Epilogue {Dallas wedding vendor reviews}

When asked if I feel different after becoming husband and wife, the answer is yes.  Something magical happens when you commit your life to someone while standing in the presence of God, family and friends.  It was a phenomenon that seemed to bound our hearts and souls forever.  It was the extraordinary moment when God made us one.

Although parts of our wedding day I'm unable to describe through the [organized] chaos, there are parts that I am able to describe perfectly, like the moments Matt and I shared immediately following the ceremony.  I've never felt as alive as I did standing within his arms as our photographer snapped photos of us hidden beside the chapel.  I never felt more drawn to him.  During that photo op Matt was unknowingly miked, which captured our first conversation as husband and wife.  Priceless.  I can describe perfectly the moments we waited upstairs until the band gave us our cue for our entrance.  We couldn't stop smiling and laughing and admiring each other.  Before we heard our cue, we peeked out the door that looked down on our family and friends that were there to celebrate us!  We couldn't wait to get the party started!
Something else that stands out to me was what a family friend, Mr. Floyd, said after he gave me a huge hug, "I want to meet your husband!"  That was the very first time someone (other than our officiant, Roy) referred to my best friend as my husband!
At the end of the night as our family and friends prepared to send us off, Matt and I shared a private dance.  The band played a special song (that was my surprise to Matt); and as we danced, we went from cheek to cheek, to starring in each others eyes, to looking at our empty ballroom.  I took it all in - my husband, the song, the flowers, the ballroom that was once filled with everyone special to us.

Our wedding photos by the great Allison Davis have been uploaded and posted!  She did a fabulous job and I am so anxious for everyone to see the moments she captured through her lens.  Matt and I are so excited to start printing our favorites!
Check out Allison's blog post that is dedicated to our big day.  And you can view and order prints here.  There are several photos of our guests and even some of your best dance moves that Allison caught you doing ;)

Anguilla is where we started the rest of our lives together.  It was the perfect setting for our honeymoon and the perfect place to relax after planning a wedding.  We arrived May 6 and stayed until May 11.  Minus a couple hiccups (our bags not arriving until the second day and Matt being sick), everything was absolutely perfect!  The food was amazing!  The hotel was sick!  The weather was unreal!  The locals were so friendly!  The beach was beautiful!  The ocean was crystal clear!  Etc...!

  

So for you brides to be out there, here are my Dallas vendor ratings, 5 * being the highest rating:

Venue:  Ashton Gardens *****

Dress store:  Stanley Korshak ***
Hair and Makeup Artist:  Courtney, Chi Ro *****
Venue Coordinator:  Samantha Muhn *****

Bakery:  Frosted Art ***** (My only complaint is that they did not contact me when the original lady I booked and designed the cakes with quit.)

Band:  Signed Sealed Delivered ***** (AMAZING to work with and so talented!)
Photographer:  Allison Davis *****

Videographer:  Spinning Leaf  (Cannot rate until we receive the video...better be good!)

Florist:  Fete Des Fleurs * (The flowers were gorgeous but working with Darren was impossible as he clearly doesn't listen to specific requests.  I DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!)

Transportation:  Premier of Dallas *****

Venue for day of prepping:  The Stoneleigh *** (Do not work with Betsy as she was extremely difficult to get in contact with.  She booked the wrong suite which caused extreme panic on my part - not what I wanted to deal with the night before my wedding!  (So thankful my sister was with me to keep me from completely losing it.)  Stoneleigh did fix things (which is why they were able to obtain three stars) when they comped the suite for the night before and moved me to the proper suite the next morning [by rushing(!) the other people out of "my" suite].

Wedding Favors:  Chocolate Secrets *****

Honeymoon:  Viceroy Anguilla **********!!!!

What I wore:

Dress Designer:  Jenny Packham
Shoes:  Christian Louboutin
Jewelry:  Earrings by Nina Nordstrom; diamond bracelet was "something borrowed" from Matt's grandmother

Bridesmaids wore J. Crew dresses and custom diamond belts, brooches and hair pieces.
Groom wore Vera Wang and his groomsmen wore Calvin Klein.

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Not going to lie, I'm going to miss writing.  I've loved recording this experience through words and pictures.  But don't worry, I won't bore you with another blog, unless....I have a great reason to...

Cheers!

5.4.13

I normally don't write (or talk or text or email, etc.) before I've had any coffee, but today isn't a normal day...

It's my wedding day!

It's early on my wedding day as I lie in bed in my fancy hotel room and I can't sleep because all I can think about is marrying my best friend today!  I am so excited to promise to Matt that I will love and cherish him forever. I can't wait for the chapel doors to open and for all I see to be Matt; I can't wait to hold his hands as we exchange our vows of forever; and can't wait to steal his last name and dance the night away; most of all, I can't wait for the rest of our lives together. I love you Matt!

Last night at out rehearsal dinner, I was overwhelmed with the love in the room. Matt and I are truly blessed. Not only was the food fabulous, but the sweet words our family and friends spoke were just precious. Some words made the entire room laugh, others brought back memories and most brought tears to your eyes. Some of the sweetest things were said in that room and we will never forget them.

I want to thank all my avid readers (Bloom) for following me on this journey.  I'm so thankful that I have our engagement documented in such a real and personal way and I'm happy that you were a part of it.  Hopefully cloud9dallas can be used as a resource for brides to be.  And I hope that years down the road it brings joy to Matt and me to read it again.

Well, it's time for me to wake my sister up because I need some coffee :)

I Do! Me Too! {bridal shower, hostess gift, 10 day meeting}

As you can tell, my Bridal Shower was absolutely beautiful!  My hostesses certainly out did themselves, from the decor (absolutely nailed our wedding colors) to the food (gluten free in my honor!) to the fabulous gifts (Calphalon pots, pans and colander).  I couldn't stop staring at all the big and little details they worked so hard to perfect - it brought tears to my eyes and, of course, brought tears to my Aunt Bobbie's eyes as well :)  I'm so blessed by such special ladies who took time to do all that they did just for me!  Thank you for being such remarkable ladies in my life.
I am also extremely grateful to each and everyone who made it to the shower.  I know how busy and hectic our days can be so the fact that you spent a Saturday afternoon showering me with love means the world to me.  Most of you ladies watched me grow up and I can't imagine not having you there, loving and supporting me like you've done since I was a little girl and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Here are the hostess gifts' I found for these special ladies.  I enjoy (and greatly appreciate) the tiniest of details so this little ring tray fit the mold perfectly:

I stand by my previous statement... the worst part of wedding planning is the guest list, in every aspect.  I was warned of the lack of RSVP cards we would get back, no matter how easy we made it for our guests, lol.  That left Matt and me no choice but to call, text or email (heck we may drop by your house if you're not careful) the people we haven't heard from.  So we apologize now for the intrusion ;)

Mom and I attended the 10 day planning meeting with the wedding coordinator (Matt conveniently had to leave town that afternoon).  We met for over two hours(!) going over the ceremony timeline, bridal parties, reception timeline and details, food, etc.  (Matt would have been so bored, except for the part about the food!)  I left the meeting feeling much lighter since I basically gave the reigns to my coordinator.  All my planning is done and I am thrilled to finally be able to just sit back and enjoy these last few days leading up to our very special day.  My stomach gets more and more butterflies each day that we near our wedding day.  I am so excited and so ready to walk to down the isle, promise to my "bestest" that "I do" and then celebrate with our family and friends.  It's really going to be the best day ever!

Dancing in the Stars {Dallas makeup artist, Dallas hair stylist, Dallas bachelorette party, dance lessons}

My bridal portrait session started with an appointment with my makeup/hair artist, Courtney.  I really didn't know how I wanted my hair for the day of the wedding, so this "trial run" came in good timing.  Courtney started by curling my hair and then began to style it.  About halfway into it, I stopped her, explaining that I just didn't like it.  So she started completely over and about halfway through the second attempt, I encouragingly told Courtney that we were getting closer to the look I wanted!  When she finished, my mom and I were in love with the style.
It's amazing how my look just came together.  I didn't know what style of wedding dress I would fall in love with until I put mine on.  My hairstyle for my wedding day is something I never dreamed of until I saw it with my dress.  Like my photographer said, "I can't imagine any other hairstyle with this dress."  Sometimes you just have to go with it or just "walk by faith" ;)
With hair and makeup done, Mom and I giddily met Allison at our wedding venue for the portrait session, which went great!  The weather and the lighting from the sun was just gorgeous.  In less than a week, Allison emailed me with the link to all the photographs and I wasted no time forwarding it to mom so we could look together.  I love how they turned out and I cannot wait to have some printed and I can't wait even more for Matt to see them (or just see me on our wedding day)!

The "Final Fling Before the Bling" was an absolute blast and was a night out with my girls that I will always remember.  The first, of many, surprises drove up to Lindsay's house just seconds after I arrived.  "Is that for us?!"  We were riding in style!  Thank you so much, Wayne, for a fun and fabulous way for us girls to get to our destinations!  We rode [in style] in the limo to Victor Tangos for a fabulous dinner.  The Carnitas tacos were delicious... so delicious that after mom (yes, my mom was at my bachelorette party, along with some other fun ladies!) tasted one of mine, she went ahead and ordered them (after eating her salad, lol) for her and my aunt.  "Wow" was her anthem that night...  Once we finished dinner we walked, completely stopping traffic, across the street to The Dram for some dancing.  It was a blast!  An unexpected surprise came when we found out that our table was right next to Bon Jovi's band!  Now we were partying with style.  We finished our night back at Lindsay's home for my lingerie shower.  I got a lot of beautiful (and not so beautiful........) things.  Thanks girls :)

Thank you, Doug, for the bubbly!

It's always a good night when you see me with one arm up...

Matt and I had a dance lesson(!) at the 17 days to go mark.  We went to Studio 22 and had a private session with Veronica.  She taught us the Rumba for our first dance.  Surprisingly, we caught on pretty quickly and progressed to the more challenging steps.  Once we got our footing perfected, she suggested to sway our upper bodies a little.  I died laughing when Veronica said, "Oh, Matt, not that much."  (He's been such a good sport through all this wedding planning.)  After about an hour of repetition, we felt pretty good about our first dance!  Veronica recorded us dancing for reference, but we won't need it because according to her, we're naturals........lol.

Early in our session, Veronica put our song on the speaker system while we practiced our steps and sways.  Dancing with my soon to be husband with our first dance song playing overhead was so overwhelmingly surreal that I nearly started crying in the middle of Studio 22, lol.  I recovered and turned what would have been happy tears into a goofy smile I couldn't get rid of.  I am so blessed and so thankful and so excited that I get to dance with this man for the rest of my life.   

Final Fling Before the Bling {The Crescent and Stoneleigh Hotel Dallas, invitations}

I'll start with the bad news:

As you read months ago (in October to be exact), I booked a suite at The Crescent that completely and utterly fell through.  Long story [kind of] short, I was so completely and utterly let down when I called (just to touch base) and learned that my request for an early checkin will not be granted as they have booked the suite for someone else the night before and will therefore only allow a 3pm checkin time.  Absurd.  My hair and makeup artist was planning on arriving at 1:30, finishing my look by our 3:30 departure to the wedding venue.  Brides, even if you've booked something months in advance, it could completely and utterly fall through.  Make sure to keep in touch with the person you booked with...unless they no longer work there, which is the case with two of my vendors...

But, here's the good news:

Now we'll be getting ready at the Le Meridien, The Stoneleigh Hotel!  I fell hopelessly in love with it's chic elegance and realized that all things, eventually, work out for the best.
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Invitations are some of my favorite things, especially when they are so pretty!  I've been so lucky to have such special people in my life with such great taste!  My bridal shower invitation recently came in the mail and the shower can't come soon enough.  I absolutely love the ladies hosting the shower and am so thankful and honored by their kindness.  I've picked out the perfect dress that will go perfectly with the "shoes".
Also just recently, my bridesmaids' luncheon invitation was mailed.  I was special enough to get my invitation hand delivered by one of the hostesses, Matt's grandmother (who also loves invitations).  (Matt's aunt is the other hostess with the mostess who I am so grateful for!)  I have been waiting to blog about this because I've wanted it to be a surprise for the ladies that are invited (especially since Mrs. Williams has kept all the details a surprise to me!).  I approached her a few weeks ago with the dilemma of where to have a luncheon for my girls.  I felt at complete ease when her face lit up as she offered to have it at her home; AND that she would do this for me!  Wow!  Mrs. Williams opening up her home, planning and hosting this luncheon for me is more than I could have ever asked for!  She is so gracious and quite the hostess too :)  I won't go into the little details that I know about, but I do know that it will be fabulous!
I also just received the invitation for the bachelorette party, which is this Friday!  It is beautiful and so classy - just like my girls!  I have been anticipating this night out full of effervescence, mischief and striking contrast* with my favorite girls.  (*Black attire for attendees and white for me.  So fun!)

The last invitation to speak highly of is the rehearsal dinner invitation.  Laura (Matt's step-mom) and I designed this together which makes it even more special!  We are so looking forward to this evening (the night before the wedding!) with our family and closest friends.  We're also looking forward to some amazing food :)        

Bridal Shower Invitation

Bridal Shower Invitation 

Bridesmaid Luncheon Invitation

Bridesmaid Luncheon Invitation

Bachelorette Party Invitation

Bachelorette Party Invitation

Rehearsal Dinner Invitation

Rehearsal Dinner Invitation
Love our monogram!

Bride Brain {Hobby Lobby, Paper Lion, Dallas Couples Shower}

I've come down with a case of Bride Brain.  I have been abnormally scatterbrained, forgetful and distracted.  Being so excited (scatterbrained rather) to mail your invitations that you forget to bring them with you to the post office is a prime example of Bride Brain.  Yes, that did happen - I literally left my apartment to mail our invitations and realized halfway to the post office that I forgot them...  LOL!  Poor Matt had a glimpse of my Bride Brain the other day as we were having a conversation when 20 minutes later I started telling him the same story (forgetful); and not saying a word as I cooked dinner the other night (distracted).  I tried to explain but couldn't...

Mom and I met with the wedding coordinator provided by our venue on the 45 days-to-go mark.  It was a long meeting consisting of menu items, itineraries, decor, agreement forms, etc.  We got a lot figured out that gave rise to a lot of stuff I have to start tackling asap!  My weekly to-do lists are getting longer and longer and more and more particular by the week.  Finding frames for instance.  After learning that our venue had brown frames (that didn't match our decor) for reserved tables, I added "finding prettier frames for reserved tables" on my to-do list.  So the next day after our meeting I went to Hobby Lobby and found the perfect frames, half off their original price!  So I bought six and called Paper Lion to see if they could use the same card stock we will be using for our ceremony programs to make "Reserved for Loren & Matt's family" frame inserts.  They made the frame inserts and were ready for pick up within a couple days!  Also later that same week, Laura (Matt's step-mom) and I met up at Paper Lion to design and order rehearsal dinner invitations  Laura is mailing the invitations this week, a month until the wedding!
I don't think I've mentioned Paper Lion before and because of their consistent professionalism, I'd like to toot their horn for them.  As you are aware, I've been using Papyrus' services and as per mentioned in the previous post/rant, they've caused a lot of stress, unfortunately causing hesitation to place any more orders with them.  I had never heard of Paper Lion; but mom introduced it to me when I was in urgent need of map inserts for the formal invitations.  Since the printing of our invitations were delayed, I needed these maps fast.  Switching to Paper Lion was a clutch move - my maps were ready for pick up one day after okaying the proof!  (It would have taken weeks for Papyrus to do the same.)  Because of Paper Lion's proficiency, I've decided to take my talents to McKinney.  Along with the maps and "reserved" inserts, Paper Lion will be doing our ceremony programs, rehearsal dinner invitations and any other project in the future!

My wedding coordinator and I are in serious planning mode.

Frame to reserve tables for our family.

Part of our wedding package with our photographer is an album of our engagement pictures.  This album is for our family and friends to "leave us a note" or share advice on our wedding day.  Matt and I will have this forever and, like it did when we received it, it will always bring happy tears to our eyes, especially when we read notes from people we love (don't forget to leave us your note or advice!).  I think being so full of joy has made every little thing so special and meaningful and has made me so emotional, lol!  Good emotional, that is.  It's like an extreme thankful-for-this-moment emotion.  It's an emotion that Matt has given me and I can't wait to feel it for the rest of my life as I walk side by side with my soon to be husband(!).  Sorry for the excess cheese...

With 43 days until the wedding, I met my dad's wife, Shawna, to find her a dress to wear on my wedding day.  We started at Stardust Celebrations only to fall in love with a dress that couldn't be delivered in time.  But I did find a pen for the guest book!  Shawna was so nice to buy it for us!  We completed the pen purchase, turned around to leave but stopped suddenly when I saw the prettiest little tissues (lol).  We bought 15 packs (to be distributed fairly) because if you're going to cry [tears of joy] at the ceremony, you need a pretty pink tissue :)  Shawna and I made our way to our next stop, Willow Bend mall, which was another unsuccessful stop.  But we pressed on to Northpark and finally found a dress Shawna loved!  She was so excited and proud of this dress; and that made me happy!  However, a couple days later she found a dress she loved even more.  I saw it over the Easter weekend and agreed that it is a great dress for Shawna!

Our Couples Shower, hosted by my sweet bridesmaids, was a blast!  The decorations, the food, the dessert and the company was fabulous and we are forever grateful for their hard work that made us feel so special!  We thank all of you that joined us in the celebration and couldn't thank you enough for your love and support.  I also want to especially thank Taylor for acknowledging how much goes into planning a wedding and Chuck for the wedding advice ;)  We had a blast with everyone, made fun memories and took some hilarious videos...
Here are some pictures that my mom took (thank you, mom!):

Wedding colors :)

My girls (minus Christa and Kayla)

"Loren Pose"

I was on a mission to find the perfect hostess gift before the shower.  I already had it in my mind that I wanted to find a pretty wrapped soap.  I walked into Write Selection and... Bingo!  How cute are these little soaps?

April to do list (among A LOT of other last minute things):

- Begin writing ceremony program, have them printed mid April
- Apply for marriage license(!)
- Final meeting with florist, April 5
- Bridal Portraits, April 11
- Bachelorette Party, April 12
- Bridal Shower, April 20
- Write thank you notes
- Shop for honeymoon outfits ;)
- Finish ALL DIY projects
- Confirm wedding day and night hotel reservations (just wait til you find out what happened with The Crescent...)
- Follow up with our officiant to finalize ceremony timing and details
- Continue working on day of timing and details
- Put together a list of all vendors' phone numbers for day of
- Call our guests who haven't send RSVP's (please send them if you haven't already) :)

ONE MONTH until I marry my very best friend!