Ever wonder why we save part of the wedding cake?!?...

Well believe it or not, a schoolyard poem has something to do with it... "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"

It used to be that there was a wedding and then a pregnancy would follow soon there after. So, rather than baking two cakes for both occasions, people would just bake one big cake and save part of it to be eaten at a later date when the squealing bundle of joy arrived. Eventually folks warmed to the idea of giving the kid their own newly baked cake, but the custom of saving a portion of the wedding cake far longer than it should be saved and then eating it and deluding oneself to believe that it actually tastes good is one that persists to this day....who knew!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!! Enjoy!!!

Alter Tradition

So most of the weddings you go to the Bride is on the left and the Groom on the right... ever wonder the reason?!? Well  back in the day many thought it was all fun and games to kidnap the bride. By standing on the right side it kept the right hand, in most cases ones sward hand, available in the event of a jealous attack  and to protect from kidnapping...

Too bad Josh is left handed... I might need to check on his right handed fighting skills...

DYK bachelor style

Stag parties were held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party.  I guess eventually the girls got jealous and wanted to party too?!? Also, in many cultures, the groom historically kidnapped the bride with the help of friends... hence moden-day groomsmen... 

DYK- this one is weird

Halloween is a weird day so I figured I would post something weird.... Ancient Romans studied the inner organs of a pig to determine the best day to marry. Not so sure about all that... 

How many couples marry/day on average?

Did you know that an average of 7,000 couples marry each day in the United States. Only 6 more months until we are one of those 7000!!!!

Feature Preview

Guess what?!? We (and our save the date) were featured on MagnetStreet Weddings Facebook page yesterday!!!!! Anyone looking for invites or magnets check them out- we were very pleased with our product!!!

DYK

In Pennsylvania, ministers are forbidden by law from performing marriages if either the bride or groom is drunk.... I dont think Vegas will be adopting this policy anytime soon.... 

Did you know.....

So through this wedding planning process, I have found some things that are pretty interesting. It is fun to see how old customs transform into the traditions we hold on to today. For instance.... During the Roman Empire, couples were not considered legally married until they...........




(get your head out of the gutter.... haha)..... until they shared a meal together.... So a couple shares a meal, then the next couples want to share a meal with family, then add family and friends, coworkers, the the town...... No wonder receptions are such a big deal now!!! Thoughts??? 

Releasing the Registries!!!

First off- WOW! We are so sorry that it has been nearly 2 months since our last post. Oh how the time flies and we are sure it will only go by faster from here on. We are nearing our 6 month countdown and have had some questions about our registries so.... here you are! We are officially registered at Dillard's; Bed Bath and Beyond; and Something Special in Covington, TN.  The Dillard's and BBB registries have our cookware, china, and a lot of other items. Something Special in Covington is who we used exclusively for our dishes and some everyday items; they will carry our china/silver patterns as well! While you can not order online from there, they will be happy to take orders and payments over the phone :)

Hope this helps and just let us know if you have any questions!!!


Something Special: 901-475-4477


http://www.dillards.com/registry/RegistryNames.do
just search for Josh's or my name, or it is Registry#: 125323154


http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regHome.asp? 
just search for Josh's or my name, or it is Registry #: 12326324

Winning!!!

Ok so I totally forgot to put this in the last post... but it is SOOOO important I thought it needed its own post rather than updating the other.... 

JOSH WON HEARTWOOD HALL'S HOTTEST/MOST HANDSOME GROOM CONTEST!!!!!!!!!!!

He won with over 5500 comments on his picture! A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who commented and helped us out. WE (well me Candace and her bridesmaids) won a free bridal luncheon at Heartwood Hall valued over $1000!!!! 

There is officially less than 8 months until the wedding and we CAN NOT WAIT and are SUPER EXCITED- hope you all are as well! 

Rewind... Here's what has been going on...

Sorry to have disappeared for a bit but heres what has been happening :)

Our free gift for attending!!!

So the last updates were while we were on the way to Austin. For those who do not know... we went to Austin for two reasons: to have a little vacay and most importantly for Potter-A-Thon. It was absolutely amazing. Potter-A-Thon was held at the infamous Alamo Drafthouse beginning at 3am Thursday morning. All previous 7 movies were played consecutively with HP7.2 starting at midnight!!! This equaled about 24 hours of Harry Potter. It could not have been better. The theater was clean and comfy. They allowed us to bring pillows, blankets, or whatever we wanted to be comfortable. This theatre is also equip with a Full kitchen/bar and each theater had servers that would bring you basically whatever you wanted. We can not get over how nice and organized the event was... honestly we kinda so not want to go to the theaters in Memphis now : /  

My Breakfast Pizza- DELISH!!!!

After Potter-A-Thon we got to spend some time in the city. We went to UT Austin, the Capital, and 7th and a lot of other places. We also drove up to Lake Travis on night and enjoyed the sunset over the lake. It was a much needed and great trip! 

Let's see.... Oh I know!!!!! Candace got Josh and her into the early access/beta for Pottermore... see Candace is magical!!!!! hehe

Then Candace and her family went to Michigan City/Indianapolis to see Lawrence,her brother, compete in finals. See he did this thing called DCI and its marching band on steroids... or "Marching Bands Major  League" as they like to call it. Complete craziness. He basically lived on a charter bus or in a gymnasium all summer and marched. The Open Class Corps Finals (kinda the minor league I guess....) had finals in Michigan City and were also allowed to compete in Indianapolis at World Class Finals. One of Candace's bridesmaids, Amanda, is also very into DCI having marched both a open class corp then on to  the world class corp Carolina Crown where she aged out (went alum so to say...) and then went onto being assistant tour manager this season... Finals week consisted of open class prelims (which were rained out) open class finals, world class prelims, world class semifinals, and world class finals. At the end of the week all the Corps that made it into finals all came onto the field-too many to even get on camera... it was really cool: 

And that is about it up until now... We have so many more pictures I would love to share with you guys except they are all on Candace's computer which decided to crash :(  hopefully they will be able to pull the pictures off and as soon as everything is fixed we will post!!!!

Till next time which should be sooner than later :)

This puts a whole new meaning to eat more chicken 

Josh in traffic= no bueño, I in the other hand am amusing myself with picture taking- Dinner with Schmucks anyone?!? 

"Potterwatch"

Hey hey. Sorry to not have posted in a bit. I'll catch ya up- Our 4th was great! We were able to enjoy time off, do some yard work, swim, spend time with family, and go to lunch and the zoo with good friends!
Since the 4th we have been getting everything ready to go to Austin. We are headed there now. (literally- I am doing this on the road in order to not fall asleep due to the less than exhilarating Arkansas scenery...) Anywho, the main vacay event is the Potter-a-thon at the infamous Alamo Drafthouse, beginning at a bright and early 425am! All 7 movies perfectly timed with HPDHp2 beginning at midnight Friday! It is also complete with waiters, full kitchen, and a variety of Hogwarts/Hogsmeade themed foods and snacks. We're pretty stoked, well I think Josh is only looking forward to the new Batman trailer. We are going to keep posting more pictures/video on all of our Austin adventures. For now check out our Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes tshirts!

"Let them eat cake"

Well what better way to start a holiday weekend than by tasting wedding cakes! We thought it was going to take a lot longer than it did, and be a lot harder of a decision. However, thanks to a great bakery we are all set as far as the cake goes. We just have to wait about 10 months before we can share it with all of you ;)

Engagement Photos Video

April showers bring May flowers

Well... it was more like May showers bring Summer flowers this year. But we don't mind- Everything is looking great and we have lots of visitors that come and enjoy the new blooms... 

Roxy has even enjoyed it

Father's Day

We hope everyone has a great Father's Day and will get to spend time with family, we will be... 

(From Candace) This will just be a quick post. Just had a song I think about when I think about Dad. Not sure it will be at wedding... it may make me cry my eyes out. 

PS: We made a video to replace the Heartwood Hall slide show so if you are feeling bored check that out below. We have made a few other videos and posts so look for those to get out soon. 

Enjoy: 

 

The Wedding Venue

Ok... I know we have been away from the blog a while :( We have just been busy with work, school, life, and all that. But we just have a bit of time before Josh has to go work a wedding at Heartwood Hall so we thought why not do a little update about that... so here you are:

Built in 1840, Heartwood Hall was originally part of  5,000 acre plantation estate. It now sits on 25 beautifully wooded acres. Listed as "The Miller House" on the National Historic Register, Heartwood Hall was built by the Miller family as a gift for their daughter. The Heartwood Hall residence as well as the grounds are on the National Register. The grounds are on the Historic Register due to the fact that during the Civil War, the Union soldiers camped on the front lawn and occupied Heartwood Hall as a Hospital. Luckily, the Union Soldiers chose to preserve Heartwood Hall as their residence. A similar estate, also built by the Miller family as a wedding gift to another daughter, was burned to the ground.

John and Denise Suthoff bought the house 8 years ago. Since acquiring the house, they have added on an additional 3500 square feet to the original residence for a total of 7000 square feet. During renovation the Suthoff's added a gourmet kitchen, courtyard, large garden, and pool area. They also joined several servant houses scattered across the property to create an 1800 square foot Guest House updated with modern amenities located at the back of the property.

John and Denise went to extensive planning and pains to maintain the original character and integrity of the property during renovation by using reclaimed wood, brick, and glass. The flooring used in the addition to the original Plantation Home was salvaged from a New Orleans cotton gin built during the 1800's. They recently finished renovation to the Barn which was constructed from reclaimed wood derived from the property. With housing tons of air and heat, full kitchen, various amenities such as a coat check and bar area,  as well as the ability to seat up to 360 guest, the Heartwood Hall Barn is unlike any other in Western Tennessee.

The Suthoff's held their niece's wedding on property after the first major renovations. It was at this point  they saw how beautiful and relaxed the environment was and knew it would be the perfect place for weddings. Since then, Heartwood Hall has been featured throughout the mid-south and has become a highly sought after venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions.

See below for a video of pictures taken earlier this year during some of the Barn renovation.
For more information check out www.heartwoodhall.com or www.facebook.com/heartwoodhall

Sneak Peak

Just thought we would share a sneak peek of our Engagement Pictures. We would like to thank Phil Ramsey Photography for making our session memorable and of course for the AMAZING pictures. I know you are probably wanting to see the rest, but you will just have to wait...  :)

Goodbye old car... Hello NEW!

Exciting news today- Josh got rid of his crappy old Tiburon and got a new 2011 Lancer!!! Josh was SO nervous he couldn't and wouldn't sit down. (Wonder what he will be like on the wedding day?!? haha) This was definitely an experience- the first HUGE joint decision of many to come...

Happy Mother's Day

Well we had intentions to post a mothers day special, but that project has turned into a bigger one that we will post later in the week :)  We still wanted to post since it has been over a week now so we are just going to approach this Mother's Day post a little differently. We are going to introduce our 'children'...

Our oldest is Oreo. She was born in 2006 and rescued from the Memphis Animal Shelter. She was rescued at about 8 weeks old and all we know is that she is a great dog.

The middle child is Batman. He was born in 2007. He was the last of his litter and taken in so he would not have to be taken to the pound. He is a lab pit mix weighing in at about 100 lbs. Unfortunately he thinks he is a little lap dog.

Last is our youngest Roxy. She is our Old English Bulldog born in 2009. She is something else, like most 1 1/2 year olds, but we love her. Josh just loves and SPOILS her a little more. 

Let's Review

Hi all,

Well here we are, already less than a year until the wedding. In planning, we stumbled across various sites that allow you to do a wedding website, but we thought that wasn't quite us. So here we are! :) We figure that this blog is something that we can use not only as our 'wedding website' to keep family and friends up-to-date with plans, events, and registries but also just to show you us. Another plus is that we can keep this up for years!

So, with this being the first post we figured we would hit the highlights, talk about us, what we do and how we got into doing it.

It started back 2009 when we both worked at ExcelleRx. Things started kinda slow and hidden (or so we would like to think... we're sure almost everyone there knew.) Well as you assume things progressed. Movies, Dates, out with friends, etc...

Within a few months Christmas Season rolled around and we decided to have some fun and try our hand at building a Gingerbread house. Josh found a book that gave details and plans to build some extravagant houses, but we decided we better start small. Well, we did finish, but it was by no means a masterpiece.

New Years 2010 came and went just as any other...  

Fast forward a few months to April 2010. This is where we meet our first large challenge. It all started after a day of hard yard work. The laundry was in the wash, dinner finished, and everything seemed to be alright.... until we heard water backing up and overflowing in the bathroom. After hours of thinking it was a clog and trying to fix the problem ourselves,  we had no choice but to call the plumber. No good news here. The clay sewer line from 1941 had collapsed. The water line was conveniently located directly on top so both were torn up and replaced. Leaving the yard... wait just dirt... Fortunately we were able to completely re-do the entire front yard. In 2008 the house looked like this:
                                                                                                Post replaced pipes:

From this we learned that we actually like to garden and can actually keep it alive!

Most of our spring and summer were spent adding plants and babying them due to the extreme heat and a slug infestation- thanks mom :) Once fall rolled around, we spent the majority of our weekends out in Munford at football games and at Band Competitions.




This lasted until the BEST time of year= Christmas!!! With this being our 2nd Christmas together, we got a little more into it... ok, ok... a LOT! We decided to give a larger Gingerbread House a try and EVERYTHING was decorated:  

We also visited ICE for the 2nd year as well as their new exhibit SNOW and the Opryland Hotel

This basically catches everyone up to now... oh wait, except the important part... Well we had been talking about getting married for a little bit and spending Christmas with both families assured us that is was right! We had some visits to jewelry stores and when finally narrowing it down to three possibilities, we go back for the 3rd day in a row and get the ring. ok...so there was no super mushy romantic proposal, but it worked out. It was us. It was a mutual decision and wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I mean thats what its about after all right?!? Planning the wedding thus far has been a breeze and we can not wait to show you some sneak peeks here soon!




Josh & Candace