such stuff as dreams are made on: February 2013

Now onto the real wedding goodness. Reception details! I absolutely loved how everything came together at the reception. McKenzie did such an amazing job with the florals - they looked even better than I had imagined.

Here's a big shot of the ballroom, all gussied up, as well as some close-ups of the tables. I literally did nothing the morning of to set up, so when I walked into the ballroom, I saw everything for the first time. It was amazing and beautiful.

Those freaking flowers just kill me. So fabulous.

Another shot of our last-minute menus. I think they turned out quite nicely - we kept it simple.

All of our pretty escort cards lined up in rows. Our coordinator at the Club, Amy, laid everything out in alphabetical order! I can't remember if I alphabetized them before I gave them to her or not. Possibly? Glad I didn't have to deal with this. I asked them to put our silhouettes at the escort card table, and had sort of envisioned them as on either end in the back, but this worked too.

For those curious, the Club said that we needed to establish who would be served beef, who would be served fish, and who would be served the vegetarian option. We indicated meal preference by calligraphy color - purple was beef, green was fish, and gray was the vegetarian. I just let Amy, the venue coordinator, know ahead of time which color meant which meal, and it all worked out!

For our favors, we did indeed have a candy buffet. We hired someone to do the candy buffet and it was the best decision ever! She took care of the labels, the jars, the little favor baggies, and the candy. I supplied a little sign (using our silhouettes of course!) letting people know that the buffet was of course for people to take! I was able to customize the candy choices, which was fun; I decided to stick with a palette of purples and whites, and I think it turned out just beautifully.

One very slight thing to note was that I had told her ahead of time that I did not want that beaded glass tree as part of the display, so was slightly disappointed to see it the day-of. I am sure that detail just got lost in the chaos of wedding-day set-up, and it really wasn't a bit deal at all. I noticed it as I walked into the reception, then promptly forgot about it! Overall, I was so happy with how the candy buffet turned out, and I hear it was a huge hit with the guests as well! My mom also ended up with quite a few little baggies of candy afterwards, so we were able to take some on the plane ride home. Excellent.

I absolutely had to have these little candy crystal sticks. They just look so pretty!

Our cake table. We ended up going with multiple cake rounds on pedestals, rather than one big wedding cake. I absolutely loved how this looked! Again, I made a little sign telling people which flavors the cakes were. It was pretty simple - chocolate and vanilla!

Our adorable cake toppers, by Goose Grease.

{Photo courtesy of McKenzie Powell Floral & Event Design}

The infamous "Table Three." Letterpress by Kristin at Twin Ravens Press. Last-minute calligraphy attempt by yours truly, horribly copied from Calligraphy byMichele.

A normal table number.

Ahh, the Smilebooth props. This was so fun! Honestly, Mr. CA and I just went to a few local Goodwills to find props. I picked out some pretty random stuff - old-fashioned tennis rackets, a huge mirror (that I popped out and just kept the big frame), a lamp shade, random huge spoon and fork, and some weird gourd scoop thingy. We also went to a party store and bought a few moustache-glasses and top hats. As you will see in a later post, they were excellent.

My suggestion for props? Just grab random stuff, and let guests figure out how to make them fun! You'll be surprised at how creative people get.

More floral shots. Because, honestly, I can't get enough.

We had a few extra letter-pressed table number cards, so I asked Michelle to calligraph "Mr" and "Mrs" on two. Then I put some divine twine on them and someone hung them on the backs of our chairs. Perfect.

For our guestbook, I used our engagement pictures and designed a photobook in Blurb. It took a bit of time, because I didn't like a lot of their photo layouts so needed to do some customizing, but I think it turned out really well. I left lots of white space for guests to sign, and put a bunch of black pens out. You can't really tell in these pictures, but I also framed a few of our engagement shots and put them on the table with the guestbook. For cards, I just bought a bird-cage on sale at Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel (or something. I honestly can't remember, but it was after Christmas and super cheap!) and stuck that on the table as well.

Did your details come together as you had envisioned them? Anyone else do a candy buffet? If you had a photobooth, what did you use for your props?

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.
We relished our alone time.

Our Fabulous Vendors:
Florals: McKenzie Powell Floral & Event Design
Cakes: Rosellini Sweets
Candy Bar: Sweets Treats and Designs

Escort Card Design and Printing: Twin Ravens Press

Calligraphy: Calligraphy by Michele

Silhouettes: Blue Clara

Day-Of Coordinator: Sugarcomb Events

Venue: Seattle Tennis Club

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

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 (okay, 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??