Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
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.
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
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. Read more…
Mrs. Pretzel, SeattleAge and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing EngineerEngagement Date: September 2, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown StudiosAbout Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married.
Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
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.
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.
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
After we finished our photos at the Treehouse, we headed back to the Lodge to meet up with our bridal party.
If I do say so myself, we had a pretty spectacular group of people surrounding us on our wedding day. From our siblings to some of our oldest and dearest friends, these are the people who have known us the longest and supported us in all we’ve done. Read more…
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
As we are now in the home stretch, it is time to talk about something that Mr. CA and I have been thinking a lot about lately. What might that be? Well, it’s the backbone behind this whole wedding shebang—our nuptial mass. Yep, our wedding ceremony, where Mr. CA and I will pledge to stand by each other for the rest of our lives, in front of God, our family and our friends. That’s deep stuff right there, and sometimes it gets a bit lost in all of the floral inspiration, the oohing and aahing over invitations, and the meal choices.
Now, none of this ceremony stuff is a secret, per se, but, well, wouldn’t you guests of the CA wedding prefer not to know about every single little thing beforehand? I didn’t think so. Let’s keep some of the mystery, shall we? Okay, then…
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
A few weekends ago, we trekked out to California for my sister’s college graduation. Why is this relevant to weddings? Well, luckily enough, Mr. CA’s Auntie also lives in the same town, so we were able to get together with her. Bonus? She is also my wedding hair and makeup artiste extraordinaire!
So, of course, we simply had to do a trial while I was down there, right? I mean, come on, who doesn’t love getting themselves done up all nice and pretty like? No one.
Armed with my hair-spiration, we set off. Unfortunately, due to terrible weather across the country, flights were delayed out of Newark, and we missed our connection in Phoenix. Which meant we landed in Phoenix around 1am. Meaning we had to sleep in the Phoenix airport to catch our super-early-morning flight. I was not pleased. Airport-sleeping does not make for a beautiful, fresh-faced Miss Candy A. Yep, I looked pretty haggard. Poor Auntie, she wasn’t going to have much to work with.
Once we landed, we met up with Auntie and Uncle CA for lunch, then the appointment. I dragged my mom along and pressed her into service as our photographer for the day. Mr. CA and Uncle CA also ended up joining us, so it was just a big ol’ Candy Apple party!
Get ready - lots of pics coming your way!
Me, fresh off the Phoenix airport floor with less than an hour’s sleep. Dehydrated. Tired. Sexy. Wait, which of those doesn’t belong?
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
All along, I knew I wanted us to do a first look. Mr. EB took a little bit of convincing, and I think if it had been totally up to him, he probably would have preferred us wait to see each other until I walked down the aisle. But I really wanted the time with him alone, before we were around anyone else. I wanted to look him in the eyes, to hug him and kiss him, to celebrate the step that we were about to take and have it be a private moment for just the two of us (and our photographers too, but Kat and Justin felt like old friends by that point, so it didn’t seem weird that they were there). Luckily, after I explained my feelings about this to Mr. EB, he was more than happy to go along!
Since we ended up having such beautiful weather, Kat suggested that we do our first look at the suspension bridge.
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
Like many bees before me, I am a Moo Card bride. You know, those cute little mini cards that you can customize? Yeah, they’re pretty neat.
Surprisingly, I actually did not find out about Moo cards through Weddingbee. Shocking, I know. Our photographers included a box of Moo cards with our e-session DVD—they had a selection of our e-pictures on one side of the card, and our future wedding gallery information on the other. They suggested that we set them out somewhere on our wedding day, so that our guests knew how to access the gallery after the event. Excellent! I fell in love with Moo’s packaging, and the teensy little cards. Right then and there, I knew I wanted to somehow work additional Moo cards into our stationery suite. I had a pretty firm idea on how I would use them, and it was fun to trawl through WB and see how various other bees have used them in the past. I was officially hooked on Moo.
So, I bit the bullet and designed some Moo cards! This means we will not only have the Moo cards to set out on the wedding day itself (from our photogs), but I was also able to incorporate them into our invitations.
Yes, it is exciting. I’m telling you - their packaging kicks butt.
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
While the girls and I got pretty in the Welcome Center, Mr. EB and his groomsmen finished getting ready in the cabin that Mr. EB and I were sharing for the weekend.
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
Ideas in-hand, I sat down for a conversation with Mr. CA regarding my idea for using silhouettes on our invitations. Nervous. Hopeful. Ready for a Wild West-style showdown in case he didn’t like the idea. Miraculously, I got the green light from him to proceed with the concept. Yes!! Admittedly, we were a bit worried that plastering silhouettes of ourselves all over our wedding stationery might seem slightly vain, but in the end we decided that we wanted our wedding to be as personal as possible, and the silhouettes would give them that little special personalization that I wanted. Plus, they just look cool.
After receiving a tip towards BlueClara on Etsy (I love the Hive!), I went and checked out her Etsy store. It was love at first sight! Her silhouettes are awesome—very clean and well-done. I love that she gives you different options: full body or just heads, digital or print. What a great steer!
I immediately placed an order with the shop about doing our silhouettes, and then attempted to take the side profile pictures that were required for them to do our silhouettes. Um, why was this so difficult?? Someone please explain.
Having looked at quite a few silhouettes on various invitations, I had a very clear vision of how I wanted the silhouettes to look. Read more…
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
After we rehearsed, it was time to start getting pretty! The staff at IslandWood very graciously let us use one of the rooms back in their office so that we could be close to the Great Hall. This was perfect for me so that I could spend time with my girls as we got our hair and makeup done, but still peek in on the set up in the Great Hall.
Prior to the wedding I thought briefly about doing my own makeup. However, my bridesmaids surprised me a few months before the wedding and gifted me my hair and makeup. It ended up making the day much less stressful for me not to worry about my makeup, and they did a fantastic job! Bridesmaid K has worked in the salon industry in Seattle and has some very good friends that were willing to give us a great deal for hair and makeup for myself, my bridesmaids and Mr. EB’s sister (who was his groomswoman).
Mrs. Pretzel, SeattleAge and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing EngineerEngagement Date: September 2, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown StudiosAbout Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married.
Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
I love when bees compare their inspiration boards to the real wedding. It is fun to see how inspiration changes over time and how things are executed. It was a lot of fun to look back at my first inspiration board and see how our wedding stacked up.
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
I mentioned in my last post that I went through a brief invitation hiatus after Mr. CA and I made the decision that Rifle Paper Co.’s invitations were out of the running. However, I did bounce back eventually—mainly out of necessity, as we were getting closer and closer to the wedding, and I had no idea what to do about invitations! So, I moved on, and found lots and lots of invitation inspiration.
Want to take a peek? My first light-bulb “a ha!!” moment came through a site that I visit every day. Etsy. Curious?
Unique Wedding Favors
