Weddingbee Blog

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 AMand 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 timeline (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 embedded 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?

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.

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