Mitchell to Morgan: Candace's Wedding Weekend

I am tired but oh so happy. It is sunny and warm. My hair looks good. My fridge is full. AND my dear friend Candace got married on Sunday. (Candace is one of my best friends and has been living with us for the past 4 months until her wedding).

Wednesday night, Candace’s maid of Honour arrived from the States. Amber is awesome. I like her TONS. I stayed up waaay to late chatting with them on Thursday night (and managed to gesture wildly and take a small chunk of nose skin off with my nail. I need baby mittens) but thankfully I didn’t work Friday (woo) as I’d taken the day off to help Candace with wedding stuff. After the four of us (girls plus Paul) had a Mexican breakfast (in honour of our southern guest) the girls headed out for a day of errands. We got all the food we’d need for the big stagette that evening and while Candace headed off for an afternoon of tanning and mani/pedi’s Amber and I chatted happily and prepped dinner.
Menu:
• Honey Garlic Salmon
• Roasted Veggies in Honey Garlic Sauce
• Rice
• Ice Cream with whipped cream, chocolate & caramel sauce and fresh berries.
It was awesome. Not only was the food great, but taking a few hours to prep food and then also have help made it oh so relaxing.

Candace’s sister, Jenny, arrived (also very sweet) and jumped right in to helping us decorate and get my basement suite ready for a party! Girls slowly arrived to join us and I got to enjoy being surrounded by southern accents. Joy. The rest of the bridal party arrived (Carol, Ashley, Sarah and Tiffany) and we were joined by some of Candace’s Vancouver friends. We ate, shared Champagne, told stories of why we love Candace and played hilarious games. Before we knew it, it was midnight and the party was winding down…we knew that in the morning we’d be making all the bouquets and centerpieces and that we should probably get some sleep.

Saturday I picked up the flowers and drove to where the bridal party was staying. As mentioned above we made the centerpieces and bouquets (as seen in the photos below), ate chips, and talked.

Eventually I headed home to rest before the rehearsal dinner. I had a glorious shower and nap and Paul and I were dressed up and out the door heading to Langley half an hour late, haha. The Rehearsal Dinner was lovely – Earl’s mom Sara is a phenomenal hostess, and the food was amazing! It was a relaxing evening. Early on I ditched Paul to hang out with the bridesmaids since they’re only here for such a short time – thankfully though, Paul found some American men to talk football with and even got to talk about politics. His heart was very happy. I had a great time chatting with Candace’s wonderful southern friends; telling stories over dinner and wine. It was a perfect night.

Sunday was particularly nice, as the wedding wasn’t until 6pm. Paul and I were doing set up at the reception tent, but that didn’t even need to happen until 3pm. We slept in, ate food, relaxed and eventually headed over to Burnaby. (I definitely wore leggings to work in – so important to be comfortable…plus I just like my leggings). It only took us an hour to put out the centerpieces, candles and table numbers. We added the small touches around the place (seating chart on a chalk board & a large black and white painting of a bare tree so guests could leave a green finger print. Fun!) and were able to get dressed in peace in the hall. Candace got married at the Hart House – with both the ceremony and reception outside. Thankfully the reception was in a tent, it got cooler later on.

The ceremony was beautiful and touching and official – Candace and Earl were married! Candace of course looked stunning and the bridesmaids looked great in their dresses. Candace and Earl looked so happy, and at peace. It was wonderful to see. The reception was perfect as well. No problems or mistakes. Great speeches. Amazing Food. I got to sit with Jenna and Paul so I was sooooo happy. We had a rad dance party – I managed to keep my heels on until the last song or two! As well, when the time came to take down the decorations we put up, people stuck around to help and we were done in half an hour. We got to keep the flowers and my living room is now COVERED in Peonies and it’s awesome.

It feels like we’ve been playing “hot potato” with the bridesmaids at our house – Wednesday and Thursday Amber was there, Sunday night Sarah and Ashley were there. Last night Tiffany and Carol were there and tonight only Carol remains. Phew. I’m glad though, to offer a home base for these girls to see the city from. I love getting to know them, and I’m stoked to have dinner with Carol tonight. No wonder Candace loves them all so much, they are really great. I had such trouble going to bed last night as I kept wanting to stay up and talk with Tiffany and Carol. I LOVE having company in my house. I went to sleep so happy to know there were people in our home.

Well on that note, I should probably get back to work. The photos below are from people on FB who haven’t lost their camera cord (like I have)…enjoy!