Weddingbee Blog

Well Hive, it’s 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 Weddingbee 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 for Weddingbee, 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…
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I know writing up vendor reviews here on Weddingbee isn’t incredibly common, especially now that we have the amazing Vendor Reviews, 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.

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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.
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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 its 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.
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I’m going to go ahead and admit it. I’m not a huge fan of the bouquet/garter toss tradition. I think it’s 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 (whose 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 heads.
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(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.
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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’. They celebrated 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.
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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; let’s 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 Jacksons’ 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.

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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.
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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: to 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 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.
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Since I had been pretty hyper 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.

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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!”

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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.

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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.
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We have all heard the little saying, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”, and while I have heard that there are actually brides out there that DON’T overthink 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…

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