gator on Vimeo.
If you would like to see the video larger, click the video link.
If you are viewing this post on a mobile device (via Android, iPhone, iPad, etc), please click here to view our honeymoon video mashup on youtube (a more mobile friendly site, but design-wise Vimeo beats it, like WOAH).

Mr. Knight made this video through a compilation of video and photos taken with a DSLR, a HD Camera, our iPhones, and a small Sanyo waterproof camera/videocamera. Yes, we looked crazy carrying around so much equipment everywhere we went. I often complained that I was tired of having the camera in my face or I was tired of having my picture taken, but now I understand why Mr. Knight was so persistant. I will try and remember this video the next time we go on vacation and he takes 20GB worth of video and photos. Love him♥

What do y’all plan to do on your honeymoon?

We ♥ Hotwire

Mrs Gator — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:46:09 +0000

If you haven’t heard of Hotwire and are planning a trip, it is the place for booking amazing hotels for cheap!

Mr. Knight and I first used Hotwire for Mr. Knight’s 23rd Birthday weekend in Orlando. We rented a 4 star hotel (the Rosen Shingle Creek) for $60 a night. Can you believe that? Just $60 a night… and the hotel was AMAZING!! The deal with Hotwire is, you select the general area you would like to stay and the amount of stars. They don’t tell you the name of the hotel till after you have booked. We had such a great experience the first time around that Mr. Knight and I decided to book our hotel night (before our big plane ride to Maui) in Jacksonville.

And look at this super chic and modern hotel we got near the airport for $70 a night:

Aloft: A Vision of W Hotels
Gorgeous!!!

Can’t wait to chill out here with Mr. Knight, the night before our big Maui flight. :-)

All images taken from the Aloft: A Vision of W Hotels website

Wow… I feel incredibly hip right now.

I went to the Aloft: A Vision of W Hotels and checked the price they were offering for the same room and the same timeframe. They are offering the room for $112 a night, while we got a deal of $70 a night via Hotwire. Saving $42 a night on a super sweet hotel? That’s what is called “awesome” in our book. :-)

Let the Honeymoon Shopping Begin!

Mrs Gator — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:36:19 +0000

I picked up my first dress for our honeymoon next May in Maui, HI! I know it’s early… but what can I say… when you find something you love, you just have to get it (plus, it helps having Gator Mom and Gator Dad there to give the okay too and provide the $$. Thank you!). We picked up this lovely little dress at Rochelle’s Clothing in St. Augustine (located right before the Bridge of Lions on the Beach side). Super cute shop with lots of unique dresses (they also carry name brands like Citizen for Humanity and Hard Tail).

Love this!
source

source

Tropical dress from Rochelle’s Clothing, $88.
Wearing the dress to Momma’s Fish House in Maui with your new Husband, Priceless.

When did/will you all start shopping for your honeymoon?

A Honeymoon to Remember: Maui Here We Come!

Mrs Gator — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:36:14 +0000

Aloha Gator Bride-ers! {hmm… that has a nice ring to it.} :-)

You may want to sit down for this… it is probably going to be one of my longest posts ever. When it comes to honeymoons, I have a lot to say on the subject.

Originally, Mr. Knight and I had grand ideas of honeymooning in Europe. You know… the whole Paris (city of love), Rome, England sha-bang. That idea ended rather quickly when we realized:

We would be staying in rather un-luxurious accommodations, since European suites were expensive and small (umm hello… shouldn’t we be pampered on our honeymoon?)
Taking about a million trains, planes and automobiles everywhere (no thank you)
The whole Euro and not speaking the language thing
We couldn’t possibly afford it (our 10 day adventure was turning into an $8k nightmare)

So, off to Plan B (not that type of Plan B, ladies): HAWAII

Immediately we knew we wanted to honeymoon on the island of Maui. My parents had just been there and had a fabulous time (plus they had some excellent tips for us). I quickly got on the internet looking for condos for us to rent for our 10 day love-vacation. We knew condos would be the right choice because:

They have a kitchen, so I can make Mr. Knight breakfast in the morning and sandwiches for lunch (aka save money on eating out)
Oceanview for ½ the price of most resorts in Maui

Yes, I like to make lists. Have you noticed?

I’m sure glad we looked early because seriously… every condo we looked at was booked till next April! Most of the condos were old and went with the whole wicker-themed interiors (ick). Totally not our style. I managed to find one condo available over at the Kihei Surfside Resort and booked it immediately. Check out our sweet hawaiian love nest ↓

Awesome Bamboo Kitchen with granite counter-tops

Spacious living room with flat panel TV (for Mr. Knight… because I know he can’t go without his History and Discovery Channel)

Oh… and the view from our room… breathtaking! I can’t wait to relax on our porch and look out at this beautiful view with Mr. Knight

We booked our Honeymoon digs for $120 a night plus Hawaiian tax (agh… 12%). I have to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to my future mother-in-law and her husband for taking care of our flight for us. Our 1^st wedding gift! Hooray! :-)

…and might I add, probably the best wedding gift ever. Our other guests have a lot to live up to (just kidding!).

Speaking of gifts, Mr. Knight and I have created a Honeymoon Registry over at HoneymoonWishes↓

Mr. Knight and Miss Gator’s Honeymoon Registry

When Mr. Knight and I moved in together we had 2 of everything because we each had our own apartment. Granted, some of our items could use an upgrade (plastic serving spoons, ripped towels, cat-induced holes in sheets/duvets, plates we both like, etc). But we felt that an experience was worth more to us then material objects. It was incredibly easy to set up and you can even create a wedding website through it too (although we already have an excellent wedding website Mr. Knight made us, what a lover face ♥).

I’m incredibly excited for our honeymoon. There are so many incredible things to experience in Maui and I can’t wait to experience them with Mr. Knight as his Mrs ♥.

I told you it was going to be a long post. :-)