What we did on the Big Island

I just got a very subtle hint to post some pictures from our honeymoon. Sorry for the delay.


I'll start off with the resort and our room. Yeah, we never stay at resorts - never. We had an amazing stay at the Waikoloa Marriott. Here is our wonderful room and view!!!!

Our first sunset from our lanai

We did some hiking too and saw some great sights...

We also went to see some waterfalls followed by a visit to the botanical garden, where I was mesmerized by all the different species of gingers and heliconias

Then we went and saw some volcanic activity after being rained out a few days before

And on our last day we went horseback riding. On our drive there ,we saw a few rainbows. Hawai'i is the rainbow state. I didn't know that and just thought that everyone in Hawai'i was very gay friendly.

Me on Freckles


In between all that, we watched the sunsets, swam, ate, and drank like good honeymooners

We had a blast and only wish we could have gone for longer.

Wedding Day Run-through: the final, most fun bits!

Again, sorry for the grammatical errors.

Pretty much all of these pictures are from rock star Jade at Uplift Photography.

8:10 pm: Reception time! A panicked DOC tells us that two couples have no seats. I immediately feel that I must have screwed up the seating. I later learn that our venue only put 8 instead of 10 seats at one table, and another couple just flat out refused to sit where they were assigned. It all worked out in the end, because of a few no-shows. But I was kicking myself around for a good amount of time over it. I, then, exchange my evil heels for my ballroom shoes. Ralph and I dance as husband and wife. We do what is comfy for us and had a great time with each other being silly.


Next is the parent's dance. I immediately hear the song and wonder why the DJ had to pick the longer live version of Fleetwood Mac's Landside. I hate recorded live music played at events. My dad does a great job for a man that hasn't danced in close to 25 years. We have a fun time being silly too. I notice that Esther loves our song choice.

(I love how cute Ralph and Esther look here. The look I am giving my dad is awesome!)

Toasts are wonderful by our siblings. Donna was awesome and gave an unexpectedly non-sarcastic speech. Dave's speech was exactly what I expected. I hoped that everyone got his humor. I certainly did and I loved it.



8:20 pm: Dinner is being served. The seated appetizer was horribly disappointing. I LOVE crab cakes, but this one tasted eh, and the sauce is much too spicy for a broad audience. I eat like 3 tiny bites.

(apparently Adam liked it and even ate the crayfish garnish)

The Hearts of Palm salad eventually comes out, but where are the Hearts of Palm? It is good, but where is the best part? I get some aspirin in me, now that I have food in my belly, and immediately feel better. The main entree takes forever to come out and Ralph and I are ansy to go to each table and visit with our guests. I finally take a bathroom break by demanding that my new sistah Donna come to help me go. I return to find my entree, which is in some serious need of salt. I can't find the salt, as it was hidden behind the flowers, I eat three bites and then go and visit the tables. Our DJ tells us that we are running late due to the very slow dinner service and need to start the music. We hold him off for a bit to go and visit the tables, but we still miss 2 tables. I still feel really bad about this.


Now, I have no idea about time....

• With no headache anymore, I finally drank some Champagne. I think I drank a single glass over the entire night.
• I had a blast on the dancefloor and was so glad that Ralph stayed with me.

• I kept complaining about the heat. It was hot the moment we walked in - what was up with that?
• I noticed people with no shoes and then kindly asked someone to make sure that the flip flops were placed out. They finally appeared and I directed the barefooters there. It was a hit!

(I think this is a Marjie foot)

• The DJ played all the songs we requested and included a few songs that were right up our alley, however, they weren't mixed that well and he cut out alot of the crecendos and best parts of songs. Ralph and I were really sad about this, but understood that he needed to fit all our "must play" songs into a limited amount of time since dinner took too long. It didn't ruin anything for us and we were happy that the dancefloor was always kicking.
  
• We visited with people outside, where it was much cooler. I danced a bit out there too.

• My mom was in the bathroom during the playing of Dancing Queen. I tried to find her, but I didn't look there.
• I kept checking in with my Dad who was very amused at all the fun people were having.
• Cake cutting time. We had no idea what to do! We winged it and then winged it again.

• Garter removal. I had no idea what was coming! I sat out there and for some reason had no idea what the DJ was going to do. Ralph's dance was soooo classic Ralph. I love that he chugged the beer - because he knew what was coming.

• Bouquet Toss. Totally planned. I knew exactly who I was throwing it to. She just moved, but then actually caught it.

• Garter Toss. I see that my brother Dave actually went for it.

• More dancing insues. Ralph stayed on the dancefloor all night.

(Ralph's Grandmother - who rocked it all night. She says that this is the way she is 90-something young)

• We end the night with one slow song (Clapton's Wonderful Tonight) and then go into Journey's Don't Stop Believing. Somehow we become encircled as we dance/sing the silly song. The funny thing is that Journey followed us on our honeymoon and had a concert right next to our resort. We totally tailgated and stayed for half the show. I have a feeling that Don't Stop Believing was saved for the last song too. I was too chilly to wait for it.

• I try to give away as many flowers as possible. I snag a bunch of leftover favors. I try and help with clean up as Ralph yells at me to stop. I give in and we head off to our sassy little Chevy Cobalt. People keep telling me that the limo is waiting for us... he he, that ride was for my parents and family.
• We go back to the hotel room only to find this (thanks to Heather, Emily, and Corey)....

There is no other way to say it: we had a freaking blast!!!! Thank you to everyone. xoxoxo

(my amazing necklace was Ralph's gift to me - it was the most perfect gift ever)



(Our last day in Hawai'i, walking the coastline)

I want it all... I want it all... I want it all...

and I want it now. No, not really. I am not impatient, but I am a picky girl. I really am. I realize that I want alot and, what is even worse, I don't want to pay alot for it. Picky and frugal. This has been problematic for my hunt for the perfect hotel for our out of town guests see here, here, and here. I want, in addition to a good price, a good location, a good room, and the ability to have an informal rehearsal dinner (read pizza party - but with really good pizza), and a day after brunch. Yeah, it is a tall order. So those condo rentals that I blogged about previously really don't help me out here, since they are usually for just a single unit.

Then it occurred to me - what if we found a small hotel and rented out the entire place? Wouldn't we be free to do what we want there? Something like... a Bed and Breakfast. A quick search on tripadvisor (seriously my very good friend) , and I found several small B&B's in great locations.

First up was a great little place with 12 tidy rooms and wonderful recommendations.

This would be a great location for all of our soirées (credit)

Unfortunately, they were a tad too expensive for our guests budgets. But it was otherwise perfect. There were a few more listed to chose from, but only one other B&B is actually small enough for us to use up all their rooms and in a good enough location.


With only 10 rooms, this B&B is a little more rustic and cozy. And it is very cost effective.

(credit)

There is a beautiful palm garden in the back of the property which also has 2 sundecks. It should nicely accommodate our little pizza partee. (credit)

I hope to check this out during my 3rd 1 week wedding planning extravaganza in mid September. I only hope it is as perfect as I think it might be. Until then, no more hotel posts, I promise!

So, how are you organizing your out of town guests and all your wedding events? Are you having a hard time keeping everyone together and making things as simple as possible?

Who needs a hotel...

when there are empty condos all over Miami Beach? I don't know why I didn't think about this sooner. There are TONS of condos all over Miami Beach.

(credit)

All those tall buildings on the beach and in the distance, which is downtown Miami, at least 75% of them are condominium buildings.

Many of the vacant properties are bought by people for investments properties and/or vacation homes. Some hotels even own some rooms in select properties. And some hotel buildings actually have floors that are condos. This has been a very interesting revelation. Why? Well, beacause the owners of the condo unit usually rent it at a much lower cost than the hotel itself. Take for example the queen of the beach, the Setai.

(credit)

The average cost to stay in this hotel, according to my friend tripadvisor, is $1451 a night ($2195 in March!). However, if you pop over to VRBO.com (which stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner), you find rentals in this building for as low as $395 a night in the low (summer) season. That is amazing savings for the same location, view, and sometimes service (depends on hotel).

The other advantage to renting a condo, is that you get the amenities of a home: a full kitchen, more space, a dining area, usually a sofa couch, washer/dryer, and sometimes there is even some recreational equipment to use (beach chairs, floats, etc...). I looked into some of these rentals for us after the wedding, and for our photographer and videographer. Of course everything is more expensive in March, but I received some decent quotes. This one is my favorite, and costs the same as the suite at the hotel that I waxed and waned upon too much.

The best part is that it is located in the best part of the beach. It also has a pool, and we would get our own private garden off the unit.


Sure it isn't super luxe. But we wouldn't be paying a luxe price for it either. Plus, I like the idea that we would be helping someone pay their mortgage bill, rather than feeding the Hilton's pocketbooks. I have more thoughts on this and other alternatives to hotels coming up.