Weddingbee Blog

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!

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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!

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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.

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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.
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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.

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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.
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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!)

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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!
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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 of 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; it’s 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, but 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.

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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.
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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)

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After my traumatizing dental experience I was feeling refreshed and ready to tackle my last few DIY projects (the painkillers 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.

(Personal Image)

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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 complimentary 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!
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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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… 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??)
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