Weddingbee Blog

Choosing to throw a rehearsal party was one of the best decisions we made. Not only was it mega-fun…it gave us an opportunity to spend as much time as possible with our guests—guests that had traveled very far to be there in support of us.
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After the ceremony ended and Mr. EB and I were finally married, there was one more thing we had to do to make it legal—sign the marriage certificate.

Annemarie made sure to have a place in the back set up for us specifically to have a few moments alone and to sign the marriage license.
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It’s official - the Candy Apples are married!

{Guest Photo}

The wedding day itself, as well as the week preceding and the weekend after, were absolutely amazing. We are still trying to process everything, but had a total blast with family and friends.
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It’s true—your eyes are not playing tricks on you…I’m back! As much as I wish time hadn’t passed as much as it has since I was posting and prepping for recaps, it has completely flown by. I’ll definitely fill you in on my adventures but first I owe you all an apology. In order to not make you suffer any further, I’ll forgo a video of myself singing this and allow a professional to take the lead—you can thank me later. Sing it Brenda Lee!

So dear hive, please accept my apology. I’ll do my absolute best to stay close moving forward and deliver the best damn recaps I possibly can!

Before I begin filling you in on the details of my favorite day ever—I’ll give you a brief run down of what I’ve been up to while I’ve been away.

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Well, this is it!

I cannot believe this day is finally here. So much stress, organization, planning, excitement, tears, and love have gone into this day. I have looked forward to marrying Mr. CA for a long time, and this engagement over the past year has been quite the ride.

But really, it’s not just a day. It is the beginning of us as Mrs. and Mr., united as one. Us against the world. Or something like that.

{Sarah Rhoads Photographers}

Hive: I may not have always been the best blogger (*ahem*), but I am so thankful for all of your comments, words of encouragement, ideas. This day would not have come together without you.
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What do you get when you mash up these two inspiration photos?

Inspiration From Brides.com

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As I made my way down the aisle, I only had eyes for Mr. EB.

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After I realized it was time, we all lined up outside the double doors leading to the Great Hall, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

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So here it is - the big invitation reveal! In case you missed it, I have already talked a bit about these invitations: how infatuated with the calligraphy I am, how much in love with the invitations I am, how amazing the vendors I worked with are. I could go on and on and on about my obsession with our invitations, but I think it probably would just be better if I shut my trap and showed you the gorgeousness.

I probably don’t need to tell you how excited I was to rip open these packages. Like a 4 year old on Christmas!

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This Monday, 15 August 2011, my amazing, wonderful, loving, funny, caring grandfather passed away.

It wasn’t entirely a shock, as his health had gone downhill recently, but he was always larger than life in my mind; I thought he would live forever. Witty, smart, fun, warm. The perfect patriarch, he supported his children and grandchildren, pushed us when we needed pushing, helped us up when we scraped our knees, gave us countless hugs, kisses, and smiles. I am so grateful that I was able to spend time with him when I was home for my bachelorette party two weekends ago. I cherish those hours we spent together.

I keep thinking of moments I had with him each smile and phrase leads to another memory, another moment spent together. More stories, more emotions. It’s funny how thoroughly my interactions with him are woven throughout my memories of childhood, growing up, and into adulthood. He was so present in the lives of his children and grandchildren. I grasp at these fragmented thoughts and memories, writing them down so I don’t forget.

He was so excited about our wedding, and I am incredibly sad that he will not be there to witness our love and joy that day. Always social and out-going, he loved big events and relished in time spent with family and friends. With just over a week until our wedding, his passing has left me with a rip-tide of emotions that I am still trying to process.
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I know that I owe you another post on our fabulous invitations, but I wanted to take a time out for a sec. As we creep closer and closer to W-Day, I am starting to think about little details that have slipped my mind up to this point. Such as, you know, my “something blue.” Little things like that, which aren’t really important (to me, at least) in the grand scheme of things, but would still be a nice touch. Since I’m not wearing a garter, I was thinking of other ways to work in the color blue. Think think think. And then, in my post on W-Day nail polish, it hit me over the head when someone made a suggestion in the comments—toenails! Polish! Blue toenail polish!

Duh. It looks awesome in pictures and, because it would be on toenails that are covered by my big ol’ dress, they wouldn’t be easily visible (and thus look out of place against our palette).

{Photography by Kate Harrison, via Green Wedding Shoes}

Doesn’t it look fab?! I love it. And because I like sharing, I wanted to share some of my favorite blue polishes for your toes (or fingers!), just in case you’re still looking for your “something blue.”

Bold Blues
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As we drove back to the Great Hall after pictures with our bridal party, I finally started to get the teensiest bit nervous. It was time! Time to say the vows in front of my family and friends that would make Mr. EB my husband. Time to listen to him say those same vows. Time to declare in front of our community that we were a family.

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Whelp, I figure it is just about time to do the big Candy Apple invite reveal. Would you like that, Hive? Would you like to see our invites? Well, too bad if you wouldn’t like to - you have a lot of pictures coming your way! And let me tell you: I can’t wait to share!

First off, I just wanted to point out that, yes, we did indeed use an invisible ink pen to covertly number our RSVP cards. Unfortunately (ahem, I mean fortunately), we did not have to resort to breaking it out, as everyone either wrote their names on the RSVP card, or at least had a return address label on the envelope. I was a bit bummed that I couldn’t put my sleuthing to use, since I spent so freaking long labeling all of those cards with the invisible ink, but oh well.

Okay, on to the goods!
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Like many brides before me, at the beginning of our engagement (a whole 15 months ago) I vowed to lose weight and get in better shape.

Don’t get me wrong - I consider myself to be fairly thin, and understand that I am not overweight for my height and body type. However, I had gained weight in the years since college, and wanted to look more lean and toned. Not only that, but I wanted to feel better. We’re talking about my wedding day, after all! I wanted to look as good as I possibly could, and be healthier to boot.

So, alongside Mr. CA, I started eating even better than we had been previously, and exercising.

The real kick in the butt was when I went to try on wedding dresses. I was shocked that the dresses I tried on had such tiny sizes. To give you an idea: I generally wear a size 4 in dresses. The dress I ended up purchasing was a size 10. A TEN. What is the deal with that?? How is that possible? I honestly do not understand how their sizing is so different from regular clothing. Even though I knew the sizing was irregular, it made me really self-conscious and worried about my weight.

Nevertheless, I waxed and waned in my exercising over the next few months - going through spurts of sustained work-outs, then lapsing into indolence.
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Hi there! I know I said I was going to take the summer off of wedding blogging but I wanted to share some recent successes that Mr P have achieved. Mr Pretzel and I recently lost some weight together and it got me thinking: Why didn’t we do this before the wedding?

Before the wedding, both Mr P and I were about 20 lbs heavier than our ideal. We had both gained the weight during our courtship due to our mutual love of beer and cooking. We ate healthy, but our portion sizes were a bit too big and our activity level dropped the year that we were planning the wedding. I was worried about juggling a diet, workout routine, and wedding planning on top of our already busy lives so I made a decision for myself and ultimately for both of us: no trying to lose weight before the wedding.

Photo by Rocktographer & Friend Jason Tang

After the wedding our busy lives continued to be busy. We cooked a lot of yummy meals in our first 6 months and then slowly we started to eat out more and cooking less. Soon another 10 lbs had crept up. I was the heaviest I had ever been and I did not like the way I felt.

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