Weddingbee Blog

Fortunately, I had no problem falling asleep on Friday night. I think I was so totally zonked from the prior week that falling asleep was the only natural response at that point. Waking up, though, was a different story. My 7:00 AM hair appointment meant I had to be in the shower by about 5:45 AM. As a result, instead of waking up refreshed and ready to take on the day, I woke up tired. Not like “man, I’m a little sleepy but I’ll rally” tired. More like “I could crawl back into bed and be asleep within 10 seconds but I have to stay awake because it’s my wedding day and I have to get my hair done” tired. Even though I didn’t feel like a blushing bride as I dragged my butt out of bed, I didn’t really have any time to reflect on my fatigue, because it was finally the big day!!

While planning, I decided to do something a little different with the beautification process for myself and my bridesmaids. I had one bride, seven bridesmaids, and two mothers to get all done up before pictures began at roughly 11:00 that morning. Originally, I really wanted all of us to get ready at the same place so as to kick off the wedding morning in style. After evaluating the timeline and how many hairdos had to be created, I realized that just wasn’t happening.
Read more…

Early in our planning for the rehearsal dinner, we decided to have a rehearsal dinner after party. We wanted to expand upon our standard rehearsal dinner to squeeze in some extra time with our out of town guests. Specifically, the vast majority of my extended family is from at least a few states away. I wasn’t happy with the prospect of having them come in for the weekend and only seeing them for a little snippet of time during the wedding day mayhem. On the other hand, inviting them to the actual rehearsal dinner would have effectively doubled the dinner guest list. We compromised with the after party—all out of town guests were invited to the house for drinks and desserts to join in the festivities. As if I didn’t wax poetic enough about our dinner in the previous post, this after party was an awesome addition.

To jump-start the after party, we threw a miniature birthday party, as our rehearsal dinner coincided with two guest birthdays—MOH H and BM A’s boyfriend. We arranged to have a birthday cake there for the two of them, and then everyone gathered up and serenaded them on their special day.

Photo by BM J

Read more…

Finally, it was time for to celebrate the rehearsal with the rehearsal dinner! Mr. Snow Cone’s parents, together with Clark’s Corner Store, pulled off what will easily go down in history as the best rehearsal dinner ever. We had some tasty little appetizers to start the evening off, as featured below.

Photo from BM E

The biggest hit of the pre-dinner munchies, though, had to be a little gem tucked away in this photo:
Read more…

Once we had rehearsed our wedding ceremony, everyone headed back to my parents’ house to enjoy the rehearsal dinner feast that Clark’s Corner Store had prepared for us. We allowed everyone to grab a few appetizers to munch on, and then Mr. Snow Cone and I launched into our gift presentation. For a bit of back story: when my brother had his rehearsal dinner a few summers back, my normally pulled-together dad devolved into a blubbering ball of tears during his welcome toast, which caused my brother and his then-fiancée to struggle to hold back the waterworks during their bridal-party gift presentations. Mr. Snow Cone and I had seen, firsthand, the damage an unexpected display of emotion could cause, so we were hellbent on making it through the gifts without breaking down.

No tears allowed!

Photo from BM B

At the last minute, we made a brilliant strategic move and presented gifts to each bridal-party pair instead of letting Mr. Snow Cone work through all the guys followed by me gifting all the girls. This back-and-forth gift presentation style was immensely helpful when it came to planning what we were going to say and collecting ourselves before/after a particularly heartfelt speech. I have no doubt that we would have been weepy without the intermittent moments of recovery during the gifts. To be honest, I was so glad to have this part behind me. I knew how emotional it could get and, on top of that, I had nothing prepared. I foolishly assumed we’d be spit-balling it up there, talking freely about our closest friends and family. And then Mr. Snow Cone, ever the preparer, whips out a sheet with talking points for all of his people. Thanks for the heads up, babe.

Read more…

After I had reached a decent level of calm, I was able to focus in on the remainder of the rehearsal. Now, at the risk of sounding like a bratty control freak, I had some very clear ideas about the details of our wedding ceremony. I was willing to relent on some, like surrendering my preference to have the groomsmen enter via the side of the church and have the bridesmaids process solo. However, there were other details that I wasn’t as eager to yield on, and, unfortunately, my “don’t mess with me” attitude on these details was aired for all to see. Allow me to explain.

The priest scooted all pertinent parties to the back of the church to work on the processional. We paired everyone up and set the order of the various grandparents, parents, and bridal party members. Mr. Snow Cone and I had sorted out each honored guest’s escort—we aimed to have family walk with family to make it comfortable for all involved individuals. So, it’s easy to understand my minor discontent when our carefully crafted processional was met with a bit of hesitancy from the priest. Specifically, when he asked who would be escorting Mr. Snow Cone’s mom down the aisle, I responded by saying that Mr. Snow Cone’s dad would be (doesn’t that make just a lovely image? A married couple, parents of the groom, walking hand-in-hand down the aisle to watch their son say his own vows? There’s a method to my madness, I swear).
Read more…

Before we knew it, we had spent the better part of the day visiting with our bridal party, and it was time for the rehearsal. Let me be upfront about something: punctuality isn’t always my strong suit. With that being said, I like to be responsible for my own tardiness, as opposed to being late because of others’ actions. I get majorly anxious whenever I’m forced to run late to something that is of high priority to me. I would consider our wedding rehearsal to be a great example of this phenomenon. I had gotten ready with the perfect amount of time to spare, but we weren’t able to hit the road as early as I would have liked because we had a caravan full of people with us. With that many bodies looking for a missing shoe, grabbing one last swipe of lip gloss, or running a straightener one final time, it’s inevitable that you’re going to be late. I felt out of sorts because I was running late to my very own rehearsal.

I let out a big sigh once we got to the church, or, at least, I tried to. Instead of being relieved that we had arrived and could get this show on the road, I was inundated with more reasons to worry. Namely, I walked through the doors to the church to find about 25 people all looking expectantly back at me and one person even announced “Wow, everyone beat you here!” It definitely didn’t help my stress level. I couldn’t even process what was going on, and then I was all of a sudden being told to go up to the altar to meet with the wedding coordinator, who then proceeded to ask me for my unity candle and a sample wedding program… neither of which had ever been mentioned as “must-haves” for the rehearsal. I embarrassingly told her that I had neither, to which she responded with a “Well, um, that’s OK. We’ll just have to make do, I suppose.”

Perfect, thanks for that vote of confidence.

I returned to the pews, where everyone else had assembled, and officially felt like I had earned the title of “Most Disorganized Bride Ever.”
Read more…

The following morning, Mr. Snow Cone and I spent the first few moments in bed, dopily grinning at each other, asking if the other one could actually believe all of this was happening. Given how stressed out we both had been for the past week, it was such a nice breath of fresh air for both of us to be undeniably relaxed. Once we finally finished basking in our almost-wed lazy glow, we tackled the relatively unglamorous task of schlepping a boatload of cookies and decorations over to Sunnehanna for the reception.

While loading up our little Subaru with container after container of who knows what wasn’t exactly our idea of fun, the end result was definitely worth it—we got the chance to see our reception space set up and partially decorated! I had seen it earlier in the week during a vendor meeting, but this was Mr. Snow Cone’s first time laying eyes on the set-up. He had politely agreed to pretty much any detail-oriented decision I had made during the planning. As a result, I don’t think he had cobbled together much of a vision of the finished product in his head. When we walked into the room, his eyes lit up and he couldn’t stop commenting on how nice everything looked. Our eyes locked and we shared a “holy crap this happening, and it’s happening TOMORROW” sort of moment. Don’t get me wrong, running errands isn’t necessarily the most fun task to take care of during your wedding weekend, but stealing away a few extra minutes with your husband-to-be definitely makes it worthwhile.

Shortly after we got back to the house, a carload of groomsmen pulled up, signaling the arrival of Team Groom. Mr. Snow Cone was eagerly awaiting their arrival; I think their presence really kicked off the wedding weekend in his eyes, as we had spent the bulk of the previous evening with my nearest and dearest. With every new face that arrived, the immediacy of the wedding became more and more defined. Team Groom also came bearing one of the most special wedding gifts we received—a personalized beer!

Photo by BM E

Read more…

I spent the entire week before the wedding in Johnstown, trying to take care of all sorts of loose ends while Mr. Snow Cone stayed behind in Pittsburgh. More accurately, though, I wrung my hands, wondered how my to-do list would ever get accomplished, and took turns with Mr. Snow Cone having spaz attacks over the phone. To say that I was stressed would be a mild understatement; I was wide awake by 5:00 AM each and every morning, regardless of what time I went to bed the previous night. I was irritable, scatterbrained, and frazzled. It seemed like for every small task I checked off the to-do list, there would two newer, bigger, and badder tasks waiting for me, in addition to a list of questions I needed to answer for family and friends. And, on top of all of that, I was trying my darnedest to take every moment in, enjoy these special last days leading up to the wedding, and reflect on the gravity of the upcoming event.

Despite this unattractive state of affairs, though, I decided that I would work my tush off until my bridesmaids started to roll into town. At that point, all work of the glue stick variety would be done, and I would redirect my attention to work of the social variety. I’m proud to report that I finished my very last small project a whopping 90 seconds before BM E showed up on my front porch. Her arrival in many ways kicked off the wedding festivities; it seemed like after she made her way to Johnstown, our house was welcoming new faces every few minutes, with the anticipation and excitement continually mounting.

Unsurprisingly, the arrival I was most impatiently waiting for was Mr. Snow Cone’s (and, yes, I consider him a vital member of Team Bride). The entire week leading up to the wedding, when I had been doing my best to act like a lunatic, my mom’s calming mantra was always that I would feel better once Mr. Snow Cone arrived. And, boy, was she right. Once he got to Johnstown and we were there together on our wedding weekend, everything had reached a very pleasant status quo. He was there for me and I was there for him, even if neither of us needed or asked for any support. Having him there was all I could ever need.

Read more…

Now that we’ve been old married folks for nearly six months (don’t even get me started on how that could be possible!), I suppose I should kick off our recaps! I’m not going to lie—I put off writing my recaps for quite a while, for largely selfish reasons. After the wedding, I developed this largely irrational fear that I would lose memories of the wedding every time I actually tried to sit back and remember it. As a result, I’ve spent the bulk of the time since that glorious August day trying my best to do the equivalent of sprints down memory lane—recalling one very specific detail or one completely general memory, but nowhere in between.

I felt like I had a very fragile grasp on what happened that day, and I wasn’t willing to do anything that could result in me losing something precious. And then, something funny happened. All of the other weddings I saw on blogs or Facebook jogged my memory. It was almost as if by seeing someone else’s bouquet, I developed a clearer memory of my own. It sounds absurd and beyond cliché, but distancing myself from my own wedding by looking at other wedding photos brought me full circle to where I am today, memory-wise. It was the kick in the pants I’ve been needing. I’m finally ready to sit down and dive into the recap process!

I was going to give you a smattering of some of my most favorite pictures of the day, you know, to lure you in for more. And then I realized I probably shouldn’t use “smattering” as code for “over two dozen.” Even though I’m incapable of picking a somewhat reasonable amount of favorites, there is one photo that will always have a special place in my heart.

Read more…

This past weekend, Mr. Snow Cone and I finally finished our thank-yous and sent them off into the world. One day short of our three-month anniversary, we were finally done. Emily Post advises:

Each wedding gift should be acknowledged with a written note within three months of receipt of the gift. It’s best to write the notes as soon as possible after gifts arrive, however. Write a note even if you have thanked the giver in person.

According to Ms. Post, we were made in the shade, by 24 whole hours. Why, then, did we feel kind of like big ol’ failures? Why, when we were celebrating our recently-completed task, did a more recently married friend squash our happiness by pointing out that she had gotten her thank-yous into the mail sooner than we had, and her wedding had occurred long after ours?

After thinking on it for a bit, here’s the conclusion I’ve reached: people need to take a chill pill when it comes to thank-you notes.

Allow me to explain.
Read more…

We’re rounding the bend on our two-month anniversary and, so far, there’s not a wedding recap in sight. I wish I could tell you that they’re in the works, but that would be a big ol’ lie. Here’s the facts. I’d love to get started on my recaps yesterday. We have our professional pictures back and, minus our thank you notes, our wedding has officially come to a close. However, wanting to do recaps in the very near future and doing recaps in the very near future are two clearly different concepts.

Truthfully speaking, I’m getting clobbered by my current schedule. I’m struggling with my simultaneous transition into a new semester (my last semester!) and a new job. When I’m not feverishly trying to catch up on some homework or sleep, I’m trying my best to transition into that third new frontier—the whole marriage thing. Unfortunately, all of this newness consumes a hearty portion of my schedule. At this point, I don’t feel like I have the blocks of time necessary to outline, write, and add photos to all the recaps I would hope to produce while maintaining a quality that I desire. This tug-of-war between wanting and being able to is what has landed me in recap purgatory.

All of this, “Woe is me, how on earth could I possibly be expected to handle school and a job and a voluntary hobby all at once?!” actually has a purpose, I swear. The way I see it, there’s two options for recapping the Snow Cone wedding.

Read more…

After our sailing adventure, we finally reached our last day of the honeymoon. Determined to make the most of it, we hit the beach early, getting what will likely be our last taste of the Atlantic Ocean until next summer.

We laid in the sun most of the day, reading through our respective beach books. His:
Read more…

After making the difficult decision to head home a day early, we were inspired to make the most of what abbreviated time we had remaining, so we headed into Charleston for an afternoon full of sightseeing.

Miraculously, it was a perfect 75 degrees as we spent the hottest hours of the day traipsing around the city! We took our second carriage ride of the trip, this time using a group tour to get a more complete understanding of the city’s architecture and history.
Read more…

On Monday afternoon, we decided to tear ourselves away from the beach long enough to experience some local culture and history by visiting a South Carolina plantation. We opted to go to Boone Hall Plantation, as it was the closest plantation to our resort and it boasted some original architecture from the Civil War era, which was a big draw for us. After getting there, we discovered that we weren’t the only ones smitten with the scenery at the plantation; multiple movies have been filmed there, including The Notebook. The landscaping was gorgeous; the plantation’s most impressive landscaping feature was a long road lined with gigantic Oak trees.

After scoping out the grounds, we decided to watch a presentation on local Gullah Gullah culture, highlighting the history, language, and music that pervaded plantations during the 1800s. The presentation included an interactive portion, calling for volunteers from the audience to participate in a music demonstration. Bravely, Mr. Snow Cone decided to participate, showing off his natural sense of rhythm.
Read more…

When we were introduced to our hotel room, it became very clear that the attention to detail was not limited to the hotel’s front desk. We had a congratulations card and a half-bottle of champagne waiting for us, which pretty much served as a sumptuous cherry on top of a glorious, gorgeous room. Our room wasn’t overly spacious; however, what it may have lacked in square footage it more than made up for in amenities. The bathroom was huge, the closets had the ever-awesome hotel robes, and the bed, ohhh the bed. It was gigantic, and it had some of the most impressive linens I’ve ever experienced. This is the only equivalent I can think of:

Image via We Heart It; Art from Disney

After getting cleaned up for dinner, we headed downstairs to the hotel’s signature restaurant - The Peninsula Grill. As soon as we claimed our reservation, the hostess immediately responded with a, “Oh, hello Mr. and Mrs. Snow Cone! Congratulations on your wedding!” which impressed us, to say the least. As our dinner went on, though, it became clear that we were going to be impressed for the entirety of the evening. Every single staff member called us Mr. and Mrs. Snow Cone and offered their congratulations. We feasted on delicious seafood course after course, before finishing the meal with desserts that greeted us like this:

Read more…