the adventures of mrs. cloud

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage..

2011-11-06T23:53:00.001-05:00

Well Hive, its that time. Two years ago today I walked down the aisle towards my best friend, said “I do” and then partied the night away. I can’t believe how quickly our time as newlyweds flew by, and I also can’t believe it is time for me to stop procrastinating, say my goodbyes and move on a bit from the wedding world (sniff, sniff, this really means I need to start being quiet again about my full blown wedding obsession which of course still lives on!). I have to say that blogging on the bee and being part of this amazing community been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The support that I received during my planning was valuable beyond words, and I am so glad to say that I am walking away over two years later with an amazing new group of friends. For any of you thinking, or even considering, applying to blog on the Bee DO IT! Never in a million years did I think I would be accepted, or that I would get so much back from blabber about my planning process. What a wonderful group of women you all are, and how lucky am I to have been a part of the hive!

(Image by our wonderful wedding photographer, Oriole Photography)

I guess I also owe you all a bit of an explanation for the huge gap during my recaps (and now of course the break while I drag my feet to say goodbye). Well, life was a little busy in the Cloud house! Of course I told you how we moved to a new state shortly after our wedding, but then more recently we had another big change...

That’s right, Baby Cloud is coming in December! We couldn’t possibly be more excited as we take this next big step in our life journey (in fact let’s all cross our fingers that this kiddo feels like a Cloud when it comes time to push him out! Ha!). In case you are missing me, feel free to pop on over to my blog, The Fetching Life, where I blabber on and on about marriage, morning sickness, and everything in between.

Oh and one last thing, I feel like I should leave you with the best advice I’ve got for anyone in the middle of the adventure that is planning a wedding. Don’t forget to stop and ENJOY what is happening around you. Wine and bubble baths are your friends (even better do both, at the same time, with your fabulous fiancé). One day you will feel like an old married lady and look back and think “that was a million years ago, and it went by so fast, why did I let myself stress so much! I should have had more wine!!” Well, maybe that’s just me but still, make time for yourself between cutting paper and glue gun burns. You will be glad you did. :)

xoxo,

Kate (aka Mrs. Cloud ;))

Up and Away : Let’s Review

2011-07-28T17:44:00.001-04:00

I know writing up vendor reviews here on the bee isn’t incredibly common, especially now that we have the amazing review section, but to be honest it’s something I have been looking forward to doing, so I’m going to do it anyway! I had the opportunity to work with some amazing, amazing, AMAZING vendors during my planning process as well as a few that were, well, let’s just say I wish I had known then what I know now. If my experiences can help anyone, especially a fellow Richmond bride, I figure I should share!

Abegail Burns for Chanel (Makeup)
Saks Fifth Avenue, Stony Point Fashion Park (804)320-6960
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
Abegail was wonderful the day of the wedding doing mine and all of my girls makeup (plus Mama and Nana Cloud) quickly and for a great price. We had a full trial at the Chanel counter in Nordstrom and just when I though my makeup couldn’t look better than that, she blew it out of the water on my big day! Read more about my makeup here and here.

Bella Rosa Bridal (Dress and Alterations)
www.bellarosabridal.com
Very Highly Recommend
Read more about my dress here and here. The ladies at Bella Rosa are so friendly and helpful (even if you have to have your dress taken in four times the week of the wedding!) and I would encourage anyone looking to check out their amazing selection of dresses. (For those who have asked my dress was from Priscilla of Boston, Style 4119.)

Blue Steel Lighting Design (Custom Lighting)
www.BlueSteelProLighting.com
Very Highly Recommend
They came in last minute when I decided I had to have some sort of lighting and did pinpoint lighting on our tables and a custom light for the dance floor out of our monogram. All night people commented on what a difference the lighting made, and even more someone from Blue Steel was there all night to insure we had no issues (we had none). Wonderful service and even Daddy Cloud said they were worth every penny (the pennies he was desperately pinching by that point ;))!

Bottom’s Up Pizza (Rehearsal Dinner)
www.BottomsUpPizza.com
Very Highly Recommend
More information on our experience here. The food was amazing, the staff was amazing, everything was amazing. Even if you aren’t looking for a rehearsal dinner location, go eat there. It really is the best pizza in the city.

Calligrapher
Do Not Recommend
I really believe our calligrapher had the best intentions, and I assumed things would be easier because she was local, but in the end she was just unorganized, and unreliable. We had to have multiple envelopes redone more than once because of her error. She never could remember the pricing we agreed on, or when we needed them completed by. They looked beautiful, but the hassle was not worth what she charged.

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Ceremony)
www.richmondcathedral.org
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
Are you even allowed to review a church?? Either way, the cathedral is beautiful and everyone that we worked with there was a pleasure to deal with!

Eric Cunningham, Choice Entertainment (DJ)
www.choiceentertainment.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
Eric was amazing. My husband dealt with him primarily, but he’s pretty hard to please so his thumbs up should really say something! I would hire him again in a second!

Florist
Do Not Recommend.
I would really, really like to blame my floral troubles on something simple like a miscommunication, but I just can’t. The vendor we went with came with great recommendations and up until the wedding day were a dream to work with. But then the flowers came, and it doesn’t matter how nice the people were, the bouquets were terrible. Not at all what we asked for or agreed upon, and half dead looking by our two o’clock ceremony. I was extremely disappointed. While hindsight is of course 20/20, I can say that some of the centerpieces were nice and looked decent in pictures. But they still were not what I ordered and for what we paid I would expect to look back and say I at least liked more than 25% of the finished product.

Hair
Do Not Recommend
I could write an entire post about my hair drama. The stylist I hired (and had been going to for a year before the wedding) not only showed up late with her assistant, but was in a FOUL mood all morning. To name a few issues for you: She did not bring a blow dryer for the two blow outs she had to do, charged each of my girls almost twenty dollars more than what we had agreed upon (but they were too nice to bring it up to me) and then rushed through/half-assed my updo. My hair was falling and frizzy before the reception and I later found out the stylist bad mouthed me and my girls after the fact. Bleh. Not a person I would want near me ever again, never mind on such an important day.

HumanStory (Videographer)
www.HumanStoryFilms.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
Adore. See the entire film here, it really speaks for itself. If you can book William and his amazing team, do it.

Jenny McQueen, Capture (Photographer Second Shooter)
www.Capture-Weddings.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
I met Jenny for the very first time on our wedding day because she was never supposed to shoot our wedding! Our original second shooter came down with the flu that morning and Jenny stepped in at the last minute. I have to say, I’m so glad she did! Her pictures were amazing, and we got them back super fast. Most importantly she was an absolute pleasure to have around us on our big day.

Jessica Oriole Salay, Oriole Photography (Photographer)
www.OriolePhotography.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
LOVE. HER. She made everyone comfortable and at ease during every picture she took, and the images really speak for themselves. I will be forever grateful to her for coming in at the last minute after our previous photographer disaster, and I fall in love with our pictures all over again every time I look at them.

Magic Special Events (Linen and Chair Rentals)
www.MagicSpecialEvents.com
Very Highly Recommend
It really was the linen and chair rentals that brought my whole vision together. Super nice to work with, the best prices we could find and the ONLY company that could deliver black chiavari chairs to Richmond!

Tait Boudoir Photography (Boudoir Photography)
www.TaitBoudoir.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
I gave the Mr. a little black book with some pretty pictures I had taken very secretly before the wedding. Tait Photography was amazing to work with, Erica made me feel super comfortable and the images were beautiful!

The Jefferson Hotel (Reception Site)
www.JeffersonHotel.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
Our experience at The Jefferson was amazing. The food, the drinks, the people, was all perfect. I would not do a single thing differently.

Windy Jennings, Weddings by Windy (Coordinator)
www.WeddingsByWindy.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
You can read my raving reviews of Windy on almost every one of my previous recaps (and especially here), but I really can’t say enough wonderful things about her. Mama Cloud and I originally thought we would be able to handle everything ourselves (we were oh so wrong), and that a coordinator would not be in the budget. We not only managed to find someone we truly loved and “clicked” with, but also someone who offered different level packages to fit what we needed. She never pushed us to pay for full coordination (her highest package) when she knew we didn’t need it (we went with partial coordination and day-of). She’s the best, she saved our wedding a hundred times over, and I’ll love her forever for it.

Winn Transportation (Trolley and Bus Rentals)
www.WinnBus.com
Very Highly Recommend
We had a trolley to move our wedding party and charter busses to move our guests back and forth between the hotel and church. They were on time and the trolley is just a wonderful experience in itself.

Other vendors we used that I absolutely loved - Crowning Glory Designs (veil), Invitation by Design (invitations), Paper Source (all paper products), Paper Mart (ribbon), The Big Day (honeymoon registry), Bed Bath and Beyond (registry), Williams Sonoma (registry), Kasia Fink Veils (hair flower), Doubletree Hotel Downtown Richmond (second hotel block option for guests), The Briar Patch (flower girl dress), Feathernesters Tea Room (bridesmaid luncheon), Bridal Party Tees (custom shirts for me and my maids), Men’s Warehouse (tuxes).

I think that is about it! We were so lucky that the amazing people we worked with MORE than made up for the less than wonderful ones! I would like to point out that these reviews are from my experiences alone and may or may not speak for the vendor as a whole. Also, I don’t want to bash anyone and decided not to post the names of some of the vendors I didn’t have the best time with. If you are curious about them, or the ones I loved, please feel free to PM for more details. Oh, and of course I also have to say that I received no discounts or kick-backs for posting these reviews, they are just my honest opinions for you to take as you will.

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Miss a part of the Cloudy wedding? Catch up here...
Up and Away : The Tooth And The Breakdown
Up and Away : The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies
Up and Away : The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Gents
Up and Away : Thank Your For Coming OOT
Up and Away : Favors For A Cause
Up and Away : The Bachelor Party Rules
Up and Away : The Girls Hit The Salon
Up and Away : Tea With My Ladies
Up and Away : Practice, Practice, Practice
Up and Away : An Embarrassed Bride
Up and Away : The First Chance to Celebrate
Up and Away : Time To Get Pretty
Up and Away : The Boys Chanel Their Inner GQ
Up and Away : A Little Somethin’ Somethin’
Up and Away : The Dress Of All Dresses
Up and Away : The Walk Of A Lifetime
Up and Away : We Do (Finally!)
Up and Away : Striking A Pose
Up and Away : A Brief Recap Interruption..
Up and Away : Cocktails And The Big Reveal
Up and Away : A Musical Surprise
Up and Away : An Overdue Dance
Up and Away : Da Da Doo Doo & Just Dance
Up and Away : Single Laaaaadies!!!
Up and Away : The Way You Make Me Feel
Up and Away : The Special Moments

Up and Away : The Special Moments

2011-07-07T21:18:00.001-04:00

As our special day began to wind down, I couldn’t help but have a huge cheesy smile plastered on my face. It’s true what they say you know, the whole day flies by in a flash. When I realized it would all be over soon, I took a few extra moments to stop and look around at what was happening around me...

Our beautiful friends and family that had come from far and wide to celebrate and support us. Including my amazing brother who requested a special song for us to dance to.

The details and projects that I had worked on for so long finally came together to add the special touches I had always hoped for.

The extremely touching and heartfelt toasts that were delivered by our Best Man and Maid of Honor, people who we will be forever grateful to for standing up with us on our big day.

Cake that was so delicious that I wanted to eat all of it myself (And God bless who ever had the foresight to leave a few extra slices in our honeymoon suite. We may or may not have argued over the last few bites..)

And my husband (my HUSBAND!!) who was smiling with just as cheesy of a look as my own, who danced with me all night, kissed me every chance he got, and has filled my heart with more love then I could have ever imagined.

(Obviously not from the end of the night, but one of my favs that still makes my heart flutter.)

Both Mr. Cloud and I were so sad to see the day we had waited for so long to come to be coming to an end, but also giddy with excitement to see what the next step in our journey would be. If I could offer any advice to a future bride it would be this, steal the extra kisses all night long and don’t forget to stop and enjoy the special moments that I promise you will never forget.

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : The Way You Make Me Feel

2011-06-30T18:50:00.001-04:00

Before we get into the big surprise a little back story. Mr. Cloud and I are HORRIBLE at keeping secrets. Horrible as in we can’t do it. With the exception of my engagement ring, every present he has ever given me was opened weeks before it’s intended holiday. And even the ring was given that afternoon, instead of at dinner like he planned. Well, not this time. This time he was sneeeeaaakky, sneaky, sneaky! I had my suspicions that something was up months before after seeing some random PVC pipe hanging out in our garage, but he blamed it on one of our friends who had been storing some stuff with us and I never thought about it again. But then after I threw my bouquet, everything made sense, and it came to this..

I know, what the hell does this have to do with PVC pipe and big secrets? Let’s back up a bit. First of all you need to know Mr. Cloud is a huge Michael Jackson fan. And I mean HUGE. He owns the albums, the videos, the books. Me, not so much before we met. Obviously I knew who Michael Jackson was, but the only song I was ever a big fan of was “The Way You Make Me Feel”. So in the beginning we listened to that on repeat a lot. So I could sing along, of course. Then Mr. C shared this little clip with me, Michael’s 1988 Grammy performance.

I thought it was pretty cool, Mr. Cloud thought it was AWESOME. So back to the story, if you remember one of our groomsman had sat me down after I ~~launched~~ tossed the bouquet, and Best Man ordered me to stay put with no peaking. When someone, somewhere, gave a cue I was turned around and this is what I saw.

Ooooh, so there is that damn PVC piping (they somehow rigged the piping to extend on top of speaker stands and hold a curtain, DIYers after my own heart)! I was trying to point it out to the groomsman too, but he kept telling me to sit down and watch. So I did, and the music started.

Yep, my hubs has a few bad ass MJ moves up his sleeve! I found out about this talent of his shortly after we started dating and am constantly asking him to show off his skills. Unfortunately it takes a few adult beverages for him to bust them out, so we don’t see them too often. So my wedding gift was a full on performance! The pictures really don’t do it justice..

I. LOVED. IT. And was 100% completely surprised (you know in case you couldn’t tell by the look on my face in the video!) Not in my wildest dreams is this what I thought he was up to! Did your hubs give you a big surprise on your big day? Or was there a performance of some sort at your wedding? If so, share video links, I want to see!!

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : Single Laaaaadies!!!

2011-06-21T21:41:00.001-04:00

I’m going to go ahead and admit it. I’m not a huge fan of the bouquet/garter toss tradition. I think its kind of boring, and I always hated having to get up there and try to catch something that only resulted in some drunk dude trying to feel up my leg. No thanks. But of course that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to subject my friends to it! To bad I forgot to put on my garter when I was getting ready. Bridesmaid to the rescue, and one quick trip into the hotel kitchen (it was closer than the bathroom, and don’t worry we were just inside the doorway, no unsanitary happenings over here) and I was ready to go. People seemed to be particularly pushy about getting these little traditions going even when I said I didn’t mind if we skipped them. Especially my MOH (who’s soon-to-be-hubby proposed days after we got back from our honeymoon), everyone knew she wanted to catch that thing!

I was never any good at t-ball when I was six, I don’t know why I thought this would go any better. I threw that sucker WAY over everyone’s head.

My darling cousin was a trooper and went to pick it up off the floor. I knew the fight for the garter had just gotten serious because quite a few of the groomsmen had previously inquired about whether or not she was single.

We took a few pictures and I wandered away to find my drink when I got pulled back towards the dance floor. One of the groomsman was telling me to sit down, but stubborn me didn’t want to. He insisted, and I ended up facing away from the floor. I was confused and still looking for my drink. With no clue what was going on behind me, I had no idea my hubs had one HUGE surprise still up his sleeve..

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : Da Da Doo Doo & Just Dance

2011-06-15T13:19:00.001-04:00

(Yes, I love GaGa and yes I have been slacking on my recaps, *hangs head in shame*. Is anyone still interested? I hope so! If you would like to catch up on my previous recaps please do so here!)

Mr. Cloud had one request for our wedding that never, ever changed. He wanted one bad ass party. Our family and friends know how to have a good time, so I was pretty sure his request would be granted even if we had the wedding in a cardboard box, but let me tell you, our pals did not disappoint.

We danced like it was a regular Friday night at the club and we weren’t in formal attire. I was so glad I had the foresight to get myself a pair of flats for dancing shoes. Especially when it came time for the Soul Train line. Apparently we take Soul Train lines very seriously around here.

Out of everyone, there is no doubt who stole the show. These little guys, my darling cousins busted more moves than anyone else, and everyone had a new move to teach them. Robots, lawnmowers, sprinklers, you know, the normal stuff. Ha!

They were also the only “kids” invited, despite our original no kid rule (we decided cousins were the obvious exception). Being in the preteens they might be offended by that statement but it worked in their favor, they didn’t have to interrupt their dancing with trips to the bar like everyone else!

Dance party 2009 would not have been possible without our amazing DJ, Eric Cunningman from Choice Entertainment. I know my friends (and by “my friends” I fully include myself), and after a few drinky drinks we like to request ten million songs from the DJ. Not only did Eric keep up and not get annoyed, but he blew us all away (including my very picky DJ of a husband).

In the middle of all this dancing we managed to stop and take once very special picture...

BEES!! I was absolutely honored that Mrs. Cupcake, Mrs. Tiramisu, and Mrs. (AND MR!!) D’Orsay all made the trip down! Mama Cloud was super excited that they were coming as well, especially after I told her all about how much fun we had at the D’Orsay wedding the previous summer. Word on the street is that she scoped out their table in advance so she knew where they would be, and then when making her rounds exclaimed “I’M MAMA CLOUD!!” when she finally saw them! These three ladies were not only huge inspirations to me during planning, but were also a big reason I wanted to blog here to begin with. Love them!

Do you plan on having an all out dance party at you wedding? Or are you expecting any pals from afar to buzz in? (Oh yes, I crack myself up!!)

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : An Overdue Dance

2011-01-24T21:11:00.001-05:00

We finished up the traditional spotlight wedding dances and as far as our guests were concerned it was time to finish eating, let loose and party! But Mr. Cloud and I had one last little surprise up our sleeves, this time for Mama and Daddy Cloud.

Mama & Daddy Cloud on their wedding day, 30 years before ours! (Personal Photo)

November weddings run in our family, including my parents who would be celebrating their thirty year wedding anniversary the same month we said our vows. Growing up I loved looking at their wedding album and hearing stories of the big day. One that has always stuck in my mind was when the band they hired ended up not knowing how to play the first dance song they requested. “Their song”, Unforgettable by Nat King Cole.

Well, what is a wedding sap like myself to do? Why make them have their first dance thirty years later of course! I’d had this idea in my head for YEARS, so I was super nervous when it came time to announce what was going on. So I blabbered into the microphone a bit about how grateful we are that they are in our lives and how thankful we are for all that they have done for us and then we had to practically drag them up on the dance floor.

Can you see Nana Cloud over on the left side? She cried through the whole thing and later said she felt like she was standing back at their wedding thirty years ago. She just might be the cutest little old lady alive.

My parents were so cute giggling as they danced under the spotlight. Then they insisted we dance with them for the last few moments of the song and I had another ugly cry moment as I thanked Daddy Cloud again for giving us such a beautiful day.

Are you planning any special dances other than the more “traditional” ones?

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : A Musical Surprise

2011-01-13T22:05:00.001-05:00

I guess its about time I share something that I’m pretty sure I have never mentioned before: I knew one hundred percent, absolutely, NOTHING about the music that was going to be played during our wedding reception. Shocking considering I am fully aware that I have a tendency to be a bit of a control freak. But Mr. Cloud has been DJing as both a hobby and professionally for years so the music aspect of the day was extremely important to him. Then one night, early on in the planning, my type A, always in control of the details self, decided he would be in charge of the music all together with no opinions from me. Then I must have just kept on drinking because then I decided I didn’t want him to tell me anything. Craaaazzy I tell you.

I won’t bore you will the awkward pictures of everyone walking into the main ballroom, lets just get to the good music. Hubs did not disappoint with his first few quirky picks. First came our parents and the bridal party to The Jackson’s “Can You Feel It”.

I was laughing uncontrollably by the time our entrance music came on, Dropkick Murphy’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”.

Some people recognized the song as my longstanding ringtone, others as a nod to my Irish heritage, but I don’t think anyone realized what a prediction of our future it would be when we actually up and moved to Boston a few short months later!

We walked straight into our first dance. We figured it would be better to just get all the dances out of the way right up front (let’s be serious, they can be boring for guests). When the music started playing one of our favorite songs (and the one I had secretly been hoping he would pick) I immediately started tearing up. Dave Matthew's Band “Up and Away”.

These might be my favorite pictures from the whole day..

They make me so happy.

Even though I was a little teary and the pictures look super serious, the truth is we were both cracking up the whole time. Apparently being newly married was really, really funny.

After Daddy Cloud gave a both touching and hilarious speech, and the priest gave a blessing, salads were served. Maybe its not traditional to do it this way, but we figured it was only fair to let people eat while we kept the ~~boring~~ parent dances going.

I found out later that it took Daddy Cloud FOREVER to pick a song for us to dance to. Apparently at one point he announced that he had “narrowed it down” to a whopping eleven songs! In the end he picked a great one, Tim McGraw “My Little Girl”.

And. I. Sobbed.

Ugly cry like a big old baby. Gah! I’m such a Daddy’s girl! My mom and best friend from when I was growing up were crying too, so that makes it ok right? I guess Daddy Cloud started to feel bad for me as I was bawling and clutching him for dear life so he started cracking jokes instead, which in turn made me laugh uncontrollably.

When people say that weddings are emotional roller coasters, they are not joking. Laughing, crying, I was a hot mess. Finally I could sit down and it was Mr. Cloud’s turn to dance with MIL Cloud to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”.

I have to say, Mr. C did a fantastic job, even if he went a bit overboard by giving the DJ an actual playlist to loosely follow! Most people were shocked to find out that I had let go of the music control completely, I told you, I’m a control freak! But I am proud to say that the music went a LONG way in our first lesson as newlyweds, TRUST. I had to trust that he would handle things, and he had to trust that I wouldn’t freak out about it. It is very easy to get sucked into wedding planning and feel like you have to do everything yourself, and that you are the only one who can do things right. It is also easy to let the other person just handle it all if they seem to know what they want. But, aw we found out, it is also incredibly refreshing to trust and to let things go and hand over a big, daunting task to your soon-to-be-spouse, and for that soon-to-be spouse to be willing to take it on. Especially when the results end up to be so, so, sweet.

Have you, or are you planning on having your significant other take complete control over a part of your wedding plans? Or better yet, did anyone else have a big ugly cry while dancing with their daddy? I can’t be the only one!

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : Cocktails And The Big Reveal

2010-11-15T22:07:00.001-05:00

While we were finishing up our formal photographs, our cocktail hour was already in full swing. Well, to be honest it wasn’t really a cocktail hour, it was a cocktail hour and a half.

We made the decision to extend a bit longer than the standard hour for a few reasons. We didn’t want to feel rushed to fly through photos, and since we were being introduced into the cocktail area (more on that in a moment) we wanted to have some time to mingle ourselves. Oh, and I was determined to see our reception room before anyone else did, as in between pictures but before introductions. I was a crazy lady about this, and wouldn’t budge no matter who said it would force us to run from one area to the next. What else could we do, it was either extend the time or make the gap between the ceremony longer. Well that was never much of an option for us, I didn’t want all of our out of town guests to feel abandoned during any “dead time”. So they mingled and took advantage of the bar while the Mr. and I literally ran from one side of the Jefferson Hotel to the other to check out the room.

The room, oh the room! I had been imagining for so long what it would look like, how everything would come together. Between our amazing planner Windy, and the staff at the Jefferson I was not disappointed! The image I had in my head for so long was perfectly executed in front of my eyes and for the first time I was completely speechless!

The flowers, the menus, the signs, the monograms! Everything was so beautiful, so perfect! I was so glad that we got to see everything untouched like that, before the guests came in. I was walking around touching everything with Windy when Mr. Cloud came up behind me, put his arm around my waist and said, “Wow, you did it!” For the millionth time that day, my heart melted as my husband told me he could finally see my vision and to him it was perfect. At that point I didn’t care anymore, I didn’t care what anyone else thought or saw, him saying that made it all complete. I wanted to stand there and keep soaking it all in, but we had places to go and people to see! But before we could join in the cocktail fun we had one special picture to take.

Our furbaby Bella had been up in my suite with me since the night before and had been snuggled up on the king size bed when our best man went to check on her after formal pictures. She was still pretty tired and nervous, but luckily was willing to cooperate for a few pictures.

We ran back around the hotel to the main lobby and sipped champagne while we waited for our first introduction (and by sipped champagne I mean guzzled between stuffing our faces with the appetizers that were brought up to us- I was starving!) I know most people don’t get introduced as man and wife until the big intro into the reception, but if your reception happens at the Jefferson, you ALWAYS go into the cocktail hour. Why? Well, it’s all about the stairs..

(Source)

The rumor is that the stairs in Gone With The Wind were modeled after the Jefferson’s. If you are a Jefferson bride, you walk down the stairs. Finally after all the planning, and hard work we were standing at the top of those stairs, being announced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs.!

We made it down the stairs (heals and a big dress, we were both nervous about an embarrassing fall), but weren’t really sure what to do next. Oh yeah, these people are here for us! Hugs all around!

And while we tried to make our way around the room and see all of our guests, Daddy Cloud decided he too wanted a moment on the stairs. So he collected the guys from his poker group and they posed for our photographer!

Before I knew it they were ringing the dinner bell (yes, they really had bells to ring!) and our guests started to move down the hall to the reception room. It was time to start the real party!

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : We Interrupt The Regularly Scheduled Recaps..

2010-11-08T13:03:00.001-05:00

Considering that Sunday was our one year anniversary(!!!) and I am still not done with my recaps for you guys, I think it is fair to say I have been slacking. It is true what they say though, the first year of marriage can be a hard one. I’m not complaining though, please don’t get me wrong. I know that after everything that the Mr. and I have gone through in the last year we can get through anything. We moved, we bought a house, we started new jobs, and we did it all together. But all of those things kept me from a goal I had set for myself, finish my recaps by our first year anniversary. It may seem like a silly goal, but I am a little upset I couldn’t make it happen to finish sharing with you guys! So without further ado, I am so proud to share this little treat (bribe maybe?) with you to hold you over while I finish the normal recaps up. We also debuted this to our family this past weekend, and I hope you enjoy it as much as they did..

THE CLOUD WEDDING VIDEO!!

Now, before we get down to it I’m going to be very honest with you for a second. If you are considering hiring a videographer but aren’t completely sold yet, do it. Do it right now. I promise it is worth every freakin’ penny. I was on the fence about the whole videography thing at first, but Mr. Cloud insisted and he was so right about this one! In fact, if you can, hire this guy. I’ve raved about him before, but now that we have the results from our own wedding, I can’t say enough about the talents of William Gaff and his team at Humanstory. Trust me on this one, and you can thank me later. And like any fabulous movie, let’s start with the trailer (which I have only watched approximately 4 million times now.. <3)!

I die. That probably could have been enough, but no it gets better. And by better I mean a full length film filled with one hour and twenty three minutes of wedding goodness!

(Click here, or the above image to go to Humanstory’s page on Vimeo and view the entire film.)

If you are like me and love to watch other people’s wedding videos (that’s not strange, right?) then you will not be disappointed! As for me I will be knocking out my recaps for you soon, no detail will be left un-blogged!

Up and Away : Striking A Pose

2010-10-07T21:14:00.001-04:00

Since I had been pretty A.D.D. through the entire ceremony it isn’t much of a surprise that I was feeling the same way during formal portraits. I was ready to get to the celebrating part! Mr. Cloud and I did manage to sneak in what we thought were a few private smooches and big hugs and greetings from my bridesmaids.

I won’t bore you with all of the formal pictures since I have about a thousand, instead I will try to keep it short with just a few of my favs. First there were the mandatory full-wedding-party-at-the-altar poses.

But we can’t be serious for that long.

My ladies are pretty sassy, and those boys were lookin’ sharp!

This is us with Daddy Cloud, Mama Cloud, and Brother Cloud. Use your imagination to remove them and add other family members and you will get the idea of what the rest of our family pics look like.

I can only imagine how boring it is for photogs to take pictures like these, especially when there is a big family involved like ours! Our photographers rocked it though, and you can’t even tell that all I could think or say was “let’s go party”! But before we wrapped up at the church my adorable flower girl and I had to show off our fabulous shoes! I think she was as excited about them as I was..

Finally it was time to head over to our reception site, The Jefferson Hotel. Both Mr. Cloud and I wanted to spend as much time as we could with our wedding party since they are some of our nearest and dearest (and many of them had travelled a ways to see us)! So we decided to skip the normal “just us” limo ride after the ceremony and rented a trolley to move the whole wedding party together. Needless to say it was a great decision because we had a blast! Not only were we all being a bit rowdy and excited, but because the Mr. and I stood in the back, cars driving by could see us so strangers were honking, waiving, and yelling well wishes also!

We filed out of the trolley and took about a million pictures before letting my freezing girls run in and escape from the cold, including one of my favorites from the entire day.

The wedding party went in to enjoy the already in progress cocktail hour, but Mr. Cloud and I had one more set of pictures to take care of. Shots with our fur baby Bella that I had my heart set on forever!

She was a little nervous, but I have to say she cleaned up pretty nicely after a last minute grooming appointment and one big red bow!

So while formal pictures probably weren’t the part of our day that I was most excited about, they were well worth it and we ended up with some amazing shots. And more importantly Mr. C. and I got to practice our married folk smooches allll over town!

Not all bad, right? Are you looking forward to formal pictures at all? Maybe you are skipping them all together, but just don’t skip the smoochin’ part!

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : We Do (Finally!)

2010-10-04T21:24:00.001-04:00

It had been a long journey for us to get to this point, and finally after one last long walk we were standing in the place where we would become man and wife. I must admit that our entire ceremony was a bit of a blur. You would think with the full Catholic mass happening, it would have seemed like it went on forever (who knows, maybe it did seem that way for guests!) but to us, it flew by. In the hour we were there I had to repeatedly resist the urge to pinch myself to see if this was really happening. I kept looking at Mr. Cloud and thinking over and over in my head “This is it! We are getting married! He is going to be my HUSBAND! I am about to be a WIFE! All of these people are here for US!”

We could not stop looking at each other and giggling. Everyone else was paying attention but my ADD had kicked in big time. I couldn’t help it, my nerves had turned into full blown excitement and I think Mr. Cloud was still in a bit of shock to see me in my dress after all that time and waiting!

Right before we got up to say our vows I remember Mr. Cloud telling me how perfect everything looked, and he could finally see all of my planning starting to come together. He knows me too well, those words went straight to my heart. And it was the thought of pictures like these that made me start dreaming of getting married at the Cathedral to begin with.

I’m not going to bore you with the detail from the entire mass. If you have ever been to a Catholic wedding then I’m sure you know just what went down as they very rarely vary. Let’s just get to the good stuff! We joined hands and said our vows (which my voice cracked through as I struggled to hold back the tears).

Our rings were blessed and we giggled as I had to shove Mr. Cloud’s on his finger. It fits fine, I think the fact that we were both shaking with nerves made the whole process harder.

Then we finally (FINALLY!!) heard the words we had been waiting for, “you may kiss your bride”! You know if the priest is smiling things are going well.

And then my Mister let out one big sign of relief. The hard part was past us, but I was still nervously giggling away.

Of course that wasn’t the end. We ate bread, drank wine, lit the unity candle, and finished up mass. All I could focus on was the fact that I now have a husband. In fact I was so busy being excited with that thought when the priest finally announced us as Mr. and Mrs. and it was time to go back down the long aisle, I forgot my flowers. These next few pictures crack me up because it is so typical of us.

Just when I thought we couldn’t get any more excited, we walked back down the aisle we started to see the faces of our family and friends. All of these people were there just for us! We were finally married! It was time to party! As Mr. Cloud pointed his friends who had come in from New York and I spotted a few special guests cheering us on as well..

Look closely, anyone recognize that pretty lady in the silver shawl?

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : The Walk Of A Lifetime

2010-09-21T21:27:00.001-04:00

Arriving at the church was surreal, I could hear the bagpiper that we had hired to play in front of the church from blocks away. Daddy Cloud and I had rode the short ten block ride in the limo alone, and we laughed the whole way. I was nervous and giggly and I think he was trying to do anything he could to keep both of our nerves under control.

From where we were sitting waiting in the limo I could see last minute guests arriving and my maids lining up ready to start their journey down the aisle. I had planned every detail of what was going on inside the church, so even then I was trying to imagine what the following pictures would turn out looking like. I knew that up first would be Nana Cloud, then MIL Cloud and Mama Cloud.

After our moms lit the unity candle the processional would continue with my cousins carrying the cross and the bible. Then the bridal party would begin with some very handsome guys.

Then one by one my bridesmaids began to disappear out of sight and into the church.

I was counting and trying to take deep breaths, but I knew that as soon as I couldn’t see my MOH anymore it was going to be my turn very, very soon. Only two special little one’s had to go before me. What I didn’t know was that there was a small situation going on in the back of the church. Up until the moment before it was their turn, our adorable little ring bearer had been screaming bloody murder. I was later told that he stopped as soon as he had to walk, as if he knew what needed to be done. I knew I loved that kid! Let’s be serious here, look at these pictures and you can see that they really stole the show! And yes, he is also rockin’ the Adidas Superstars!

The kiddos were walking and our planner Windy headed out to get me and Daddy Cloud from the limo. For those that aren’t familiar with Richmond or the Cathedral, let me set the scene for you a bit. On a fairly warm Saturday afternoon in November there are tons of people out and about. The Cathedral sits smack in the middle of Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus. When I say in the middle I mean there is a dorm to one side, the library behind, and the student commons and dining hall next to that. Across the street is a large public park. Every single upcoming freshman tour group walks by the Cathedral steps, and our wedding day was no exception. Many people had stopped to look and listen to the bagpiper, but when the church organ began and the trumpeter was playing a full blown crowd had gathered. I was still giggling nervously as Daddy Cloud offered his hand to help me out of the limo. And then some of those people who had stopped to watch STARTED CLAPPING. I remember asking Daddy Cloud what the hell they were clapping for. He of course looked at me like I was nuts and reminded me I was wearing a huge white dress and veil. Oh, duh. Back to focusing on not tripping, that would really mess up my timeline.

I know everyone says this but it really is the god’s honest truth, everything was happening really, really fast. All of the sudden we were walking towards the altar and I could see the man who was about to become my husband. I was still blabbering/attempting to whisper nervously to Daddy Cloud and he was reminding me to shut up, people were taking our picture and I didn’t need my mouth hanging open in every single one. I don’t know what I was saying or giggling about at that point, I just knew that at the end of the long aisle I could see this man that I love so much who swore up and down for almost two years that he was not going to cry when I came down the aisle. But now his chin was quivering and I could see the tears on his cheeks. My own eyes were also filling with tears and my cheeks were burning from the enormous smile I wouldn’t have been able to hold back even if I tried.

(As a small side note that picture of Mr. Cloud is one of the reasons I love love loved getting our pro pics back and looking through them! Not only is his reaction something I love to look back on, but see that guy leaning in towards the aisle a bit? That’s my uncle, a man I have always looked at as being a serious tough guy with a very serious job in law enforcement. When this picture was taken, I was busy staring down my soon to be hubs so I hardly noticed anyone else’s reaction to our special moment. I was so touched to see my uncle’s reaction, him being very close to tears as well, and that makes the picture even more priceless.)

One thing I do remember talking about in the limo with Daddy Cloud is how he would hand me off to Mr. Cloud. We practiced at the rehearsal, but if you remember I was a bit distracted. So I decided right then and there we needed to practice, and of course Daddy Cloud just got more proof that his little girl was a little nuts. So we winged it, and there was hugging and tears all around. I still don’t know what he said to Mr. C since I resisted my urge to be nosey and lean over to hear. But I will never forget him telling me to have a happy and wonderful life. Gah! Hive, I can’t lie, I’m tearing up now remembering that moment!!

After my Daddy gave me away, the ceremony began as our priest, Father Bob, started with a prayer. None of which I remember, all I could do was stare at the handsome guy to my right. We were finally getting married!

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Up and Away : The Dress Of All Dresses

2010-07-27T20:43:00.001-04:00

Despite the chaos of the morning and all of my nerves, I have to admit it still didn’t feel real yet. I had my makeup done and their was a gigantic veil attached to my head, so you would think I felt like the bride I had been planning to become for almost two years. But it just hadn’t hit yet. Maybe the nerves were getting in the way, but suddenly someone told me it was time. I needed to put the dress on that had been staring down at me all morning.

After my best friends in the entire world helped me get dressed I turned slightly and caught myself in the mirror. It was like a ton of bricks, I was a bride.

People were fluffing me up and steaming last minute wrinkles but I had a tiny moment I will never forget. I was staring at my flowers and looking at my hands realizing this was it, in mere moments I would no longer be a single lady. I was so happy, so excited, so ready.

Mr. Cloud and I didn’t have a first look, he decided way back in the beginning of our planning process that the first time he wanted to see me was when I walked down the aisle. Instead I had a “first moment” with my Daddy. I’ve been a daddy’s girl my whole life, and even though he had been acting cool, calm, and collected all morning, I knew it was a tough day for him. He was giving away his little girl, and I was looking forward his approval and reaction over the way I looked almost as much as I was Mr. Cloud’s.

After I pulled myself together (and no, I will not be sharing those ugly cry pictures!) we needed to get out the door of the suite as soon as possible. Time was running low, and I had formals to take with my ladies who I must say were looking pretty amazing.

We quickly knocked out some formal/portrait shots. I have very little memory of this whole thing for some reason, again I’m blaming nerves but they turned out beautifully.

Another thing that was looking rather fabulous was my bouquet! Which I LOVE LOVE LOVED! I know I said there was flower madness (and downright disappointment) previously, but my bouquet was the extreme exception. Deep red roses and peonies, droooool...

Things were still pretty blurry at this point, someone was pushing me towards the elevator and Daddy Cloud was offering me more water (you know we were still trying to prevent the pukies from coming back). I’m pretty sure we were the last ones to take the last elevator because it was just me and him getting on. When we stepped on though, there were two men in tuxes. I didn’t know them but I immediately knew from the look on the younger man’s face that he was a groom, he had the same nervous smile I did. When I stepped in I was facing him (big dress plus small elevator means turning is nearly impossible). He looked at me and in a very matter of fact way said “You’re a bride” I nodded and giggled and he laughed nervously before blurting out, “I’m a groom!” Yes, I was a bride, and I was finally on my way to get married.

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay of Oriole Photography, and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen of Capture. Click on any image to view it larger.

Up and Away : A Little Somethin’ Somethin’

2010-07-22T22:47:00.001-04:00

We have all heard the little tale, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something new”, and while I have heard that there are actually brides out there that DON’T over think every single last detail (including those associated with this rhyme) I was just not one of them. I did not just hope they would all come together at the last moment, no this type A gal obsessed for months until I had the perfect set of little items to bring me luck. Our photographers, Jessica Oriole Salay of Oriole Photography and Jenny McQueen of Capture, were amazing and caught all of these little details for me perfectly. First, something old..

I knew I wanted to carry a rosary on my bouquet pretty early on. I had searched for one that might be a little more special than the old wooden one I have used since my first communion. Then one day while chatting with Nana Cloud, she offered me my Great Grandmother’s silver beaded rosary. It was perfect, and I was honored to carry that piece of my family with me.

My something new could have been a number of things but I was really set on having one special item to call "new”. In the end, I had two new special items (ok four if we need to be technical here)..

What can I say, I love my shoes. I bought my Nina d’Orsay heals (shout out to Mrs. D’Orsay!) months before the wedding because they were the perfect red color I had been hunting for, and they came in black as well so I thought it would be cute if my maids and I had the same heals. But even a heal-loving girl like myself was not going to make it all day/night teetering on 4”! In the madness that was the week leading up to the wedding, Mama Cloud and I made time for a quick trip to Nordstrom where I found my dancing shoes, super cute red patent leather flats.

Anyone remember this post? Or go back a bit further maybe to this one? Yep, that’s right, I was a lucky little bee and my something borrowed brought some of that bee lovin’ to the altar with me!

Mrs. Tiramisu was generous enough to let me borrow her beautiful bracelet when I kept coming up empty for something to wear. It worked so well with the details of my dress, and the earrings I bought turned out to be by the same designer! Perfect! (In this picture it is sitting on top of the clutch my MOH bought for me at the last minute. I’m nuts and thought I needed it so my Blackberry would be with me during the reception. To be fair Mr. Cloud was updating his Facebook status from his own Blackberry while he was in the back of the church! Clearly we were made for each other.)

I’m going to have to take back what I said earlier, my something blue was really left until the last minute. I really wanted a blue cocktail ring to wear on my right hand. I don’t know where this idea originated from, but my desire went to full blown need and obsession after seeing Mrs. Penguin’s gift from her hubby (what can I say, Weddingbee inspired me a LOT). So I started hinting around to the Mr. that it might make a good gift (and by hinting I mean sending him link’s to Penguin’s recaps, picture messages of rings I liked, and texts with my right hand ring size, I’m a subtle girl).

Mr. Cloud picked out a gorgeous blue topaz ring from a local jeweler which I LOVED. I haven’t worn it since because it is really big and I haven’t had much reason to, but I can’t wait to bring it out on our anniversaries for years to come.

Jessica and Jenny worked so hard to catch all the details that morning, you didn’t think I was going to leave you with just my “somethings” did you? I had to share more of my favorites! First, my fabulous d’orsays (d’orsi? You know what I mean) had a little photo shoot of their own.

My hair flower from Kasia Fink Veils (aka Mrs. Sea Breeze!) posed with a few other accessories.

Last but not least, a little one in a very special pair of shoes of her own.

Ok, ok, for real this time, we are putting the dress on next!

Up and Away : The Boys Channel Their Inner GQ

2010-07-21T00:23:00.001-04:00

While I was busy waking up at the crack of dawn/primping/curling/stressing/freaking out/drinking mimosas/putting on a heavy dress, the boys were having a much easier morning. I really wish all it took me to get ready was a quick shower and a shave! While Mr. Cloud does admit he got very minimal sleep the night before, he will say that he and all his boys really only took about an hour TOTAL to get ready. No fair! In that short time I sent SIL Cloud up to see her brother and bring him a little gift from me. It took me forever to decide what to gift my groom on our big day, but on Mrs. Quiche’s advice I went with a set of amazing vintage map cufflinks from Etsy seller dlk designs, which he absolutely loved. I also gave him a pair of Red Sox socks, you know in case he got cold feet!

The boys headed downstairs for some formal shots after they finished getting dressed. Mr. Cloud has since told me that he was really nervous at this point, but luckily our awesome photographers helped ease the tension with some fun shots. I have to say, my Mr. was looking pretty handsome!

I’m sure you are wondering what I meant by “fun” shots. Well lets just say there was some dancing and posing, and a LOT of jumping..

Our photographers managed to get so many great shots, including the details. I especially love the shoes..

Before the boys ran off to the cathedral, they got in a few more of the standard formal shots, which I won’t bother to bore you with. But there is just one that happens to be my absolute favorite (which I plan on having framed in the very near future). My soon to be hubby, Daddy Cloud, and Brother Cloud all looking just a little nervous, but very happy.

Up next, I have a few something-somethings to share!

Miss a part of the Cloudy wedding? Catch up here...
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Gents
Thank Your For Coming OOT
Favors For A Cause
The Bachelor Party Rules
The Girls Hit The Salon
Tea With My Ladies
Practice, Practice, Practice
An Embarrassed Bride
The First Chance to Celebrate
Time To Get Pretty

Up and Away : Time To Get Pretty

2010-07-14T21:41:00.001-04:00

I stayed up way too late the night before the wedding. I blame nerves, but it felt like as soon as I closed my eyes I was getting a wake up call from my fabulous makeup artist, Abegail. Abegail is good friends with my MOH, and the last time I had seen her I told her about a nightmare I had that I had slept through everyone getting ready and ran out of time to have my makeup done! Granted everyone was getting ready in my room and there was no way that could actually happen, so she probably thought I was a little nuts, but was nice enough to wake me up with a cheery call at the crack of freaking dawn. 7 am and I have never gotten along, but on this day I was wide awake in no time. As Abegail set up, mimosas were ordered and the room started to buzz with energy as my half-awake maids trailed in. In addition to the bridesmaids I had invited a number of ladies, both family and friends, to stop by that morning so it quickly became a full house. I even had the hive there with me on my laptop!

People came and went as they stopped in to say hello (or steal a donut and coffee thanks to Daddy Cloud and his Dunkin Donuts run!) and before I knew it someone was announcing that it was already past ten! In the middle of all this madness I started passing my shoes around. Um, what? No really, my shoes got around. I had read about a Turkish tradition of having the single ladies in your life sign your wedding shoes to see who would be married next (you can read more about the tradition here). Well, I’m not Turkish so it wasn’t a sentimental tradition to me or anything, and since I really didn’t want to stop at just the single gals I decided to put my own twist on things. I decided to have every woman who came to my room that day sign my shoes for luck! They are all wonderful in their own way and I’m so lucky to have them in my life. I felt like the signatures would bring some of their strength and love with me at the altar. Mama Cloud, Nana Cloud, my MOH, all my maids, aunts, and friends signed. Even my littlest flower girl “connected the dots” to keep her signature nice and neat!

I never even noticed anyone come in with all the hustle and bustle, but eventually someone pointed out that not only had the girls bouquets been delivered, but I had also received a gorgeous arrangement with a note from my hubby-to-be!

Ok, confession time (you didn’t think I was going to have an entire post with out some ridiculous honesty thrown in did you?): I freaked out. I was already stressing a bit about the time line (which was running way behind), but I just kept telling myself they couldn’t start without us, so we would deal. I was really really nervous, and so many people in one room was getting to me too. It was loud, I couldn’t hear myself think so I kept ducking out for some quiet hallway time. Then the flowers showed up. Don’t get me wrong, they were gorgeous. Stunning even. But not AT ALL what I expected. I never did a flower post here on the bee because months and months and months ago I had found an article in a magazine with some pretty simple, yet perfect, bouquets. They were just what I wanted, and according to my florist totally doable. They were supposed to be a few different types of dark red buds, roses, peonies (which were being shipped in from New Zealand in November, my fav!), ranunculus, and calla lilies. Instead the bridesmaids had all roses, and I had roses with a few peonies. The stems were also very long instead of wrapped and bluntly trimmed. These beautiful flowers were my tipping point. I ended up crying in a stairwell with two of my fabulous maids trying to call me down. After a frantic call to our planner Windy, and my aunts and Mama Cloud rallying in the tiny bathroom to rewrap and trim the bouquets and I had calmed down. I told you it was ridiculous. The time and energy I wasted on this freak out is my single largest regret of the whole day. I was a bridezilla for those few moments and I know I snapped on my Mum when she was only trying to help. I will live with the hurt look on her face imbedded in my memory for the rest of my life, and would do anything to take that back. She was amazing through everything and did not at all deserve my misplaced flower frustration.

I was finally calm and sipping on a mimosa (not my first, and completely needed at this point) when I realized not only were my girls getting closer and closer to being ready, but it was also finally my turn.

The butterflies were getting really strong, and I was no longer a ball of stress. Now I had moved to giggling like a school girl. It was so strange to have so many people fussing over me, and at this point even Daddy Cloud had arrived to be sure I had eaten and wasn’t running too late.

Brother Cloud came down to visit last minute and managed to squeeze in a picture with my MOH. Mama Cloud had run off to get changed and looked absolutely stunning. Our fur baby Bella was also there of course, but by that point she was mostly just sleepy from the early morning and all the extra attention!

It was time. Everyone was primped and prepped and ready to go. The room started to clear because there was only one last thing to do before we could all head to the church. It had been hung up high the night before and starring down at me all morning. I couldn’t wait to finally put it on.

What part of getting ready are you most excited or nervous about?

Up and Away : The First Chance to Celebrate

2010-07-05T23:03:00.001-04:00

After we got all that practicing out of the way (never mind the bleeding and puking parts) it was time to get started with the good stuff! Mr. Cloud and I rode together to our rehearsal dinner at Bottoms Up Pizza in the Shockoe Bottom area of downtown Richmond. We wanted the dinner, which was the first real celebration of the weekend, to be completely opposite of the next night’s very formal ballroom reception. Bottom’s Up fit the bill for the laid back and casual feel we were going for.

As people started to trickle in, it was clear our little ring bearer had enough excitement for one day. Poor little guy was out like a light before he even saw his presents.

I can’t say enough about how wonderful the entire staff at Bottom’s Up was to us and our guests. We had the entire top floor of the restaurant to ourselves, and the prices were a steal with their all-you-can-eat packages. And the food, oh the food! I was starving! I had done so well on my diet in the weeks leading up to the wedding, the mere mention of the rehearsal dinner food had me salivating!

As if the appetizers weren’t enough, out came the pizza. Oh. My. God. The pizza! Luckily it was all you-can-eat, because there was a line for a solid 45 minutes after it was brought out. I was so busy running around I kept loosing my plate, but luckily I have a fabulous cousin who knew I’m a hungry girl and brought me new slices every time he saw me without a plate. Reason number 9,724 why my family rocks!

Mr. Cloud and I were both eager to pass out the gifts for our bridesmaids and groomsmen. But first I had a few surprises up my sleeve for my soon-to-be-hubby. Up first, a little memento to make him an official part of my family.

The shirt says “Married Into It, Sox Fan 4-Life!”. Granted he’s been a Red Sox fan for as long as I have known him, but he is originally from New York so we needed to make sure he knew there was no turning back!

Up next was another tradition that our northern-bred families weren’t as familiar with, the groom’s cake! Mama cloud and I had plotted and schemed for months, and with help from my MOH’s fiancé who rushed to the bakery at the last minute when I almost forgot about actually picking the cake up, it was a huge hit and Mr. C’s reaction was priceless!

His pride and joy, his Honda Prelude...

You would think that would be enough surprises for Mr. Cloud, but my aunt had one last little gift for him. The Mr. is a HUGE Michael Jackson fan, and I mean HUGE. Like he knows all the words to every song, and as a child spent hours teaching himself dances. Nuts, yes, but also kind of cute. Right before MJ died she had come across the 25th Anniversary addition of Thriller on vinyl (I know nothing about these things, but apparently its a big deal). He was ridiculously excited and I thought it was hilarious.

*Remember this gift, it will become very ironic later.

After all the spoiling of Mr. Cloud, it was finally time to give our gifts to the wedding party. Let’s just say, I think they were a hit.

Ok, so the boys don’t look as excited as the ladies. Whatev, I know they loved those flasks! Our amazing photographer also got the chance to take some amazing pictures of the gifts, which put my previous ones to shame. Oh, and I threw in the pink Red Sox hat for my MOH as her promise that she is coming to visit me for a game now that I’m in Boston.

Mama Cloud also gave my gals a little gift, beautiful Irish linen and lace handkerchiefs.

After the gifts, Brother Cloud stepped up and said a very touching speech (which he nervously read from his blackberry). He made me cry and told a few embarrassing stories all at the same time. When he was done he presented us with a beautiful drawing, one he had done years ago that I have been begging for a copy of ever since. It is a simple pencil and ink drawing of a couple kissing under a red umbrella. By far one of his more simple pieces, but he redid it to make the guy a bit taller like Mr. Cloud and the female’s hair more like mine. I love it.

I don’t think we could have asked for a better night. When all the formalities were done it was so nice to sit back and watch our amazing families and friends come together just for us. I knew it was getting late and Mr. Cloud still had to head back to our apartment on the other side of the city for some last minute belongings. I was nowhere near ready to sleep, even though I knew I needed it. I was so ready to finally be the bride I had been planning to be for so long, how was I supposed to sleep?! I wanted to take in every moment of that first celebration of the weekend. Too soon it was time to say goodnight and head our separate ways. Mr. C and I had agreed not to speak at all on our wedding day before the ceremony, and before I knew it I was getting one final text message from my husband-to-be at 11:59pm that ended with one simple message, “See you at the altar!”

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : An Embarrassed Bride

2010-05-30T23:28:00.001-04:00

So where were we? Oh yes, the final picture of the ceremony rehearsal..

It looks innocent enough. The boys are over it, Mr. Cloud is intently listening to final instructions and our Priest is about to get to the part where we are introduced as husband and wife and practice the walk back down the aisle. But what you can’t tell from looking at this picture is that I am panicking. Remember back to the bridal tea when I told you how when I am nervous or stressed I react in a strange way? Oh yes, I’m going there. It was happening, I was about to get sick.

The church coordinator was talking, Mr. Cloud said something to me, but I was starting to panic and sweat a little, all I could think about was who is in charge of cleaning up vomit in a church. Super romantic stuff for a wedding rehearsal. Mr. Cloud immediately knew something was wrong. He whispered to hang in there because he knew the next thing we had to do was practice our exit to a back room that was conveniently located next to the restrooms. People were still giving us instructions and I was starting to get light headed. I had stopped responding for fear of opening my mouth. I couldn’t wait. I dropped the ribbon bouquet AND. I. RAN. Like out of my heals. I was mortified before I even got to the bathroom. I was puking and crying by the time my MOH got into the bathroom behind me. She was nice enough to say that it wasn’t that big of a deal, but let’s be serious here, if the bride runs off of the altar people notice. Mama Cloud quietly told a few people that I was sick and would be ok, and we had warned our planner Windy that this might happen as well. After puking before dance recitals, cheerleading competitions, graduations, and every other major event in my life that causes nerves, we wanted to be as prepared as you can be for these things. I just never thought it would happen right in the MIDDLE of the rehearsal! So Windy and the church coordinator kept things moving. Oh and luckily no one told me until a few months later (and a bit of my mortification had worn off) that someone made a comment about me being pregnant. Which I’m not now or was I then, but I can’t imagine the priest’s reaction to that one!

Mr. Cloud came in behind my MOH to help calm me down. And after a few minutes I really was fine. Incredibly embarrassed, but fine. Turns out while I was in the bathroom, my cousin, our junior groomsman was having a crisis of his own. His tooth fell out while he was standing on the altar! The poor kid, but at least he wasn’t alone in the strange events!

After all the planning us brides put into our weddings there are just some things that cannot be helped, no matter what! I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, not everything about a wedding is all roses, some of it might be pukey or bloody like ours! But there really is nothing wrong with that and I’m glad that despite being mortified I was able to laugh about it all and enjoy the rest of the night! And I had to get over it quick because next up was rehearsal party time!

Does anything embarrassing happen to you when you get nervous? Or do you have an embarrassing wedding story to share? Come on, I told you mine!

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Gents
Thank Your For Coming OOT
Favors For A Cause
The Bachelor Party Rules
The Girls Hit The Salon
Tea With My Ladies
Practice, Practice, Practice

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : Practice, Practice, Practice!

2010-05-14T00:26:00.000-04:00

When I left off we were in the middle of a mad dash to get to get from the bridal tea to the rehearsal dinner. We were already an hour behind schedule and I had been warned over and over by the cathedral coordinator that we had to start the rehearsal on time! By the time we walked out the door our apartment looked like a bomb had gone off (who am I kidding, it looked like ANOTHER bomb went off on top of the previous planning bombs), and Mr. Cloud had decided that for the sake of time he would come back after dinner to get his personal items. We packed my tiny Civic any my MOH’s Jeep to the brim with bridal party gifts, my wedding accessories, and last minute reception items and headed downtown to the Jefferson Hotel to check in. A quick clothes change later and we were back at valet getting back into our cars to go to the cathedral. Our photographer Jessica Oriole Salay of Oriole Photography was already there getting some amazing shots of the church.

My MOH got in her car with a few other bridesmaids and Mr. Cloud also headed out with a groomsman. Problem was the valet ticket for my car (with all the bridal party gifts that needed to go to the rehearsal in it) was still in his pocket! I don’t know why I assumed he had handed it off before he left, but after standing there for a few minutes one of the bellmen asked me if I needed some help. I thought I was waiting for my car and they just thought I was a crazy lady standing on the curb! Luckily they felt bad for me when I explained that I was now ten minutes late for my own wedding rehearsal and found the car without the ticket. I also realized that I had forgotten the readings for the ceremony, and was having a little panic over how fast things were moving. Daddy Cloud was waiting for me outside the cathedral when I pulled up to assure me everything was going to be ok. Mr. Cloud also came and met me, and as we walked down the aisle that first time, our wedding party and family that was waiting to rehearse began to applaud. Cue waterworks from me.

The church coordinator led us in a brief prayer to start things off before explaining how the rehearsal would work. Our planner, Windy Jennings was also on hand to be sure things went smoothly. At my very first meeting with Windy we had agreed that I would hand off our programs at the rehearsal and let go of the control, and stress, of the wedding details. I can’t tell you what a relief that was, and how thankful I was to have her there to make sure all of my plans would be executed. Now I just had my own wedding jitters to worry about!

Everyone headed to the back of the cathedral to start from the beginning. I think its safe to say everyone was pretty excited, but I think this is when Mr. Cloud started to feel the jitters too!

It took a while to round up the troops, but eventually our very large party lined up and took their turn at practicing going down the aisle. While this was probably boring for the boys, the girls (myself included) were eager to practice walking down the very long aisle in heals.

I nervously chatted with Daddy Cloud the whole way down the aisle. I have no idea what I was talking about, but I do remember him telling me to be quiet and slow down more than once. By the time we reached the altar it was time for business. Daddy and Mr. Cloud practiced the pass off and I was desperately trying to pay attention and remember all of the instructions.

Notice where Mr. Cloud is looking? I think he was busy paying attention to his groomsman who I have a feeling were paying a little less attention than I was.

Step by step we went through everything. Apparently it was all very funny since we are laughing in most of the pictures. This also might explain why I didn’t remember many of those instructions the next day. Whoops!

I had to share this next picture because I remember at this point my self-diagnosed ADD was kicking in. Apparently so was our flower girl’s, look closely between Mr. Cloud and our Priest!

Other than fading attention spans, everything was going smoothly. But in true Cloud Wedding form we couldn’t end things like that! This is the last picture from the rehearsal I was in..

Stay tuned to see why how the Cloud’s kept it interesting and incredibly embarrassing all at the same time!

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : Tea With My Ladies

2010-05-13T17:22:00.000-04:00

The Friday before the wedding was already flying by, unlike these recaps, which I realize seem to be dragging on forever. I have a small confession to make, hive: I’m already sad thinking of my recaps coming to an end and I have barely started! Six months later and I am still a little sad to think our wedding is over. Who wouldn’t want to go back and feel the kind of love and support you can only get from being surrounded by all your friends and family, every single day? I was still a calm and collected (although a bit butterfly-filled) bride after our salon trip, but I was soon to be a big teary mess from all the love and goodness coming my way!

I knew from the beginning I wanted to show my mostly northern guests as many Southern traditions as I could, and the bridesmaid luncheon was no exception. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon than at a tea party with the women I love! Of course, things are always easier said than planned.

After the first venue we toured and booked went out of business (with no notice, mind you), my amazing planner, Windy Jennings came through as she always did with the perfect solution (please read more of my raves and all around love for Windy here). She sent Mama Cloud and I to check out Feathernesters, a tea room in the north side of Richmond. The location was perfect and I was smitten with the whole place as soon as I stepped in the door. When you walk in there is a whole shop of furniture, gifts, and accessories I could have browsed through for hours. Behind the shop area is the tea room, and drapes were hung to create a private section just for us. Brother Cloud was commissioned once again for a little drawing that was perfect for the invites.

In addition to the bridesmaids I also invited Mama Cloud, MIL Cloud, Nana Cloud, all of my aunts, and female cousins that would be attending the wedding. Nineteen women that I love and admire were able to join me that afternoon, and we had an amazing time.

Not surprisingly I was running my standard fifteen minutes late, and when I arrived almost everyone was already there waiting for me. I was immediately excited and overwhelmed; everyone was there just for ME and they all had huge smiles on their faces! I was trying very hard not to cry at this point, but I didn’t manage to keep that going for long. I had been thinking about what I was going to say to everyone for months, but when I was standing there I only made it a few sentences until I was in tears. How do you thank so many amazing women for supporting you through your whole life?

I should have pictured everyone in their underwear, instead I was a sobby mess. Then my MOH got up and it was all over.

My MOH is my sorority big sister, and the real life big sister I never had. She has been there for me through every crisis and celebration since my first few weeks in college. And since she knows me better than almost anyone else, she also knows just what to say to pull at the heart strings. I think she even was holding back the tears at a few points.

I had not planned on giving my girls their gifts until later at the rehearsal dinner. I figured the tea would be time to just eat, chat, and relax, but they had one more surprise for me. And apparently I never did learn my lesson about not making ridiculous faces when I know the camera might be on me.

They know me too well! An adorable Tiffany & Co. bracelet, monogrammed with my new initials!

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating a delicious lunch and catching up. The family I have known my whole life, my new family, and my closest friends got to know each other a bit more before the craziness really began.

My aunts E and K, and Nana Cloud. Feathernesters had the greatest hats on display around the room.

Maid A chatting with Nana Cloud and my great aunt.

Me and my beautiful cousin, Jr. ‘maid C.

This was the first time I had all my ‘maids in one place!

Everything was perfect, just the way I had imagined it would be. Right up until the end. So here it comes hive, one more confession for you: I had a full blown bridal breakdown. I was so proud of myself for being cool, calm and collected but I was really starting to get nervous. And when I get nervous something pretty terrible tends to happen, I get sick. As in, I get a case of the yacks. No sweaty palms for this girl, instead I have to head to the bathroom. Awesome. As the end of the tea neared I realized I had yet to hear from Daddy Cloud, or Mr. Cloud at all. Our fur baby was at the groomer getting ready for her close up the next day with the photographer, and the plan was that one of the boys would handle her pick-up after they all had lunch and played a quick game of laser tag. But when I checked my phone, the groomer had left me a message saying she hadn’t been picked up yet. I started to panic as my timeline was slipping away. It was about this moment that I also realized I was running behind, too—we had been at the tea for an hour OVER the original plan. Oh, did I mention I had planned on packing between the tea and rehearsal too? Planning foul in full effect. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to be wasting time throwing up when all you can think about is how many other things you need to do right now. (I’m sorry I realize this is graphic, and pretty embarrassing, but I promised a full recap. I don’t want you to think every second was rainbows and sunshine when some moments were really a lot, um, grosser.)

Once again I realized I am a lucky, lucky girl. My bridesmaids were already stepping up with an action plan. One would go get the pup, another would drive to pick up a dress still being altered, others would take care of the caravan to bring everyone back to the hotel, and my MOH would meet me at my apartment to help me pack until Mr. Cloud got there. My nerves were far from gone and my stomach was definitely still in knots, but my ten minute meltdown was behind me. Saved by the bridesmaids! At this point it really was starting to feel like the mad dash to the altar (or at least the rehearsal)!

What is your plan the day before the wedding? Are you at all worried your nerves will get the best of you?

(All personal images provided by my aunts and bridesmaids.)

Up and Away, a Cloudy Wedding : The Girls Hit the Salon

2010-04-14T12:57:00.000-04:00

It was finally time: the Friday before the wedding. And despite only getting a few hours of nervous sleep, I woke up excited and ready to go. My soon-to-be-hubby was busy sleeping off a hangover from the night before, and for the first time ever I woke up before my alarm went off, ready to meet a few of my favorite ladies for some pampering. I don’t know about you, but I love a good mani/pedi and had been looking forward to my pre-wedding visit all week!

I had been going to the same salon in Richmond for years and knew I wanted to go there before the wedding as well. A few months in advance I inquired about setting up a big appointment for me and my girls. I thought I would have no problem, but TWO other brides had already booked the morning up with the same idea. Learn from me and the heart attack I almost had that day—it is never too early to ask! Lucky for me being a long time client they were willing to work something out, in the form of opening the salon early just to fit us in! All but one of my ‘maids was going to make it to town in time for our appointment and I was beyond excited to see everyone.

(my aunt K, jr. maid C, maid L, and my soon to be SIL!)

Someone made a Dunks run (completely necessary) and at 9 AM sharp we took the whole place over. When Mr. Cloud rolled out of bed to start the boys’ festivities for the day I got a quick text from him to let me know he couldn’t wait for me to become his wife, and the butterflies officially set in!

(Mama Cloud!!)

As the girls were chatting and my butterflies grew, my MOH and I ran over my last minute checklist. It was surprisingly short and I think everyone (myself included) was shocked at how calm I was!

(One calm bride-to-be!)

We had a busy day ahead of us, so I made a big effort to stick to my relaxed attitude and for the first time I really felt like a bride. I was ready to go, to start seeing all of the family and friends that had come to see us, and finally walk down the aisle and marry my boy!

Are you planning on doing anything to help yourself relax before the wedding festivities begin?

(The thing about pampering is there is no time to take pictures! All images courtesy of my fabulous MOH- the only one who remembered to use her camera!)

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up - The Ladies
The Bridal Party Cleans Up - The Gents
Thank Your For Coming OOT
Favors For A Cause
The Bachelor Party Rules

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : The Bachelor Party Rules

2010-04-12T19:07:00.001-04:00

A few months before the wedding I had the best bachelorette party I could have ever asked for. So when Mr. Cloud’s Best Man started making plans for his bachelor party I was really excited for him to have a great experience too! I did lay down some rules though when it came to their planning. No, no, it’s not what you are thinking! I trust Mr. Cloud to use good judgment if he were to end up in any compromising situations (such as those that might include ladies being paid to take their clothes off). I did not, however, trust him or his boys to not bring me home a very drunken groom! I also wanted to be sure my cousins, who grew up more like brothers to me, were also able to attend. So my “rules” were simple: the party was NOT to be held the night before the wedding, but it must be held at a time that would make it possible for ALL the guys in our life to attend if they wanted. Not too bad right?

The Thursday before the wedding the boys were set for some fun. I never expected to see pictures, but Facebook came through and I present you with a small glimpse into Mr. Cloud’s last night of freedom!

Fifteen guys piled into a rented van (plus one DD!) and they started of pretty tame. Dinner at Hooters of course! From what I have been told the boys polished off over two hundred wings, a few sandwiches, and quite a few pitchers of beer.

I also had a bachelor party rule to follow which I was assigned by my brother, I wasn’t allowed to text or check in on Mr. Cloud at all! You would think Brother Cloud was going to be on my side with the inside scoop for the night, but noooo! I have no doubt he was encouraging more shots and misbehaving all night long! I did get one call – they gave him his phone to let me know he had already fed our fur baby dinner before he left. But I believe this was after they had dinner and all that beer, so he was making no sense at all!

By the time they made it to happy hour no one was feeling any pain and ready to move on to the dance floor. Mr. Cloud has no shame, and after a few drinks he is always willing to show off his dance moves. He has been a huge Michael Jackson fan since he was a kid, and if you catch him in the right mood sometimes you can even get a moonwalk out of him! Well he was ready on his last night out to show off when Billie Jean came on! At one point I saw video of this little performance, but it has since been “lost” and only these few pictures are left..

Yep, that is my darling hubby and his old roommate having a full blown dance off in the middle of a Richmond club. I didn’t believe it when I first heard the story, but you can see in the pictures the dance floor cleared and people were gathered around watching! Silly silly boys..

By the time he was delivered home to me, my original assumptions were confirmed and my groom was no where near sober. I had been assembling place cards all night and after finally finishing and climbing into bed I was woken by a call from my Mr. and his best man, who couldn’t figure out how to unlock the door! I thought he would be headed straight to bed, but instead I got a full play by play of his very exciting and fabulous night (although it was slightly slurred and completely out of order). I’m so glad he not only didn’t get into too much trouble, but had just as much fun as I did!

Is your Mr. planning on having a bachelor party? Are you worried about the events at all or laying down any unusual rules like I did?

(All personal images courtesy of Mr. Cloud’s buddies.)

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : Favors For A Cause

2010-04-08T20:49:00.001-04:00

We had one final DIY task to complete before the real wedding festivities could begin! Well, they were going to start regardless but I was determined to get everything checked off my list. Favors! I have been to many weddings, and gotten a variety of favors. But I have to be honest, while most wedding favors are cute and look great on display at the wedding, I normally forget them not long after the wedding and they get deserted in our junk drawer (I'm so serious too, I found like six when we moved in our kitchen drawer). I can understand it though, its easy to get sucked into all the cute favor ideas out there, but I just couldn’t bring myself to skip them completely.

Mama Cloud to the rescue! A few years ago she went to a wedding where they didn’t get a favor at all, instead there was a small sign on each table informing guests that a donation had been made in their honor to the couple’s favorite charity. I loved the idea, but I wanted more than a small frame that might be overlooked. After a bit of brainstorming with Mr. Cloud we decided to give out treats of some sort, it was kind of a no brainer since the only favors he even remembered ever getting were the edible ones. I didn’t want to commit to baking something (that had already been vetoed on the baking front during the OOT planning anyway), so we started to think candy! And nothing is better than a kiss!

(Source)

I had seen a picture at some point that had always stuck with me, small boxes at each place setting tied with a cute bow. White 2”x2”x2” favor boxes, 1” black ribbon, what seemed like a million pounds of Hershey kisses, and Mama Cloud’s serious bow tying skills, and we were in business.

Each box also had a small card stating that a donation had been made to one of the two charities we selected; American Heart Association or American Cancer Society.

Mama Cloud tied, and tied, and tied some more.. Over 200 bows for the favors alone!

And Bella supervised as always! Sorry you are going to have to wait just a few more posts to see how they looked on the tables. :)

What did you do for favors? Or did you nix the idea completely?

(All personal images unless otherwise noted)

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Gents
Thank Your For Coming OOT

Up and Away, a Cloudy Wedding : Thank You for Coming from OOT

2010-04-08T11:52:00.000-04:00

By the time our guest list was finalized and all of the response cards had been sent back to us, it was clear that my obsession with what to do for our out of town baskets was not for nothing. A whopping 80% of our guests would be coming in from other cities and states, and staying in the hotel blocks we had reserved. While I may have never even heard of an out of town basket (or OOT, as I prefer to call them since it’s way more fun to say) before we were engaged and I fell into the land of wedding blog goodness, I quickly had a million ideas for ours and Mr. Cloud quickly became concerned that I was losing touch with reality.

At one point I planned on baking homemade cookies and cupcakes to put in these things; looking back, the Mr. clearly had reason to be concerned. But I scaled things way back, and ABSOLUTELY LOVE what we gave out. I have been D-Y-I-N-G to share these with you (remember this post? I was giddy even then, and I didn’t have them close to being together yet)! So without further ado, our Virginia themed OOTs!!

Hive, I cannot lie to you. This picture makes it look like in the middle of all of our last minute wedding preparations I stopped to have a little photo shoot with our OOTs.

That is a bold face lie; in fact, the only picture I bothered to take two days before the wedding while Mama Cloud, my MOH and I were putting these bad boys together was this…

Overwhelming OOT assembly line + already slightly stressed bride = big fat blog fail. Luckily between my Nana Cloud, Mama Cloud, and myself we had almost everything to recreate a whole box five months later. Back to that first picture, let’s get to the details (with a little labeling to simplify things).

A. Kraft Gable Boxes with Welcome Tag and Label (The drawing was done by my awesome brother. I designed the labels and printed everything at Kinko’s. The boxes are 8×4⅞x5¼ and were purchased from PaperMart.com)*

B. 2 Mini Water Bottles with Custom Labels (We bought the water bottles on sale in bulk from Big Lots on the cheap. I designed the labels and printed them on waterproof label sheets from LabelsByTheSheet.com)

C. Hubbies Peanuts (Thank you to Mrs. Perfume who pointed me to Hubbard Peanut Company’s Hubbies. Virginia peanuts with the perfect name for a wedding.)

D. Hershey Bars with Custom Wrappers (I am too cheap to buy the big Hershey bars that still have foil on them, so I bought the smaller 1.55 oz. size and wrapped them with foil papers I got from Foilman.com. Again I designed a label and had them printed on a shiny paper at Kinko’s. I was obsessed with including these even though they were a LOT of work. Luckily they were a HUGE hit and people kept telling me at the wedding how much they loved them, proving to Mr. Cloud it wasn’t a big waste of time after all !)

(It looks like someone really had to resist eating this one.. but you get the idea!)

E. Tobacco Co. Restaurant Match Boxes (Matches from one of our favorite restaurants/bars in downtown Richmond. Free with the hookup from a sorority sister who works there.)

F. 2 Individual Packs of Motrin (Purchased at Staples, and were seen multiple times at our morning-after brunch. People with hangovers were extra thankful.)

G. Richmond/Virginia Information Pamphlets (I started stealing collecting these over a year before the wedding. Welcome centers and rest stops were regularly visited.)

H. Richmond Postcard (Each box got one of the two designs, I got them last minute at Wal-Mart because they had them 5/$1 and I just couldn’t resist.)

I. “Virginia is for Lovers” Bumper Sticker (I realize no one will probably ever put these on their car, but I don’t care because they were free from the welcome center and just fabulous.)

J. MOO Cards (Made with our engagement pictures by the amazing Jessica Oriole Salay of Oriole Photography. The back said “Follow the Newlyweds” and the URL to our newlywed blog.)

K. Welcome booklet (I put these off until the absolute last minute because I just didn’t know where to start, but love the way they turned out. I felt like we had a lot of info to share and in the end I tried to simplify things as much as possible. In case you are as stuck as I was, here is the breakdown of pages. They were printed on cardstock and I used an extra long eyelet in the top left corner so they would “swivel” open (and when I say “I”, I really mean Mr. Cloud, because it’s hard to punch through all that stock). Rounding the corners felt like a really good idea before I started, but 6 pages each times 60 books makes for a sore hand from the rounder punch.

Front Cover : Thank you again Brother Cloud, I wore that little drawing out!
Page One: Welcome note and phone number to Mama Cloud and our Best Man in case anyone needed help.

Page Two : Schedule of events, and info about the shuttle service from the hotel to the Cathedral the day of the wedding.
Page Three : Map I made in Photoshop by literally tracing over a copy of Google Maps. There are lots of one way streets, and if our guests are anything like me in a new city, someone was bound to get lost without help.

Page Four : Restaurants and entertainment ideas we love.
Page Five : Invite to our day-after brunch. The original plan was to send out invites for this as well, but time got the best of us and that never happened. Brother Cloud whipped up a cute little drawing of our pup Bella and it ended up being perfect for this page because since she had stayed in the hotel with us, the staff at the Jefferson let her come to the brunch and wander around the ballroom while people ate!

I did say we had ALMOST everything to reassemble a whole box but there were a few things I am missing in the above picture and list. We also included Virginia “info” pencils I purchased from here, Route 11 potato chips (a VA chip company, which there are none left of because I ate every last one), small bags of trail mix we bought at BJs Wholesale, and lastly, a handful of Hershey Kisses, because you can never have too much chocolate. Surprisingly the boxes weren’t even that heavy considering how much we stuffed in!

Are you doing/did you do OOT boxes for your guests traveling in? What did you include in them?

(All Personal Images)

*If you are looking for gable boxes like we used, but don’t need the 100 minimum most sites sell, I have extras for sale! Head over here to see my listing on the classifieds boards!

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Gents

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Gents

2010-03-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

I would just like to go ahead and put this on record right now: shopping for boys is hard. I started shopping for the bridesmaids not long after we got engaged, but the groomsmen were an entirely different story. Both Mr. Cloud and I were stuck for a long time.

So, we started with the basic groomsmen gift: the flask. We got ours from Things Remembered, and while we got a good deal (I believe we ended up paying about twenty bucks a pop on sale with monogram) I wouldn’t recommend them. The quality was less than I would have liked and we had a lot of drama getting the correct monograms done. As in, we had to go back three times. Granted, it could have just been the location we were dealing with, but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

(Source)

We also tried to be sneaky and find out our groomsmen’s favorite liquors, because you can’t give a flask without something to go in it! When we got down to the wire though, the Mr. and I just started flat-out asking. The fuunny thing about boys is that you can ask them strange but obvious questions and they never even ask why!

For months all we had to give the boys were the flasks. I had this mountain of items for the ladies, but like I said, boys are hard! After a lot of pressure on Mr. Cloud from his freaking out bride, he came up with the BEST IDEA EVER. I have to preface this by saying when we started planning our wedding the one thing I really had my heart set on was the whole celebration really feeling like “us”. I wanted guests to see things and say, “oh, that is so Mr. and Mrs. Cloud!” But like many grooms, there were not a lot of wedding options that really matched his personality. And he didn’t care much, either. My darling hubby knew I had my heart set on a cathedral and ballroom for our venues, neither of which match his laid back personality at all. Up until the point of deciding on this one gift, we were having a very traditional wedding, and Mr. Cloud is far from a traditional guy. Luckily, we found small but significant ways to really put his personality out there, and it all started with a blog post and this picture..

(Source)

Thank you Mrs. Stiletto! My brain gears started turning and I was researching Chuck prices before the Mr. was even home from work. It was sad for me though, as Mr. Cloud doesn’t like Chucks at all! But, he had an even better idea, and something way more his style… Adidas shell toes!

(Personal Image)

Perfect! And could you just die over how cute the ones for our ring bearer are!? So here is the thing about these oh so perfect shoes: they are expensive! The Adidas website has them listed at $65 a pop now (they were $75 when we were looking!) and when you need one pair for the groom, seven groomsmen, and a ring bearer, it adds up fast! I was determined to find a deal and we looked everywhere. For months I did not pass a shoe store without going in to see if they had the Adidas Superstar 2.0 in black with white stripes (they are also sold with a white bottom, which of course were cheaper, but it didn’t look as good with the tuxes). One day in September I walked into the slowest Foot Locker in the city, on one of the last days of the month. I’ve worked in retail long enough to know they were probably trying to hit a quota and I had my fingers crossed they just might be desperate enough to work with me on the price. After talking to the manager and telling him I was prepared to buy nine pairs of shoes on the spot, his eyes lit up and I knew he was going to be flexible. They didn’t have all the sizes we needed in stock but when all was said and done I left with three pairs, and the rest were on their way from various other store locations straight to my front door. We scored free shipping on the ones being sent, as well as the employee and military discount on all pairs (ten bucks for shipping then another THIRTY PERCENT for the discounts)! Their starting price was also lower than the Adidas website so we ended up paying $45 each before tax! You will have to wait just a bit longer to see them in action, but I have to say they were a HUGE hit and looked awesome!

Last but not least, Mr. Cloud went into a local cigar shop and picked up Romeo Y Julieta Cuban cigars. I can tell you nothing about them because I know nothing about cigars, but they matched our color scheme so I was a happy girl.

Here is the look all together, although the liquor varied from person to person and my brother got a larger limited edition bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey for all the extra projects he helped on*. The packaging wasn’t fancy, because after stressing about it Mr. Cloud pointed out that “guys don’t care about that stuff.” Black gift bags were the way to go. On one of my last minute runs I picked up a big pack of black athletic socks and we threw those in too. I didn’t want anyone in ashy black socks (or even white ones!) after we hunted down such awesome shoes!

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Here’s one last tip for brides going the alternate shoe with tux route. The plan all along was to keep the sneakers a surprise and have them wrapped to be given with the rest of the gifts at the rehearsal dinner. But when Mr. Cloud went to his last tux fitting he brought his shell toes with him and it was clear the guys would need them for their fittings, as well. Chucks are flatter and might be different, but the Adidas have a pretty thick sole, so if the pants are hemmed for flat tux shoes, they look a little on the high-water side with the sneakers. Oh, and if you didn’t rent shoes from Men’s Warehouse with our package, it saved the guys $30. Although, when we told the groomsmen about the big shoe switch they were more excited about not having to wear rented shoes than saving money. Apparently tux shoes are really uncomfortable. (I still maintain as women we have it worse… 3 1/2 inch heals anyone? Suck it up with the rented shoes, boys!)

I hope this helps someone who is looking for ideas for gifts for their boys. If they are like our guys they already have everything, so it was a harder task I thought it would be!

Were your groomsmen hard to shop for?

*As a side note, our Junior Groomsman did not get to enjoy the flask/liquor/cigar combo. You know the whole contributing to the delinquency of a minor thing wasn’t the gift we were going for. But he did thoroughly enjoy a his sneakers and a few new games for his Nintendo DS.

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies

2010-03-08T21:24:00.002-05:00

After my traumatizing dental experience I was feeling refreshed and ready to tackle my last few DIY projects (the pain killers also helped to push progress along!) and I knew I had to get some things out of the way before Mama Cloud and my MOH got into town at the beginning of the week. With exactly one week until the wedding, I needed to get the bridal party gifts wrapped and hidden out of the way. Up first were gifts for my girls!

I was so lucky to be surrounded by seven of my closest girlfriends on my wedding day, both college and high school friends, cousins, sorority sisters and my new sister in law. All women who have been there for me through my happiest and hardest times. I didn’t know if I would be able to thank them enough for everything they have done for me both during the wedding planning and before. So for months I felt like Oprah collecting items for her “favorite things” episode. Too bad I’m not absurdly rich or I would have given them cars like she does! Instead I was a poor bride on a budget and they ended up with goodies on a much smaller price scale.

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Sorry for the less than fabulous picture but I was a bride on a time crunch! Since its a little hard to tell what all of that is, let me break it down a bit and tell you how I tried to save some change without sacrificing the quality of what I wanted to give. Up first was the bag, I knew I would go nuts if I didn’t limit myself to what could fit in the bags. Mama Cloud found the perfect bag from Ballard Designs, the Ballard Tote Bag in Medium.

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They come in a variety of colors and sizes with different monogram options, but since most of my gals are single I went with first initial only. This way if they change their last name later the monogram would still work. And I did black with white letters to stick with our wedding colors. They were a huge hit! Mama Cloud is on their mailing list and had codes for free monograms and shipping, score! (Bags =$20.00 each)

Being that our wedding was in November and the ladies would be in short, sleeveless dresses I knew they might be a little chilly. I adore pashminas and have an assortment of colors. You can find these things for $100+ each, but being the cheep-o that I am I just can’t spend that kind of money on a shawl. I normally find the “knock off” versions which are a pashmina/silk blend with a much lighter price tag.

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Cruise ships, airports, and the streets of good old NYC are a great place to buy in bulk. They are available in hundreds of colors, but again I went with black to work with their dresses. Mama Cloud’s good friend picked these up on a cruise for me and got an amazing deal of three for $10! (Pashminas = $3.33 each)

You already know I love me some jammies! Last summer I was browsing Target.com’s clearance section (what, you don’t do that?) and came across the perfect jammies to give my girls. Sorry no individual picture of these but they are hanging over the bag on the left in the top picture. Who knew valentine’s PJs on clearance in August would match everything else so well! A quick Google search for a free shipping code also helped. (Jammies = $7.99 each)

Mrs. Goss posted about these on the blog, after seeing MrsPaetz post about them on the boards. So I was a copycat and went for it and made these gorgeous monogram hangers. So easy and people kept asking where I bought them, love that.

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All I had to buy was a pack of hangers from Ikea. $4.99 for eight and it was meant to be, regardless of the fact that I forgot to tell the girls how to use them so I have no pictures of them in action. (Monogrammed Hangers = $0.62 each)

The shoes I picked out for the girls to wear that were 3 1/2” tall. Flip flops were needed.

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Thank you Old Navy for your variety of colors and discount sales. (Total = $2.50 each)

Last minute I threw in Ms. Manicure emery boards that come in a little carrying case. I bought them at Five Below the day before my root canal while I was procrastinating doing actual wedding tasks. I love these things because they keep my Blackberry from getting scratched up.

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You will love them too. I promise. I’ve also seen them in Target and Urban Outfitters. (Total = $1.00 each)

The splurge item was probably my favorite part. I love Coach bags, which also makes me love Coach Outlet stores. I love even more when they put a good price on fabulous little wristlets.

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Obviously I bought them in black, but this red is so cute I want one of theses now too! Sign up for the Coach Outlet email list and they send coupons for an additional 20% off regularly. (Total = $29.99 each)

After buying so many little things I started to get a crafty urge. One visit to Paper Source and a gocco session later each maid had personalized note cards. I made each different colors and fonts to match their personalities.

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Each got a set of twenty, two packs of A2 envelopes and one pack of A2 flat note cards. I used gocco supplies and inks I already owned. I’m giving an approximate total here because I waited and bought ALL paper products for the wedding at once and took advantage of all Paper Source’s bulk discounts, so the true price is a bit less. (Total = about $10.25 each)

Last but not least, what is in that little red box? Jewelry! I have no knowledge of jewelry making, but I knew what I wanted to do, so I walked into Michaels and asked the woman in the bead section for some help. The supplies were a bit expensive, especially since I wanted nicer pearl beads. So I waited for sales and used coupons one by one to bring the costs down as much as I could. I have no shame, one 40% off coupon a day is the way to go.

(Image of my gorgeous SIL courtesy of Oriole Photography)

It was pretty easy, add to that the pearl earrings I found on eBay it was a perfect set. (Total = $26.50 each give or take a few pennies)

I packed everything up and hid them away in a closet. I literally could not wait to hand them out at the rehearsal dinner. I spent a total of $82.18 per maid, not bad if I do say so myself since I could have easily spent so much more. It also helped a lot that I bought the items and supplies over the course of our year and a half engagement. What did you give your maids and how did you find ways to save?

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown

Up and Away, A Cloudy Wedding : The Tooth And The Breakdown

2010-03-04T19:35:00.001-05:00

I started to be a big slacker before the wedding when it came to posting, so I'm going to have to back up a bit and start my recaps a bit before the wedding fun actually began!

The truth is, about a week before the wedding I was beginning to become unraveled. I had done so much and planned so carefully, I really thought I was going to get through it all with very little stress. But the Friday before our wedding week (also known as the day I embarrassed myself in public as a crazy bride) it became pretty apparent that ‘stress free’ wasn't going to happen. Mama Cloud was going to be in town in a few days to help out on last minute stuff, and that Friday was to be my last day of work until after the honeymoon. My very sweet dental hygienist had also offered me a complementary teeth cleaning which I scheduled for that morning. Nothing says yuck like yellow teeth in a white dress and that was not the look I was going for!

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Also, I had a filling few months prior had that been bothering me, but with all the last minute tasks I hadn't bothered to do anything about it until that appointment. Chewing on the right side of my mouth was clearly no longer important when I had programs to assemble! I casually mentioned the little bit of pain, and the dentist was brought in right away. There was whispering, and looking, and checking of charts and then the news. I needed a root canal immediately. As in that very day! A mere eight days before I was to put on my gorgeous dress, say I do, and take tons of pictures! All I could imagine was a big swollen face on top of my dress. I started to cry, hard. Embarrassing moment numero uno.

I hate to cry in front of people I don't know, especially a hygienist, dentist, and office coordinator who were now all staring at me like I had eight heads and trying to figure out what to do with the hysterical girl. While they were getting me an emergency appointment at an oral surgeon, giving me directions and verifying coverage by my insurance I was crying. As I called my boss to ask for the rest of the day off I continued to cry. Luckily he already knows I can be a little crazy, but that was still pretty embarrassing.

What the hell was my problem? I don't know, I was just overwhelmed. I was supposed to be finishing OOT boxes! I did not have time for a root canal! And I was exhausted. From trying to complete every last item on my to do list, to obsessing over details, to trying to make sure all of our guests were set with travel plans and hotel arrangements. I had completely exhausted myself, and I still had a week to go. Luckily the procedure wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't swell or bleed like I had imagined (does that even happen? probably not), and Mr. Cloud had the day off and could take me to my appointment. But don't think the crying stopped because I had moral support. You guessed it, I cried at the oral surgeon's office too. The Mr. checked me in as I cried to Daddy Cloud on the phone, and the woman behind the front desk gave me a hug when I was leaving because I started crying again then too. Although at that point I feel like I had an excuse, my whole face hurt!

Sure the whole breakdown was ridiculous and embarrassing, but oh so needed. Not only did it make me, and everyone around me realize how much pressure I had put on myself, but I was actually all cried out. I felt strangely refreshed and ready to tackle my last few projects. I even attempted to work on table numbers that night, but after the pain meds wore off the next morning I realized I can not cut a straight line while drugged up so they were a big fail. But fail or not I knew it would get done, and if it didn't that would be ok too. I made a comment about place cards and food choices and Mr Cloud joked that at least I would be able to chew normally at the wedding, and I actually laughed. I decided then and there I was going to enjoy my soon to be hubby, and all the friends and family coming to share the day with us. Hey if I could deal with drilling into my mouth with a week to go, I figured I could deal with anything! Don't get me wrong, I still had my scary moments, I got stressed from time to time, and believe me this was not at all even remotely the most embarrassing moment I experienced leading up to the wedding (don't worry, I promise I will get to that too), but I can honestly say I didn't go bridezilla on anyone. And had it not been for my public breakdowns forcing me to get it together, I think I may have been going down that path. The only regret I have was the kid in the waiting room at my regular dentist who looked like he might have peed his pants when he saw how hard I had been crying. I never aim to traumatize the kiddos.

Anyone else have a major breakdown that helped set them back on track?

What Had Happened Was...

2010-03-02T17:49:00.001-05:00

Oh hi! Remember me?? I know it has been a while, especially since it was now OVER A MONTH ago that I promised to start my recaps. But see then life kinda got in the way! First there was this...

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Then there was this...

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Yep, that’s right! The Cloud’s made a BIG move! We had always talked about wanting to make a move to Massachusetts to settle closer to my family, but we honestly loved Richmond so much it started to be move of a distant plan, that an immediate one. But then one day on a whim Mr. Cloud applied for a new job up here. A few weeks later he flew up for an interview, and literally right after that last post we found out he got the job and decided to move in THREE WEEKS! It seemed like so much time, but it literally flew by. Luckily I have a wonderful aunt with a big basement who offered us free storage and Mama and Daddy Cloud have given us their guest room as we begin the hunt to buy our first home! Don’t think for one moment that I have forgotten about recaps though! Those fabulous DVDs are now safe and sound in my nightstand waiting to make their debut!

Stay tuned, recaps are starting this week – for real this time, and I can’t wait to share our day with you all!!

If My House Was Burning Down...

2010-01-10T22:48:00.001-05:00

...And I could only grab three things (considering of course Mr. Cloud was getting himself out*) I would take

My precious pup, Bella

My childhood Teddy (can I really call it a childhood bear if I still sleep with her??)

And our WEDDING PICTURE DVDS!!!!! Eeeeeekkk!!!

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I can’t tell you how absolutely giddy/excited/ecstatic/downright THRILLED I am to have these babies! All TWELVE OF THEM!! Our photographer Jessica Oriole Salay (of Oriole Photography) must really love me because she gave me a picture of damn near every second that happened that day, and they are AH-MA-ZING!

Bear with me as I still have a few projects and events to cover before I jump into the actual wedding, but trust me I can not wait to share all the details of our day!

*I should also add that my engagement and wedding ring rarely ever leave my finger, so they don’t really count towards my three items :)

All credit for the amazing images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay of Oriole Photography, and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen of Capture.

The Photographer Saves The Day!

2009-12-30T22:05:00.001-05:00

Remember how I said that after we let go of our first photographer we were lucky enough to find another amazing photog with our wedding date available? Well that is not exactly the entire truth. The truth is the amazingly talented photographer only had our date open because prior to us hiring her, she was going to be our guest! Jessica Oriole Salay of Oriole Photography is a good friend and sorority sister of mine and I have been obsessed with her work since we lived across the hall from each other in the dorms as freshman. I know, I know, I should have hired her from the start but after standing by her hubby through multiple deployments (who doesn’t love an Army wife!) and having an adorable baby boy, she and her family finally settled back in Richmond and she officially opened up shop at Oriole Photography a few months AFTER we hired photographer number one. That's what I get for being impatient!!

Fast forward to less than two months before the big day, I had the break up talk with our original photographer, hired Jessica and set a date to have a far more successful engagement shoot than the first. We had cancelled a few times because of weather or Mr. Cloud’s crazy scheduling issues, so even though it was raining on and off all day I was determined to get the pictures done even to the point of risking frizzy hair! Lucky for us Jessica was down and tramped around downtown Richmond with us to get some amazing shots!

In the seven years I have lived in this city, even working for quite a while in the Shockoe Bottom area, I had NEVER been to The Canal Walk! It a little slice of Richmond heaven that runs the north bank of the James River near the flood walls.

Ironically this location actually has a big significance in our relationship even though we had never been there. We met at the end of August in 2004, the same month hurricane Gaston hit. Those very flood walls we held our shoot near were no match for Gaston, leaving some parts of downtown under up to ten feet of water. Since my roommates and I were still young bucks, the fabulous Mr. Cloud braved the storm to buy beer and Jell-O (for shots of course!) for the hurricane party. I’m telling you it was love at first hurricane with us. :)

We were so comfortable with Jessica in fact that we giggled through the whole shoot. We could Not. Shut. Up. It was ridiculous, but so fun. So we ended up with a few shots like this...

Or of Mr. Cloud trying to be a funny guy...

Oriole Photography has a blog to drool over, and Jessica being a gal after my own heart was quick to let me know that quite a few of the pictures would make fabulous headers for a blog!

I love every single one!

And I knew we had made the right decision as soon as we saw these fabulous shots!

Did you fall in love with your photographer (for the first time or like me, all over again) when you got your pictures back from an engagement shoot?

Getting A Little Ahead of Myself

2009-12-29T20:33:00.001-05:00

As I wait for my final discs with our wedding pictures on them, I figure its time to come clean and explain to the hive a pretty big mistake that I made early on which almost risked the beautiful images I am waiting for!

When we first got engaged I wanted to jump head first into planning, I wanted to book vendors and start crafting as soon as possible. We knew right away that we had a fairly long engagement in front of us and even though many vendors wouldn’t even consider talking to me that far out, I knew some would. Photographers in particular tend to book early and I was determined to get someone I liked. The problem with that was that I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't even discovered wedding blogs, never mind the treasure-trove of ideas and knowledge that is Weddingbee! I was too eager to slow down and do my homework, so with Mama Cloud in tow I met with a photographer that had shot a family friend's wedding. Her results were good and she had even managed to capture a candid of Mr. Cloud and I that we had framed and put in our living room. We had a short and sweet meeting with her and hired her within a month of being engaged. I was ecstatic, not over her though, just to feel like I was doing something when it was still too early to be doing much of anything. I made other mistakes at that point too, I bought supplies for projects I never started or didn't fit in, and researched hundreds of ideas that would never pan out. But with the photographer I dropped a heavy deposit and scheduled a date for engagement pictures.

We took the pictures, and they turned out ok, but I had discovered the bee at this point and blogs, lots and lots of photography blogs especially. Secretly I was having regrets, we weren't ‘glowing’ like the soon to be newlyweds that we felt like in our pictures. The whole shoot had been awkward and it came across in the pictures. I tried to brush it off as jitters on our part but truth be told we just weren't clicking with our photog. I'm a chatty gal (haven't you noticed?), and even Mr. Cloud who is normally very shy at first almost always warms up and chats a bit, but during our shoot that never happened. A few weeks later we had a meeting with our videographer and he gave me the best advice I have ever received when it comes to choosing vendors, "on your wedding day you only have to like a few people, your fiancé, your planner, your videographer, and your photographer. Those are the people that are going to be in your face, you have to like them". Shit. Its not that I didn't like her, I just didn't LOVE her. I was worried.

After many conversations with friends, family, and other bees we knew what we had to do, it was time to break up with our photographer. Breaking up is hard to do, and a vendor is no exception but it was the best decision I have made yet. Yes, we ate our deposit which hurt, but in the end I'm looking at every single one of those pennies as worth it for my piece of mind. We were lucky enough to find an amazing photographer with our date open as a replacement as well, someone we love and really click with.

I went back and forth on the decision to let our original photog go for over 20 months before following my instincts. Finally I trusted the bees who wisely told me I would be better off to have an awkward break up conversation than be writing a post about regrets.

Did you make any mistakes or have any regrets about early planning?

Choppity Chop Chop Chop!

2009-12-09T18:16:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of hair. That's really all there is too it. It’s thick and large and in charge, causing me to constantly battle the poof with flat irons (love my chi!) or a multitude of styling products. Because there is so much of it, when it gets long it can take in excess of an hour or two to blow-dry and style. I rarely let it grow too long before I go in for a chop to keep it at a more manageable length. But for the last year and a half I have been growing it out to wear it long and curled for the wedding. Now that the wedding has come and gone I am OVER-IT! So bright eyed and bushy tailed early this morning I walked into my local salon for the big post wedding chop.

The famous before picture (poor Mr. Cloud works nights right now and I made him wake up early to take this on his camera phone, super smart me forgot to charge the camera battery so I apologize for the quality..)

Almost TWELVE inches later I feel like a new woman!

I was so excited when my stylist (Meredith at Red Salon Organics in the fan in Richmond for anyone who is looking – she is amazing!) told me I had enough to donate! I had heard different things about Locks of Love and other places no longer accepting, but she recommended the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program. They are not only still accepting donations, but their minimum is only 8 inches compared to the 10 or 12 other programs require. I will be sending my creepy looking ponytail of extra hair out in the mail this week. Its nice to think all my suffering through dealing with my ridiculously long and heavy hair will go to good use!

Are you growing your hair out for your wedding and planning on donating it later?

A Love Story: A Bride And Her Coordinator

2009-11-19T00:54:00.001-05:00

When this whole wedding planning shennanigans started Mama Cloud and I decided that we were going to go it alone, just me and her on a big fat planning adventure. I like to think I’m pretty resourceful and persuasive when I want to be and Mama Cloud is the most downright organized person I’ve ever encountered. I figured between the two of us we would have this wedding locked down and ready to go in no time. Trouble is, like mother like daughter, we are also both very emotional and very excited ladies. Emotional as in the tears come quick when we get upset, and excited like we have so many ideas and want to start making things happen quickly before thinking it all through (ok, I’m way worse than she is at both of these but that is not the point..). It wasn’t far into our twenty one month journey (I’m sorry but I still cannot believe it was TWENTY ONE months, it seems like an eternity!) it was obvious that we were going to need some help, if not only just on the big day.

Enter Windy Jennings of Weddings By Windy (aka lifesaver and wedding goddess extraordinaire!) I really cannot say enough about this woman, if I were to write a review on her with a rating system it would be an A with so many plus signs afterward you would think she was paying me to say it (which of course she’s not, I just love her that much). She not only made me love her but also made me realize the value and importance of having a planner or coordinator for your wedding. We used Windy for her “partial coordination” package even though we set out looking for just day of services. I didn’t even know there was a middle level between DOCs and the whole shebang, but it turns out a lot of coordinators offer personalized packages to handle whatever small or large tasks you need help with. For an overly emotional gal like myself this came in very handy when the tea room where I had signed a contract with to have my bridesmaid’s luncheon decided to go out of business without telling me, I got a very calm email from Windy letting me know she had seen the notice on their site and was already contacting them, oh and to make it that much better she had a few places already thought out that might work instead. Emotional bride over here would have been bawling her eyes out and screaming her head off if I had found the notice myself. Never mind the HUGE crisis that was averted at the wedding when I forgot to wear my garter and decided to just forget the whole toss completely. Little did I know that Mr. Cloud had big plans for the garter toss, and if someone did not go to my room and get it I would be ruining months of his planning. Windy, cool as a cucumber, responded that I should really have someone go get it because I wouldn’t want to regret missing the tradition and never once hinted what a frenzy I was sending everyone into (I know, I am being very vague about the huge surprise, but I have to save something for recaps people!)

My point is, be it big or small a planner just might save your day (and sanity) in similar ways and highly encourage every bride to be to find a planner to become your BFF at least for the day like Windy had to become mine for a few weeks (whether she liked it or not :)). Mama Cloud and I still agree that working a planner into the budget, even when we still didn’t want to admit we really needed one, is the best decision we ever made. Because really, the church lady just might not bother to fluff your veil right before you walk down the aisle, and more than any other day you need someone on your side fighting for your vision, or at least giving you a little fluff.

Holy Moly! The Clouds Got Married!!

2009-11-17T23:56:00.001-05:00

I’m BAAACK! And I have an extra little ring on my left ring finger! That can only mean one thing of course… WE GOT HITCHED!! Its funny after all the planning, all the projects, all the time that is spent leading up to the wedding, you still never really know what it is going to be like. I had no clue what it was going to FEEL like until it was happening, or what it was going to look like until I got to see it all. And I have to say after all of the obsessing I did about how everything would turn out it was nothing like I expected, it was way, way BETTER!

Sure I still had a melt down here and there, like when everyone took off to the rehearsal and I was left at the hotel alone with no valet ticket, and the ever important flowers weren’t what I really wanted. But a kind valet man took pity on a crying bride and hunted my car down, and even though the flowers were wrong I have to admit they were still gorgeous and I was really the only one who knew. But those little things were worth it for the good stuff, and there was lots and lots of good stuff. Endless surprises from my groom, tear-filled dances with Daddy Cloud, seeing Mama Cloud with the biggest smile on her face looking more stunning than I have ever seen, and then there was the love. The love from all of our friends and family who I feel like finally got to enter the wedding bubble I had been living in for so long. And the love between my now husband and I that caused us both to have tears in our eyes most of the day. I have never seen and felt so much love in my whole life and I know I will carry that with me for a long time.

The problem is, everything was too perfect and by the time we were on day two of our honeymoon I was starting to feel a little bit of PWD. Mrs. Lab and I hit the wall at about the same time, but ironically for very different reasons. Here I had just had the greatest day of my entire life where everything was so close to perfect and was spending the week on a beach with my amazing husband, but I couldn’t help but feel a little lost, and worried. How could we ever top such a great day, and by god what would I do with all the spare time I would have now that I had no wedding crafts!!?? It gets a little better every day though, getting texts from the Mr. that say “I have a wedding ring on, that’s so cool!” during both of our first days back at work today doesn’t hurt either. And then last night I got just the news I needed, my fabulous MOH is engaged!! Lucky for me she is just as in love with weddings as I am so we get to dive right into inspiration and details!

For now I will leave you with a little teaser that I received from our amazingly talented photographer Jessica Salay of Oriole Photography. I have much much more to share while I wait for the rest of our pictures, so sit tight because I have a lot of time to fill with blogging instead of crafting!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T22:36:00.001-04:00

We take Weddingbee and being a bee very seriously over here in the Cloud house. So you can only guess what our fur baby Bella will be dressed as for Halloween this year!!!

I hope everyone has a fabulously spooky day, as for me I will be plugging away at the last minute wedding projects since my countdown to being a Mrs. moves into the SINGLE digits! Yikes!!

Is anyone else skipping Halloween festivities to knock some items off their to-do list?

I Heart A Little Orange Machine

2009-10-27T12:59:00.001-04:00

I have always been a big fan of paper; paper products, paper crafts, anything to do with paper! My neighbor growing up had a drawer in her basement that was filled with scraps of anything from construction paper to scrap booking scraps and anytime I complained of being bored Mama Cloud would send me over looking for a project.

It’s no surprise when we got engaged that I immediately had visions of paper projects dancing through my head. And what did I need to complete all of these fabulous projects? A gocco of course! I searched for weeks for a new PG-5 model at a reasonable price, this was right after it was announced that no more supplies would be manufactured and new machines were going for over $500 on eBay! I was not that desperate! I called North Wood Studios on a whim, knowing they would probably be out of stock (they now are completely out of all supplies as well) and to my surprise there was ONE left! It was meant to be. A week later I was a proud new gocco owner and have since done a number of small projects to perfect my skills. But this past weekend was the gocco weekend to end all gocco weekends. I decided all the projects I had planned on doing needed to be knocked out.

Up first: napkins. I've wanted custom napkins since I saw Mrs. Cream Puff's forever ago. I decided not to do random facts (they will show up elsewhere though) just for the sake of my sanity. Instead we went with our new married monogram. 999 napkins to be exact (I accidentally tore one when opening a package to ruin the perfect thousand). Over ordering much? I didn't want to risk running out and it really didn't seem like that many until they were everywhere! Luckily Mr. Cloud was home to be my liner-upper making the whole process much faster!

This was round two, we did half at a time and this is only two of many covered surfaces.. they really were everywhere..

Next were our thank you notes. This is a Mrs. Cream Puff spin off too, even though I have a huge paper love I also realize how much we are really wasting for the wedding. What better way to combat that at least a little bit? Plantable paper! I purchased the paper in large sheets from Green Field Paper, and cut them down to 4 bar size cards. Granted I haven't tried to plant any, but truth be told I kill all plants, so me trying to grow something probably wouldn't be a good judge of the paper's ability. But I love the way they look, and matched up with pretty green envelopes from Paper Source is perfection!

It took a LOT of cutting..

Good thing I have tivo’d General Hospital to entertain me while I gocco! Oh, you wanted to see the end result? I have too keep SOME surprises for the guests who might stumble over here!

We did a few other projects but they just might be a little gift or two for a few people who tend to peak in on Weddingbee from time to time so you will have to wait for another post to peak at them too!

What is your favorite-have-to-have crafting tool?

Brother Cloud = Slave Labor

2009-10-25T22:43:00.001-04:00

When I had my first stress moment about the wedding (and when I say stress moment of course I really mean complete and utter major freak out with tears and screaming) my fabulous family stepped up as always. They are pretty awesome like that, Mama Cloud does whatever she can, Daddy Cloud knows how to calm me down, and even Brother Cloud has words of support. Well when he offered to do whatever I needed, I don't think my dear brother had any clue what he was getting himself into.

Brother Cloud has been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. I can draw a mean stick figure, but its pretty obvious where the family talent went to. So when I decided that I HAD TO HAVE cartoon characters of Mr. Cloud and myself for various wedding projects he was my obvious choice, after all he did offer! Well after about 700 drafts I finally had a final picture. I'm not even kidding, I was a rough client, I kept saying no change this or that and at one point I even made him start over completely in a new style. Its a good thing we are related, or he would probably not be speaking to me anymore!

You are just going to have to wait to see how and where these little guys are being used, but I promise they will not disappoint!

Did you force any of your relatives into wedding slave labor?

Making It (Almost) Legal

2009-10-20T11:58:00.001-04:00

We had a few moments of free time the other day, which is rare for us working complete opposite work schedules most days, so we decided to take a little trip down to the court house and take care of one little to-do we had almost forgotten about! Our marriage license!

I’m not kidding, we really almost forgot all about this very important little step! Turns out in Virginia it’s pretty easy, all it takes is your drivers license and thirty bucks (more if you need extra copies). We were in and out in thirty minutes, it would have taken less time but there were a few couples before us. Now we just have our priest sign it after the ceremony, and we will officially be hitched! All this complicated planning, and who knew it was so easy to do the legal stuff?

Have you gotten your marriage license yet? Was it an easy process?

What’s The Big Deal About A Name Anyway?

2009-10-14T18:46:00.001-04:00

I always assumed I would change my name when I got married. It was a pretty simple idea, in theory of course. But the thing is I fell in love with Mr. Cloud, who instead of having a simple and easy to pronounce last name like my maiden name, has a difficult last name that is not only very often mispronounced and misspelled, but if you say it quick enough, it sounds like a bodily function (trust me and use your imagination on this one, it’s not so good). I could already see my future children being teased to tears on the playground.

I had a few big factors to consider when deciding if I would go ahead and embrace the new name or not. First my heart broke a little to think that if I did change my name, in a way I would no longer be me. I felt like giving up my maiden name would be giving up who I have been for the past 25 years, and letting go of a piece of my family. A family that is not only large and in charge, but whom I am also very very close to. I know deep down my name doesn’t really change who I am, but still it was bothering me. I’m connected to my last name, and my initials. I wasn’t really sure I could let them go.

The second thing to consider that Mr. Cloud’s last name isn’t just something he was born with, it was something he also chose. When the Mr. was five FMIL Cloud married his stepfather, FFIL Cloud. Then while Mr. Cloud was in high school his stepfather, who is the only dad he has ever known was finally able to officially adopt both him and FSIL Cloud. Both Mr. Cloud and his sister decided they wanted to change their last names to FFIL Cloud’s. If a sixteen year old Mr. Cloud can let go of a very common last name to take on one that means so much, how can I now say I don’t like it enough to do the same?

Call me old fashioned, but I also had this other little fact gnawing in the back of my mind. Remember those imaginary future kids who I am so worried about being teased? I want them to have the same name as me and Mr. Cloud. And since Mr. Cloud was not willing to make another name change on his part and take my maiden name (because you know I asked!) the only way it’s going to happen is if I embrace the change on my end. Can you see where this is going? I’m giving in and taking my future hubby’s last name. Thanks to my maid of honor wanting to buy me something with my new monogram on it months ago and forcing me into a decision, I’ve even had some time to get used to the idea. And in an effort to get to the embracing stage (and of course add another unneeded craft to my list) I decided to make chair signs for our seats at the reception. It’s funny how a little crafting can make it all seem so official!

Imagine these on beautiful black chiavari chairs instead of my dining room table set which has also now been taken over with wedding crap. And again sorry about the scribbles, gotta keep the stalkers away ya know? :)

Did you have a name change dilemma or was it an obvious choice?

Our Biggest Project Yet: It’s Program Time!

2009-10-07T23:04:00.001-04:00

I need to start by apologizing for my disappearance. After getting over the flu Mama Cloud flew in for a long weekend of appointments, running around, and turning my apartment into a hot mess of wedding craftiness. In the end we made a MAJOR dent into the never ending to-do list. I have lots and lots to share (and of course never enough time to sit down and actually write about it) but I am so excited to share my favorite project to date, the programs!

I'm being incredibly unoriginal here, if you've been stalking Weddingbee (and the archives) for as long as I have you have probably stumbled over the beautiful programs by Mrs. Tiramisu, Mrs. Eggplant, and Mrs. Emerald. I saw the big ribbon on Tiramisu's and was immediately interested. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put that much work into the whole thing, until a friend who was married a few years ago in the same cathedral warned me of their program requirements. I've talked about them before, and they are no joke. Nothing that was going to fit on a single page and make my life easy either. I tried to come up with an original plan of my own, I really did, but I just kept going back to being a copycat,imitation is the best form of flattery after all!

So we printed, goccoed, cut, scored, assembled, and tied until our fingers were numb and I could not be more pleased with the result! All the paper is from Paper Source, and we ordered ribbon in bulk for this and a few other projects from Paper Mart. Black cover stock goccoed with white ink made for what I thought would be an easy cover. Not so much, turns out white gocco ink hates me. Luckily that was the hardest part of the whole project, and with a little extra force on my presses its not crisp white print, but has a vintage-y look to it. Yeah our wedding has no vintage vibe going on, but I've decided to move past that and love them anyway!

Mama Clouds fingers are probably still bleeding from these bad boys, but the bow just really makes the whole thing!

(The blurring makes me so sad)

I wanted to do a vellum page first, but time was not on my side, meaning I forgot to order the vellum and wanted to get them done, so it got skipped and its just our silly mugs up first.

(The photo is courtesy of our photographer Heather, from Dolphin Dance Photography, I love it, and you can’t even tell we were sweating like pigs on a 100 degree day!)

Next is the wedding party. I really wanted to include everyone who would be involved in the ceremony so I tried to fit in as many as I could. And when I printed the pages, I hadn't even asked two of our three readers, luckily when I did ask them yesterday they said yes!

(Please ignore the pathetic picture quality here, my battery was dying and the wedding bomb in my living room has eaten the charger..)

The next few pages were all the required information from the cathedral. The whole mass and ceremony laid out in black and white. When I showed Mr. Cloud the first copy he decided that made the whole thing more real, I guess the ring, invitations, and million other wedding things we have done weren't enough! :)

One more page for the ceremony and then the page that is the most special to us, a list of the loved ones we wish were still with us to celebrate. It includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and one of my sorority sisters; all people we know would have enjoyed our day as much as we will! I searched everywhere for the perfect wording online and finally came up with this:

“For those loved ones who could not be with us today, we cherish your memory, and know that you are smiling down on this blessed event.”

We did a thank you to everyone for all of their love and support and a page about the reception and information about transportation on the last set of pages. I figure if they are like me and never remember the invitation so they don’t know where to go next this will be helpful.

Absolutely last was a quote from my favorite poems, i carry your heart by ee cummings. I first read this poem in college shortly after Mr. Cloud and I had become serious, but were still doing the long distance thing. It seemed so fitting at the time and is still true now. We even tried to have "i carry your heart" and "i carry it in my heart" engraved in our wedding bands, but my freakishly skinny fingers messed that plan up. I was very happy to get at least part of the poem in somewhere!

Twelve pages later and our labor of love is complete! I always want to know how many people make, so in case you are curious we did 132 and are expecting a little under 200 guests. Random number, I know but I messed up the trimming on 8 pages and didn't have complete sets, whoops!

What did you do for programs, if any? Are your copy catting like me, or being original?

Yeah, I’m STILL Talking About Cake

2009-10-02T01:20:00.001-04:00

Yes, I realize this is starting to get a little bit ridiculous. I went over and over and over what I wanted it to look like, and finally settled on something I love. That should be it, right? Not so much. I blame the fabulous Mrs. Cupcake for this one.

Here I was all settled with my cake decisions, and then I got the flu. Not the swine thankfully just the regular old can’t do anything but eat soup and sit on the couch kind. (Ironically every time I tell someone I had the flu last week the first question is if it was h1n1 and the second question was if I licked any wedding envelopes. For the record, I didn’t do that either but that is not at all the point to my story..) So I have the flu, and I’m super bored chillin’ on my couch. What’s a girl to do other than read back on some of her favorite Weddingbee archives? Well I have always been a huge fan of Mrs. Cupcake’s wedding and all of her glorious details. I’m not sure how I missed this one the first time, but I saw the following picture again recently and was officially obsessed.

Turns out I missed the whole cake flag revolution all together. Because now that I am actually looking for them they are everywhere. Off I go to Weddingbee PRO to get more ideas for my perfect little flags and I fall on to this:

These are Melody’s from the Sweet and Saucy Shop, and were just what I was looking for! I went with red paper for mine, and wanted white ink (and any excuse to bust out the gocco of course). I punched them out with a 1 1/2” circle punch, ran them through the xyron and used toothpicks we already had in our pantry. Easy peezy, and the best part was that I had to make brownies to “test” them out in!I did use Mrs. Cupcake’s “Love is Sweet” but it’s just too perfect, I couldn’t think of anything better. I considered our monogram for the back, but just went simple with the wedding date. I’m in love even if they will end up in the trashcan. Oh, and I do find peace in the fact that they match the raspberry filling of the cake, even if I am the absolute only one who notices. :]

Were there any DIY projects you fell in love with last minute and had to tack on?

Most Adorable Flower Girl & Ring Bearer EVER: Check!

2009-09-24T21:57:00.001-04:00

My parents lived in the same house for most of my life, up until a few years ago when they moved back to Massachusetts. When you live somewhere for that long there is a good chance that your neighbors become more like family. We were no exception and I grew up with a pseudo big sister who is about six years older then me. I'm pretty sure she was still in high school when I informed her for the first time that I was going to eventually need both a flower girl and ring bearer for my wedding and I was counting on her to make that happen. She always just laughed at me, especially when I told her husband of this request on their wedding day. Sure enough, three years ago they had a little girl who I absolutely adore. And then less than two years ago they rounded it off with a bouncing baby boy who I also fell in love with at first sight.

Our ring bearer (who we will call little man, because he really does look like a little man!) is still pretty young, he will be only 20 months on the big day. People started warning me early on, here we are having an adult only affair and I was expecting a BABY to go down the aisle. But I was determined, my two favorite kiddos were going to be there. And I just knew little man would be walking, quite well even, down the aisle (we had a pep talk when he was a few months old, I took his silence as an agreement that he would be good to go). Well what do you know, he is a little walking fool. My big sister and her husband both had him practicing in shoes early so he's a pro now. And he looks pretty freakin fantastic in his tux if I do say so myself. Yes, he is 18 months now but built like a three year old.

The princess is old enough to understand what's going on with this whole wedding thing, or at least know that she gets to wear a pretty dress and carry some flowers. Every time I see her she whispers in my ear her most fantastic little secret: “I’m going to be a flower girl in your wedding and wear a dress like you!” Trust me, you could just melt! Her dress just came in and you can tell by the pictures she is smitten!

The dress was ordered from The Briar Patch, and they are HIGHLY recommended! If you have kiddos in your wedding, you know how difficult it can be to pull their ensembles together. I had decided early on what I wanted them to wear, but we couldn’t order because who knew what size they would be! Even three months out when we were seriously looking, sizing was an issue. But the folks at The Briar Patch were super helpful, shipping was quick, and the price was right! I really wasn’t into asking her parents to spend a fortune on a dress she will only wear once and then grow quickly out of.

Oh and her shoes? You can see them peaking just a bit, but I was not going to steer my girl wrong, if I am going to wear some killer red shoes, so is she!

AHH! I love them!! A little bargain at Target makes her flower girl debut PERFECT!!

Do you have any little ones in your wedding? What are they wearing?

**All images are from my fabulous pseudo big sis, please excuse the camera phone quality. We work with what we’ve got :)

A Party For A Gal Who Hates Surprises

2009-09-21T23:51:00.001-04:00

By the time I was ready to get in the car and make the ride to Baltimore MD for my bachelorette party I was officially going stir crazy. I love surprises but only as long as I am the one giving them, or at least in on it. I hate hate HATE not knowing what's up. So it was a pretty big thing for me to have known something was coming since I received that super cute invitation, but not know what to expect. The weekend couldn’t have come at a better time, after a stressful week I was ready to have a great time with my favorite ladies. And they really outdid themselves.

I was greeted by a hotel decorated with everything we would need to enjoy the weekend in style. And let me tell you, I was SUPRISED!!

WE HAD TICKETS TO THE RED SOX/BALTIMORE GAME!!! I was beyond excited! Normally Mr. Cloud and I make it to at least a few Red Sox games every year (we even got to go to game one of the world series in 2007!), but due to the little money sucking thing we call a wedding we have yet go be to even one this season. Besides being super excited I was also downright shocked that everyone managed to keep the secret because damn near everyone in my life knew, even the Mr. who is notorious for his big mouth! We spent the evening in our awesome baseball tees (the backs said TEAM “NEW LAST NAME” 09!), drinking some tasty beverages first at the bar across the street, then on very excitedly to the ballpark. It’s no Fenway, but Camden Yards isn’t bad, especially when I got to show off the solved mystery of why I needed those white sneakers. We played nice with their mascot even though the Sox won, and finally took a picture with our favorite cotton candy guy!

After the game another bar trip was needed with a full photo shoot of course. Sunglasses were brought out because I decided that we were pretty bad ass, and as we all know the sun never sets on a badass. Oh and on the walk home we had to stop and take even more pictures with random “art” structures. Everyone does that, right?

The next morning was just as fun not only because there were more matching t-shirts (LOVE it!) but there was also a very yummy brunch involved (mmmm bloody marys nom nom nom! Yeah I took a picture it was THAT good). Something I was not prepared for were the random screams of congratulations as we walked down the street. My lovely ladies would say thank you because I was oblivious they were talking to me for a while, oh yeah that's right my shirt says “Bride” and I am being followed buy a super hot mafia of maids. I have no pictures of our the wonderful pedicures we had that afternoon though, we needed to forget the cameras and instead nurse the hangovers to prepare for the night to come.

We got ourselves all dolled up for the night on the town. But as one last surprise I got to open some very cute gifts from my girls. Knowing me as well as they do, and that my life revolves around eating yummy foods as much as possible we had a delicious dinner with lots of wine and then hit the bars. I even ran into another bride-to-be who happened to be a reader! All weekend people were yelling “hey bride” at me getting ignored because I’m oblivious, but she said “Miss Cloud” and got my attention right away! I didn’t even catch her name, I blame the wine and the fact that I was excited to meet someone who shared some of my Weddingbee love! By last call I was a sad girl, I did not want my weekend to be over (my fabulous cousin did not get the sad face for the picture memo however haha!). It was such a great time, I was not ready to go home!

I’m going to go ahead and put this on record saying last weekend will go down as one of the best of my entire life! All but two of my maids (who were both incredibly missed!!) were able to make it and they all took time out of their crazy busy lives to spend my “last fling” with me. I am still overwhelmed by them and all their love and support. And of course a HUGE shout out to my fabulous MOH who put her blood sweat and tears into planning the whole shebang. She is one crafty gal and hopefully I will be recapping details of HER wedding in the not too distant future (hinthintcoughcough to her boyfriend!)

Ok, now I want to hear all about your last fling! Were you wild and crazy or tamer old ladies like us? Anyone else still overwhelmed by the love their friends dish out as the wedding gets closer?

Cake! Cake! Cake!! Nom Nom Nom...

2009-09-16T23:19:00.001-04:00

If you remember I was all over the place looking at cakes. And I have been stressing about this little decision for far too long now. It was time to buckle down, make a decision, and let it go (which has really become the theme of all of my decisions these days actually).

I pulled up the now very large wedding folder on my computer, clicked on the "cakes" subfolder and was determined to make a decision. No more searching the knot, weddingbee bios, or even the wiki. I had close to a hundred cakes saved already that I liked, I needed to choose one and be done with it.

Sure enough, it was right there and had been there all along. Originally saved back in May of LAST YEAR.

[Source]

She's beautiful, simple with just a bit of detail, and just what I wanted. I'm kicking myself for saving all of those pictures over and over and never bothering to go back to the beginning. Oh well, I'm moving on to the next decisions to be made.

Did you stress about any decisions to only go back and pick what you liked from the beginning?

My Dog Ate My Program…

2009-09-14T23:19:00.002-04:00

In an attempt to get ahead on some wedding tasks, I decided to take advantage of a weekend off of work and get started on our programs. The cathedral we are getting married in has been pretty relaxed on most things, but the program is another story. It’s pretty non-negotiable, we were given a template of information that had to be included, a four page booklet to be exact. I had already decided the design I wanted to go with, but had really been dreading sitting down to type it all up. But being a good little bride I went ahead and started knocking it out. I stopped with about a page and a half to go, and mistakenly left the template we were given on the coffee table. The coffee table that our fur baby can easily reach. Who knew church paper tasted so good.

She’s not normally this destructive I swear. She normally just plays hide and seek with things, but no not this time!

She looks pretty innocent with that bed head face of hers… She would get in a lot more trouble if she wasn’t so darn cute!

All that’s left, notice how ALL of the info I need from the last page is completely gone!

I wrote a very embarrassing email explaining the situation and why I only needed the last half to the cathedral coordinator. He was very helpful and understanding and I hope he only laughed a little bit.

This is what I get when I try to tackle a big project. Did anyone else run into an unusual setback when trying to tackle some DIY??

Details, Details for Mama Cloud!

2009-09-09T22:44:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows that after the bride, the mothers of the bride and groom have the biggest task when picking out what they are going to wear. Well at least everyone involved in our wedding knows that. The bridesmaids were a piece of cake, and the boys are in tuxes, simple simple. But in Mama Cloud’s case in particular we have been going back and forth on details for a while. In fact, she purchased a total of FOUR dresses that she thought might be the one (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree I guess). One of them did turn out to be perfect. It is stunning on her, and you can just tell she feels good in it too. The dress has already been handed over for alterations, and we didn’t manage to get any good pictures before it went, but I did track a picture down of something that was very similar. Just imagine this in a beautiful blue-green color instead of chocolate brown, and at the side where the gathering meets a pretty silvery broach. Trust, it is gorgeous.

[source]

Perfect dress, check. Now accessories are needed and we are stuck. We both even go back and forth on jewelry, smaller earrings and a necklace, or maybe just bold earrings? Decisions, decisions! So we are tackling the search for a purse first. At first she was thinking a small clutch she could pin her corsage to, but after looking for a bit she kept going back to harder more case-like clutches (obviously I have never in my life studied fashion, and I apologize since I’m sure this style clutch has a better name then “harder, case like”!). After a lot of searching Mama Cloud narrowed it down to the five following contenders and along with the links she had said these were her qualifications:
“Please remember to look at silver on all, I want shiny, not flat or matte. The size is important, I want it to be small in my hand, I have always thought I would like to have a hard type case, I have been looking for years, not in the right places, not knowing what it was called. I would like a good size opening, I think they all have one.”

[source]

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What do you think, which is your fav? Or have you seen something else somewhere that you think would be perfect. Mama Cloud and I could use all the opinions we can get!!

Poll-
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4
Option 5
Other (comment below!)

Didn’t You Know Getting Married Is A Good Reason To Buy 100 New Dresses?

2009-09-07T00:23:00.001-04:00

If you are like me you have been following (and drooling endlessly over) Mrs. Powder Puff’s gorgeous recaps. And in case you missed it, her bridesmaids had some ridiculously awesome dresses. So when I realized I needed yet another dress (not that I am complaining of course) for the bridal tea I will be having the day before the wedding, Mrs. Powder Puff’s girls were there with the perfect solution. About a week ago I ordered Anthropologie’s Behind the Clouds dress. If the name isn’t a sign then I just don’t know what is…

[source]

It came in this week and is absolutely perfect. It has since sold out in the green color, but is still available in dark grey. If anyone is looking for a cute and flattering dress I highly recommend it.

This brings my dress total (not including the big white one that will steal the show) to a whopping TEN!! Five were for three showers (two dresses didn’t end up working out), one for the rehearsal which I am again second guessing, this one for the bridal tea and three for the honeymoon. My name is Miss Cloud, and I have a dress shopping addiction…

Is anyone else stock piling dresses like this? I can’t be alone in my addiction, can I??

Invitations: What I Would Have Done Differently

2009-08-31T00:46:00.002-04:00

I want to start by saying that I still absolutely adore my invitations. They turned out just the way I hoped, and the response from our guests over them has been better than I could have imagined. With that being said however, hindsight is always 20/20. I started looking at invites before I had even found Weddingbee, or the endless supply of wedding blogs and their invite inspiration. I didn't know what Etsy was, and had only browsed on The Knot a few times before giving up hope and thinking I would need to look and feel things before ordering. Even after discovering all these things, I still went ahead with my final order. I wanted Mama Cloud to be involved in the process and sitting in a store doing it made it possible. It actually wasn't until Miss Gloss posted about her gorgeous DIY invites that I started to have second thoughts. Up until those bad boys went into the mail and I received such great feedback, I borderline hated them (talk about needing reassurance from others). So what would I have done a bit differently if I could go back?

At least considered going the DIY or partial DIY route
I'm making all of the other paper products for the wedding and I own a gocco, so why didn't I even entertain this idea? I don't know, honestly it really never seemed like an option mostly because I was so set on letterpress. But if I had done my homework I would have known I could have tried to find an Etsy seller to press my own design (and saved a small fortune). I also might have found out sooner that the incredibly amazing art school here in Richmond also has an incredibly amazing letterpress studio in it and sometimes students can be commissioned to print things (also saving some moolah). Time is normally a factor in DIY of course, but for real, I was still a year and a half out. I had nothing but time.

I would have shopped around for better prices.
I found the suite I wanted at one store and ordered directly from them. I never thought to look and see if I could find the same thing online cheaper, or even at a different stationary store. These things were not cheap, and I have a LOT of regret about that. Every time I'm trying to cut a few pennies now makes me kick myself for the carelessness I had when spending on the invites.

Getting feedback from previous brides before picking a calligrapher
Even knowing all of my options, I went ahead with a local calligrapher anyway. I had a bad feeling about the situation after our first meeting, but brushed it off as being nervous about handing over my invites to a stranger. She was late for our meeting and didn't seem concerned when I expressed that I was trying to save some money. We agreed on a certain style with a small extra fee to have everything centered, including zip codes on the bottom line. I won't go into details, but I work in customer service as a profession, so I might have high standards of what I expect but I ended up becoming very disappointed very quickly. When I got them back the quality was not what we had discussed and only a few invitations had the zip code placed and centered correctly. Not a huge deal in the large scheme of things, but I didn't notice this until after I had paid her (including the extra 25 cents per envelope for those stupid zip codes). I know they aren't terrible, some days I almost even like them. But when I started asking around, other brides had similar experiences. If I had dug deeper in the beginning, I would have known the hassle of sending them off would have beat the hassle I dealt with.

I hate the post office.
I'm not sure what could have been done differently, but I'm still upset about the whole thing. We knew the envelopes would be more expensive to mail then normal, but after having them weighed multiple times at multiple post offices, we ended up with a different price every single time. Not a few cents different, but anywhere from .92 to 1.98! That's a big margin of error when you’re mailing 128 of them!! Finally we got consistent responses of .96 and decided to go with two cake stamps to total 1.22 each. But again, when Mama and Daddy Cloud went to hand cancel them, the guy told them a different price. Daddy Cloud made the executive decision to throw one extra ring stamp on each and call it a day. I don't even want to know what the REAL price was anymore, and how much money we wasted being safe.

So there they are, my little list of "coulda-woulda-shoulda". Nothing enough to keep me awake at night, but still enough to irk me in the back of my mind. Anyone else have things they would have changed or done differently or still bother them even after the invites went out?

Invitations: FINALLY!

2009-08-31T00:21:00.005-04:00

I haven't written any posts with tons and tons of beautiful pictures of what I might want our invites to look like. I also haven't been stalking Etsy for the most stunning designs, or even playing in Adobe trying to make my own. In fact I haven't thought about our invites in over six months. Why? Am I a crazy bride who is leaving this very important piece of planning to the last minute? Nope! In fact our invites have been sitting pretty in my dining room begging to be stuffed and sealed since February! And finally, FINALLY after all the months of waiting and anticipation they are in the mail and have been received by most of our guests. So without further ado, its time for their Weddingbee debut!!

It kills me to blur out all the pretty print :(

We ordered our William Arthur invites from a local store here in Richmond. Mama Cloud and I started looking at invitations over a year ago while she was in town visiting. The only criteria we had was simple, yet traditional and elegant and we had to have letterpress (I was a pretty big snob about he letterpress at the time too. The sales girl showed me things that were very nice but weren't pressed and I didn't even want to entertain them. I was just stuck and felt like I HAD TO HAVE IT). When we saw this suite the first time we went right by it. Our colors are black, white and red the ivory wouldn't fit at all. But I thought about it and couldn't get the weight and feel of the paper out of my head.

Trust me, they just FEEL good!

By the time we sat down to place an order I don't think either of us even really looked at anything else. These were just screaming everything I wanted people to expect of our wedding.

Picking them up was my first big "this is it" moment. Seeing our date and names printed out like that just made the whole wedding more real. There was no turning back now!

Daddy Cloud hand cancelled every last one, and Mama Cloud amused me by taking pictures. Yes, they think I’m nuts.

Overall, the invite itself is pretty simple and straight forward. There are both outer and inner envelopes, the main invite, an R.S.V.P. card and envelope, and a reception card that also included our wedding website address for more information.

Did you knock out invitations early? Was the decision easy or hard?

I’ll Try Anything Once

2009-08-23T21:12:00.001-04:00

I have always been the type of gal to be willing to give the latest and greatest beauty products and treatments a whirl. And with our wedding being under three months away I find myself really looking for any way to put my best self forward for the big day. All of those suggestions you all gave me after my make up trial for the best facial cleansers? Yeah, I bought them all. So when I saw a friend recently and noticed her eyelashes were looking ridiculously gorgeous, I had to try whatever mascara she was using. But she wasn’t using mascara at all, she had eyelash extensions! I was immediately interested, and even more so when I found out they were waterproof, meaning no streaky black lines down my face at the alter. I’m sure my ugly cry face will be making an appearance, but really I can at least try to keep the ugly to a minimum with makeup that stays put.

I booked an appointment with Kendrick of Pandora’s Lashes here in Richmond. She was super nice and explained everything that she was doing and even took a nice little before picture for me.

I think my lashes are pretty long to start with, but they get very light at the end, and not very full. About an hour later I walked out looking like I have naturally long, thick, dark, lashes. I even watched “The Notebook” on DVD that night and after crying like a baby they still looked perfect. I call that wedding cry ready!

They are considered semi-permanent because they do fall out as your natural lashes do so a fill is required about every two weeks. I probably lost a few more then I should have in the first few days because I was a little obsessed and couldn’t keep my hands off. But I’ve learned to keep my fingers away, and I will still look pretty and full right up until my next appointment.

Are you trying any new beauty treatments just for your wedding?

*All images are from my camera taken by Kendrick, my lash master! And please ignore the fact that I was in desperate need of an eyebrow waxing… I promise this is the last of the close up images of me sans makeup, yuck.

Yes, I Have Even Planned This..

2009-08-18T10:46:00.003-04:00

I have been stuck recently as things that will be my "lasts" before I become a Mrs. It all started in July when I celebrated my 25th birthday and for some reason it hit me that this would be my very last birthday as a single gal. I got the oil changed on my car yesterday and again couldn't help thinking it would be the last time I was at that particular place signing my maiden name for their service.
It doesn't stop there. I mentioned my love for pajamas when I first became a bee, one of the reasons I chose to be Miss Cloud is because of my absolute favorite Nick & Noras! I don't know how or why but I got it in my head that I needed a special pair of last “Miss pajamas”. I will be staying in a hotel the night before the wedding with my MOH, so of course I needed something cute for our little slumber party. In full support of my craziness Mama Cloud came through at my last bridal shower with these beauties; bonus because they are Nick & Nora!

Personal Image

Has anyone else found themselves planning for small silly details like pajamas??

*As a small side note I would just like to say that yes I do realize I have completely lost my mind. I justify this by saying it could be worse, I could be a crazy bride barking orders out to everyone I love. Instead I choose to silently obsess over silly things like jammies. Haha :)

**Also, if you want a pair of your own to be a nutso like me, head on over to Target.com!

Choosing Our Ceremony.. Wait, Aren't We Catholic?

2009-08-13T22:11:00.001-04:00

My very long list of things to do includes a lot of items for our ceremony, including décor, programs, etc. No where on that list however was actually writing the ceremony. Mr. Cloud and I were both born and raised Catholic, and preparing to have a full Catholic mass with our ceremony left me to assume we would just be told what to say and where to stand. I've been to and in quite a few other Catholic weddings, and I had never seen anyone get to choose or customize any part of the actual ceremony. Readings in the mass maybe, but the ceremony was pretty set.

Imagine my surprise (and watch my stress level rise) when at our final meeting with our priest last weekend, he started asking us about how we wanted the ceremony. Most of it is still set, but with options. For example we have a few different sets of vows to choose from. And we were given a packet of readings and suggestions for the prayers of the faithful, but told we could personalize or change them how we see fit!

We have decided to go pretty traditional in most things including changing very little from the ceremony's wording. Not only is it one less thing to worry about (trust, I would think this one to death if given the opportunity), but it is nice to think that we will be hearing the same words our parents and grandparents before us. The vows however, are a different matter. We have to choose. Originally Mr. Cloud had his heart set on saying our own unique vows. Our church and priest may be flexible, but not that flexible. Instead they gave us a few options to choose from. We can add on to these a bit, or just go word for word with what has been provided.

The first options would be repeated after the priest.
Option 1
Groom: "I, Mr. Cloud, take you Miss Cloud to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."
Bride: "I, Miss Cloud take you Mr. Cloud to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."
Option 2
Groom: "I, Mr. Cloud take you Miss Cloud, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."
Bride: "I, Miss Cloud take you Mr. Cloud, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Or we can just respond to the priest (he would say these options to individually).
Option 3
Priest: "Mr. Cloud, do you take Miss Cloud to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her all the days of your life?"
Groom: "I do."
Priest: "Miss Cloud, do you take Mr. Cloud to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?"
Bride: "I do."
Option 4
Priest: "Mr. Cloud, do you take Miss Cloud for your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part."
Groom: "I do."
Priest: "Miss Cloud do you take Mr. Cloud for your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part."
Bride: "I do."

We just can't decide! So hive I turn to you, they all seem so close yet so different. Which of these would you choose? Or would you add something to the end of them also?

A Green Bride (And Not In The Good Eco Friendly Way)

2009-08-11T01:27:00.000-04:00

My name is Miss Cloud and I am a Facebook wedding stalker. It’s true, I admit it. And I'm fairly certain this is not a normal behavior. I just can't help myself, if anyone has a big white dress in their profile picture I will be checking out every single one of their pictures in hopes for another peek at the wedding. Even if I don't know them and my only glimpse of said white dress is from a tiny picture next to a comment they left on a wall somewhere. It’s gotten out of control really.

The other day, while doing my regular FB stalking, I noticed that a friend of a friend got married a few weekends ago. The wedding was gorgeous, the outdoor ceremony was right before sunset with a reception to follow at a local hotel. The bride was glowing, and the groom shed a few tears and no one in attendance even posted any ugly cry face pictures. But while I was looking at the pictures, I couldn't help remember the last time I had seen the bride, it was shortly after Mr. Cloud and I had gotten engaged and she wasn't even dating anyone at the time. The lovely bride and groom whose pictures I was lovingly stalking hadn't even known each other as long as we have been planning our wedding! A very familiar pang of jealousy struck me pretty hard.

It all made sense when we started planning. I was in school, Mama and Papa Cloud were moving, and a couple of the guys we wanted to be in the wedding party were serving oversees in the military; a long engagement just made sense. I did not think that 20 months would be a big deal, it would fly by! I had a shiny ring to be excited about right? Uh, no. I'm over it. I'm over the planning and I'm ready to be a Mrs. already! Don't get me wrong, I am really happy for the friends who I have seen get married since then (or stalked on Facebook since then), I'm just not a patient enough person for all this! And I just can't keep the jealousy monster away. I'm just ready for it to be ME. I am still really, really excited about our wedding, but I just do not know how I am going to get through the next three months!

Is anyone else feeling like this? Ready to be married after being engaged for (what feels like) forever?

The Menus Are Finally (Re)Done!

2009-08-06T21:07:00.002-04:00

I know I know, everyone told me not to worry about a little spelling typo. Everyone said that no one would even notice. But I was loosing sleep over one stupid little “S”, and someone was bound to notice. A guest at the wedding would very quietly mention that I had a small error on the menus assuming that I hadn’t already noticed. And then I would be the bride who was going to have the urge to hit a guest for brining up the stupid mistake that had made me loose sleep for the past four months. I just didn’t want to be that girl.*

Instead I redid them and here they are in all their completed and properly spelled glory! I literally put the very last one together and ran to check it of the monster list. Because of the error (I swear I will never ever for the rest of my life forget that dessert has two “s”, and not one..) this was by no means a paper friendly product. It uses two sheets to begin with, all from paper source, the backing is red and the top is pure white, both cover weight. It just broke my heart to waste that much. So I decided I would give it a whirl and try to reuse the red. Poor Mr. Cloud had no idea what we were getting into. I had used about four different types of adhesive until I settled on the xyron adhesive runner Miss Duckling used on her STDs. I highly recommend the stuff it worked like a dream! But everything I used was a mess trying to get it off. And it took forever. Like a champ he hung in with me (probably for fear that I might cry again over the silly things!) He ended up sitting like this for a few nights straight picking away, at all 220 menus. I still love them and the way they turned out, but I am SO glad this project is done!

Did you have any DIY projects that you were more then happy to finally finish?

*I’m only half kidding, I sure hope I am not worried about things at that point. But right now, as the groomsman are cracking jokes about eating “desert”, and its not funny just yet. And I know them well enough, they might get hit. :)

Thank You Mr. Postman!

2009-08-03T23:32:00.000-04:00

I found a pleasant little surprise in my mailbox today and I am just so freakin’ excited about it I can hardly handle it! My fabulous bridesmaids, headed up by my amazing MOH, have been scheming and planning a very mysterious bachelorette weekend in Baltimore MD. I’ve been curious from the beginning, but now I have a super cute invite with some very strange instructions to make me wonder even more!

How cute!? This is only one part, the second page is instructions where and when to be there including what to bring and wear. It is all very specific, right down to the “trendy white sneakers” needed for the first night we are there!

Is anyone else having a “surprise” bachelorette party thrown in their honor?

Regaining My Sanity & Getting Organized. (Part 2)

2009-08-03T14:04:00.003-04:00

I now have a large and in charge to do list, so I figure I should also explain how I am getting organized in other ways as well. When we got engaged I was overwhelmed with ideas that I was pulling from magazines and printing off of my favorite blogs and websites. I needed a system to organize everything and one day I came across Brooklyn Bride’s explanation of her own wedding binders. It was just what I needed and I already had most of supplies stashed away in my office just waiting to be used.

I did take the opportunity to buy my very first Russell+Hazel binder. I went with the Signature Three-Ring so I could really set it up the way that would be the most efficient for me, but they now also offer a wedding organizer that comes with a lot of goodies to get you started. I have to say no matter which you pick, once you use of these binders you will never go back. The little rubber strap they come with really helps to hold everything in when your ideas start bursting out and the colors options aren’t too shabby either!

Source

In the front are the business cards of all vendors we have signed with and are using. After that I filled this bad boy up with page protectors to easily slide pages in an out without having to use a hole punch on everything, and sorted those with extra wide tabs to peak out. The tabs have been changed a few times over the months, to accommodate what I need, but in the end I have thirteen sections:
-Ceremony
-Reception
-Save the Dates
-Invitations
-Attendants
-Rehearsal
-Cake
-Dress
-Accommodations
-Flowers
-Favors
-DJ
-Miscellaneous

While each section started with lots of ideas, I have added and removed a lot of things and they now also have contracts and notes from meetings with various vendors. I have dragged this with me to every major vendor meeting so I have everything I need right at my finger tips. Catering manager needs to know when other vendors will arrive to set up? I’ve got the contracts right there to know.

I love my binder, but it is not practical to carry around with me everyday. Instead I carry one or two little notebooks. One is larger then the other for meetings with my planner or when I know I will have time on my lunch break to write out some things I have been working on. The smaller is always in my purse. Sometimes I have a strange epiphany while at work, or in the grocery store, or even in the car about some random task I have forgotten about. A small notebook is a lifesaver when you have a terrible memory like I do!

What are you using to keep all of your ideas and plans organized?

Regaining My Sanity & Getting Organized.

2009-07-30T22:30:00.003-04:00

In an attempt to regain my sanity after hitting the mother of all roadblocks, I decided to take the advice of a few fellow bees and super smart hive members. My first plan of action was to lay out what needs to be done. I love lists, I love crossing things off and feeling accomplished afterward (yeah sometimes I write things down I already did just to cross off already, want to fight about it?), and I always feel better when I know how far my progress is and how much further I have to go.
My brilliant solution? This bad boy is now proudly hanging on a door in our office (it’s ok if you laugh, Mr. Cloud did, a LOT).

Fifty-six items to do with room to add if needed. While it might look overwhelming, it actually calms me down. Now when I think “what’s next?” I can just look and decide which task looks bearable that day.

Ok, from this angle it does look a little scary.

What steps have you taken to pull yourself together and even get a little more organized in the process?

Our Videographer Is Just Awesome.

2009-07-28T23:44:00.000-04:00

I have to say when we started planning videography didn't even make it on to the list of things I was concerned about or wanted to spend money on. A large majority of the wedding videos I had seen up to that point had been pretty boring, think single camera fixed on the bride and groom set to Enya's greatest hits. Not something I would cherish or want to watch repeatedly. To give those videos a bit of credit I'm pretty sure they were all from the 80s and early 90s, but I still just wasn't interested.

Mr. Cloud had other ideas however. Not only had he studied video production in school for a while, but for a time before we were engaged had been helping a few friends out with their own wedding video business. So he really wanted our wedding on tape to look back on and not just by a friend with a personal camcorder hiding in the corner of the church, he wanted the full blown real deal. And as Mama Cloud reminded me, Mr. C hadn't insisted on much about the wedding at that point so the least I could do was look into it.

So I kept an eye out, not really seeing any sample videos by people in the Richmond area that amazed me, or that I thought were worth the money they were charging. Then I saw a small mention on a blog somewhere for humanstory films. I watched a few video clips and was crying, they were so beautifully shot and edited. Not only were they amazing, but they were right here in Richmond! Mr. Cloud and I decided then and there we would have them shoot our wedding, or have no one at all. We set up an appointment with William Gaff, and after blabbing our life stories to him for a few hours we were even more eager! Who wouldn't want something like this to remember their day by?

Source
(Yes, I cry EVERY time I watch this!)

If you recognize William's name it’s because he is a one of the pros on Weddingbee Pro! He is praised as being one of the best in the business, and I have to go ahead and brag, he was even nominated for an Emmy this year!! So a HUGE congrats to him! I still drool over his work regularly and I am now a videography convert, I can not wait to see what he does with our story!

Did you fall in love at first sight with any vendors? Or end up hiring someone for a service you didn't think you cared about?

(Check out William’s blog for even more awesome stories, but go get your tissues first. Trust me, you will need them!)

We Have Ourselves A Wedding Party!

2009-07-24T23:25:00.001-04:00

If there was ever a reason to call it a wedding "party" it would be when referring to the crazy cast that will be standing up for us on our big day. We have an eclectic group of lifelong friends, family members, sorority sisters, and other crazy characters. Nine on each side to be exact. Yeah, that's a LOT! One best man, one maid of honor, seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, one junior bridesmaid, one junior usher and the cutest flower girl and ring bearer you've ever seen! Three ring circus is also a term that comes to mind when you think of this rowdy bunch!

Personal Images (this is almost everyone!)

Did you go with a big wedding circus like us or choose to be a bit more intimate?

(A special shout out to brother cloud who though he won't admit it, is an avid Weddingbee reader!!)

Hitting A Big Block..

2009-07-23T23:00:00.003-04:00

Here we are a little over three months out and it has finally happened. After planning for months and months I have finally hit a full blown wedding road block. I have heard of it happening to brides before, when you get to the point where the planning has taken on a life of its own, and the to do list is so long it’s flat out overwhelming.

Source

And that's exactly where I am. There are calls to be made, paper to be cut, items to be designed and I just have no clue where to start. I was on a role for a bit, I've shared some of the projects I have completed, but for every one of those there is another only half done, and two others yet to be started.

It all began with those crazy menus. I felt so completed when they were all done, I worked had to perfect a design I love, cut and assembled all 200+ of them and then proudly showed them off to my MOH. And what did she notice that five others before her had not? My beautiful menus listed wedding cake as our "DESERT" instead of DESSERT!!! I almost cried. All the hours I had put in were wasted. Mama Cloud and many other bees were supportive telling me not to worry, people might not even notice. But I can't do that. I'm way too much of a perfectionist to knowingly put out menus with that kind of error on them.

And that's where I came to a screeching halt. I'm dwelling on these crazy menus (even though replacement paper has already been ordered) and I can't figure out what to do next for fear of messing up again. I know in my mind that I'm being a little crazy, but I just can't move on to the next thing!

Did anyone else hit a road block in planning? How did you get past it?

Getting my face on

2009-07-14T22:57:00.004-04:00

My MOH has proven to be quite a resourceful gal through my planning period, and makeup was no exception. She is a former Chanel makeup artist so I was definitely looking to her to find me someone fabulous at a reasonable price to do me and my girls on the big day. So off we went to visit Abegail, her good friend who still works at a Chanel counter.

My daily makeup routine includes the Clinique three step program (which I have been less then thrilled with recently), a bit of bronzer, mascara, and of course my cherry chapstick. That’s it. When I’m getting dressed up I’ll add some eye shadow or a touch of liner and gloss. Yeah, I’m fancy. My main concern with the wedding day makeup was that I didn’t want to feel like I really had painted my face. I just wanted to look like a polished version of myself. Mr. Cloud was also really concerned, I believe his words were “tell them to be easy on the gunk”. Before I left I had him go ahead and take the dreaded “before” picture with no makeup at all, I’m cringing to think I am really posting this..

Once I settled in the chair, Abegail got to work. Another benefit of my MOH being an expert and being friends with the expert, anything Abegail did she checked and made suggestions. Not that many changes needed to be made, but she also knows me really well. When I didn’t like something 100% and wasn’t speaking up she did for me.

I was REALLY happy with the results. If I can give one suggestion to anyone having a trial, bring your camera. The first lip color we used barely showed on film, I could have just stuck with the chapstick!

After the trial we headed out to eat and ran some errands. Even after all of that and hanging out on the couch with Bella for a few hours, everything held up great. This picture is a result of no touchups about 5 hours later. You can really see the difference in the two eyes here, we are going with the left as we thought it made the eye look more opened.

I’m still not happy with my skin these days though. I recently went on a medication for psoriasis (it is mostly on my scalp and is pretty severe, but I’m hoping it will clear by the wedding) but it has caused a big change in my skin. I’m breaking out more often and the Clinique I have been using for almost 10 years isn’t cutting it anymore. I know Mrs. Peep Toe raved about Origins, so I was thinking about going that route. Any suggestions on what to use to get perfect wedding skin to go with the makeup I love?