Weddingbee Blog

Once all of our formal family portraits were done, Mr. CA and I looked around and realized that almost everyone had left and our cocktail hour was half gone. We had asked the limo to take some of the wedding party back to the Club during the family pictures, so while we waited for the limo to return, Sarah grabbed us for a few more “yay we just got married!” couple portraits. The resulting pictures are my favorite pictures of the day. We are just so relaxed and happy. And newly married!

I can’t remember what her prompt was for the above shot, but I think it was “dance like you’re excited to be married!” or something ridiculously awesome like that. Clearly, we are not the greatest dancers…but it was fun!

A shot for the parents!

Ha. I don’t know what happened here, but I think Mr. CA is yelling in my face, and I am cracking up. Typical.

We sort of love each other. Maybe. A little.

I look so bride-y here. Whoa.

The limo finally came back to fetch us, along with our siblings (who waited with us like good siblings do), and we made our way back to the Club without incident. Hooray! When we first met with Fr. John, he had told us that we should take some time just to ourselves before the reception, where we could just relax and relish in being newly married. So when we arrived, our day-of coordinator (Kelsey) and the coordinator at the Club (Amy) ushered us on to a little out-of-the-way balcony above all the hustle and bustle of the cocktail hour. It was just me and Mr. CA (OK, and two photographers and two coordinators), and it was just bliss.

We had fabulous views of the water and Mt. Rainier (and we could look down onto the lower balcony and spy on people enjoying cocktail hour). A waiter brought water and drinks and a little plate of chicken satay, and I could not have been happier to see them appear. I took off my heels, which were starting to hurt a little after being on my feet for so long. Someone also fetched Auntie so she could do some touch-ups on my hair, and I asked that she bring up my reception flats as well. This part of the day is just a haze to me; I felt so pampered and taken care of. It was amazing. I just sat there, munching on my chicken satay and chugging water while Auntie stuck more pins in my hair, admiring the view and moving my engagement ring over to my left hand. Above my wedding band. So surreal!

Sarah grabbed a few more couple shots, we downed the rest of our water and chicken, and I had a few more touch-ups to my face. Apparently my face needs lots of work.

It was time to get down to the last little bit of cocktail hour and the reception! I was feeling refreshed and ready to mingle.

Were you able to take some time to yourselves before all of the reception revelry started? Did people randomly fetch things for you like servants in Downton Abbey??

• Recaps commenced. Sort of.
• I got over my dress regret.
• We made it official. Legally.
• I stressed out big time.
• We did some last-minute prep.
• We rehearsed.
• Our wedding day arrived!
• The little details fell into place.
• I got all gussied up.
• The guys got ready.
• We had a first look.
• Mr. CA and I took “formal” portraits.
• We took pictures on a dock.
• After some mishaps, we made it to the church.
• We walked down the aisle.
• We said our vows. Voila! Married.
• We took tons of family pictures.

**All photography by Sarah Rhoads Photography unless otherwise noted**