Weddingbee Blog

I know we’re getting a bit too “punny” with the “Secret Life of Bees” titles, but I had to give it a shot.

I even made a PIE CHART to illustrate the four very random “secrets” I’m going to share!

Har har har, I slay me.

Let’s start at the top, shall we?
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To get back into the wedding recap, I have to rewind to one week before the wedding, when Mr. CP and I drove from Seattle to Glacier National Park for a pre-wedding vacation. When we arrived, I was exhausted and fed-up. I wrote:

The truth is that the last two weeks have been absolute hell, and I have wanted, very badly, not to be dealing with this wedding any more [...] I am tired of unreturned phone calls and email, missing critical details, and misinformation. I am ready to break up with our wedding.

But as soon as we crossed state lines from Washington to Idaho and Idaho to Montana, my stress lifted. And this is why the drive to Montana is my favorite rite of passage: The beautiful scenery was passing, and I was a full part of the journey to my favorite place to marry my favorite man.

And, between you and me, I planned to marry him not once, but TWICE.

Why? Don’t worry; we’re getting there…
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… or is that CP’s P CPP? Whatever…

Hi Bees, it’s your regretfully absent friend, Mrs. Cherry Pie here to bust back into the wedding world. I know, I know, the last time you saw me I promised you non-pro pics to start the wedding recap while we waited. I suck, and work has been devouring my soul causing me to become a black, newlywed vortex of despair.

But! I am alive, if not “well,” and my life at home with Mr. CP is darn near perfect.

Anyhow, enough about me. I’m writing today with a WONDERFUL tool to help you pick your color palette: Multicolr!

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It will be a while before we have our final photos back from Piknik Studios, but in the meantime I have a few more teaser photos for you! Click on each to see the photo larger…

[ On the porch of the Northern Lights Saloon in Polebridge ]

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When we decided to have a non-officiant friend marry us (remember: anyone can marry you in Montana), I knew it meant that I would have to write our wedding ceremony, or at least contribute heavily to its creation. This was high on my list of “cons” relating to not hiring an officiant, but I very quickly came to enjoy that I had the power to word smith our ceremony in any way I wanted.

I want to share with you what writing our ceremony meant to me, the process I used to write it, and finally, our ceremony text, in case any of these things might inspire one of you to follow the same path.

A writer by trade and a poet at heart, I found that composing the ceremony text gave me not only literal control of our wedding, but also the power to truly imbue our ceremony with our personalities and express the importance of our wedding day to our guests. More than that, writing the ceremony gave me the ability to craft it into a ritual that would work most powerfully to move us (heart, mind, body & soul) into marriage.
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Hello, hive! We’ve been back from Mexico since late last Tuesday and I figure it’s about time for me to get back to blogging. I haven’t edited any of our photos from Montana or Mexico yet because I’ve been very busy getting our apartment in order and organizing my life in all the good little ways that were neglected during wedding planning. It’s a hectic time, but in a way, also very cleansing and soothing. I feel calmer than I have in months, and quite satisfied at what we’ve accomplished.

As for my fears about our wedding not being the “happiest day of our lives”?
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Well everyone, we did it! The whole wedding went off without a hitch, thanks to our amazing planners… and despite the fact that it poured for a good 45 minutes. (The weather was eerily well-behaved.) But I’ll share more details about that, the ceremony, the reception, and everything else when we get back from a week at Amuleto in Zihuatanejo.

To sate your appetite, here are a few AMAZING teaser shots sent to us by the lovely Nicole Tavenner of Piknik Studios:

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I’ve got a secret…

We’re married! Already! SURPRISE!!

Shh… no one but you is supposed to know. And don’t tell my family, because they don’t know either.

When we started planning our wedding, it was my dream to get married on the banks of Swiftcurrent Lake in Many Glacier. Look at it… isn’t it gorgeous?

But after a few months of bandying back and forth with the park, we established that a wedding in Many Glacier just wouldn’t work. For us, as planners, and for our guests.
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It’s hard to believe that my littlest sister, born when I was thirteen, is going to play the music for our ceremony. But as she’s grown up, she’s turned into quite the fine violinist, despite the fact that she’s still goofy.

(Striking a pose in a mini-archway at a Tokyo train station)

We asked her to be our violinist because we knew that she would play us anything we wanted, and anything she played would sound amazing. Plus, the fact that she’s my baby sister makes her contribution all the more touching and special!

For the prelude, she’s playing two pieces.
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When we budgeted for our wedding beverages, we knew we didn’t have the money for an open bar and we quickly decided that hard liquor was both costly and unnecessary for our wedding to be a success. We knew we’d have plenty of beer and wine to take care of our guests.

But we were still tempted by one popular option—a signature cocktail served during the cocktail hour. We wanted to serve something with a summery, Montana feel… like huckleberry martinis!

(Photo by Nicole Tavenner)

While it was a good idea, there were a lot of details that had to go into making signature cocktails.
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After all this time, I’ve neglected to introduce you to our wedding party. Well, let’s say our hellos!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but I’m the oldest of four girls. My sisters, of course, make up three of my bridal party. Since I don’t want to share their names without their permission, we’ll call them Little Sister, Littler Sister, and Littlest Sister.

Can you tell who’s who? I’ll help you out…
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Part 1 and 2

I couldn’t believe I wasn’t hung over. I’d had enough shots throughout the previous evening that our time at the club was a blur, but I danced for so long and so hard that I must have worked all the alcohol out of my system. But I was tired—five hours of sleep wasn’t quite enough to make me feel perky.

After a hefty shot of espresso, my ladies and I headed over to Momma Cherry’s house, where my sister bridesmaids had helped her to set up a lovely shower. After the whirlwind of the bachelorette weekend, my mom promised us a relaxing, low-key afternoon tea with “no embarrassing or MENSA-level shower games” (her words).

Mr. CP’s mom, grandma, and great aunt joined us, as did a few other friends, for some conversation over mimosas. One friend even brought her week-old, brand-new baby!

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Part 1

After we left the Frontier Room, still licking BBQ sauce from our lips, my ladies and I prepared ourselves for the next activity of the night… KARAOKE! Seattle has several fabulous Asian-styled karaoke bars that feature private rooms, thus sparing your guests the embarrassment of singing in front of strangers, and submitting them only to the judgment of friends.

But first, we went in search of a liquor store to purchase a banquet license and some beer so that those of us who were of-age could consume “merry libations” whilst singing. Armed with directions, we headed six blocks to the south, passing Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market, and taking several wacky photos along the way.

The further south we got, the less likely it seemed that we were going to find the liquor store, and the more late this made us for our date with karaoke. Finally, after NOT asking for directions, I manned it up and went into an adult entertainment store (read: porn & toys) to look for help.
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The weekend before last found Mr. CP and I dragged apart by our well-meaning friends. We went willingly, of course. After all, it was our Lady/Man Party weekend!

We started out our Friday evening waiting for the Oregon contingent to arrive so we could get the party started. Mr. CP and one early arrival went out to the Elysian on Capital Hill to celebrate his graduation from the Seattle Uni Accelerated Nurse Practitioner’s program. CONGRATS, JUSTIN!! And I, well, I took a shower and drank some beers.

Once everyone arrived, it was time to let the games begin! In the spirit of the Olympics, the first order of business was a challenge. A little friendly competition for Mr. CP and I. A contest to see who was manlier.

See, I’m a bit of a tomboy and Mr. CP is a bit metrosexual. So it’s a toss-up as to who wears the pants in our relationship at any given time. The contest, our friends explained to us, was designed to test our masculine prowess by awarding us points in the form of “man cards” for various manly feats. These feats, given to us on a handy list, ranged from little things like drinking a dark beer to hilarious and awful things like chopping wood, getting a lap dance, and asking strangers if they bought their tickets to the “gun show” while flexing biceps. There were also freestyle points for “random acts of manliness.” YEAAAHhhh…
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We’re leaving. Leaving for Montana. And, believe it or not, my goal is not to think about our wedding until September 5th, when we rehearse. It will be hard, but not as hard as the last two weeks have been.

I’ve shouldered my burden and kept pushing on through. I’ve put on a happy face, especially when talking to others or writing for Weddingbee, where things tend to be fun fun happy wedding-landia. The truth is that the last two weeks have been absolute hell, and I have wanted, very badly, not to be dealing with this wedding any more.

I’m lucky because nothing has “gone wrong.” No major vendor disaster or family drama has befallen us. I simply cannot cope with the stress of planning any more. I no longer feel like I can balance my career, appease my family, and tie together a plethora of details with businesses in another state. I am tired of unreturned phone calls and email, missing critical details, and misinformation. I am ready to break up with our wedding.

Thank God I planned for this in advance.
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