Weddings Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

Wedding Wednesday: Aunt Flo Wasn’t Invited (Plus a Free Sample!)

July 23, 2014 by Susan 4 Comments

Happy Wednesday Girls! I am on the road for work this week but wanted to stop in for a little Wedding Wednesday action! But there’s a catch. Since I’m not at home {and was almost hotel-less last night! A story I will share another day…} I decided I would do a Wildcard Wedding Wednesday post rather than just simply dragging you down good ole memory lane, recollecting my day full of love and glitter. So today, I’m letting you in on a little secret: Me, the crazy, OCD wedding planner that I am… I was even concerned with *GASP* my undies (!!) on my wedding day! But seriously?! Who isn’t!? Of all days in your life… you may really want to put some thought into your wedding undies. I know, I know. TMI right? But let’s be real. There’s a lot of planning that goes into your wedding day… And we can’t forget what to wear, under there! I was super thankful that my bachelorette gals threw me a mini lingerie bash. I stocked up and I didn’t even have to go shopping! {Because bra and underwear shopping is almost as bad as spending the day at the DMV. Am I right?}

Cute and Comfy, via Target.

Getting ready, Lounge Worthy. Via Target.

Or something lacy and sexy? Again, via Target. The whole point {other than saying our i do’s and marrying the man we love, of course} is that we want to look our finest, feel the prettiest we can possibly feel, and spend our wedding day on cloud nine as a confident, married lady, who is ready to party! That doesn’t just happen with the gown. It includes the earrings, the veil, the garter, and the undies.

I would like to introduce you to the new U by Kotex® Ultra Thin Pads with 3D Capture Core. What does all that mean?! It means that these pads have a one-of-a-kind center that locks away wetness to help stop leaks. They are perfect for protecting your wedding white undies, not to mention your wedding gown! They allow you to spend your day having fun and tying the knot without worrying about your crazy ole Aunt Flo crashing the reception.

U by Kotex® would like to help you SAVE YOUR {wedding} UNDIES! So how about a free sample to toss into your bridal bag? Just click over here: Free Sample of U by Kotex Pads

And as a social media junkie, I can’t wrap up this blog post without mentioning that I’m pretty obsessed with their witty hashtag: #savetheundies So gals, answer me this - what did you, or what will you be wearing {under there} on your wedding day? {Or do I not want to know?!} I promise I will be back next Wednesday with some of my favorite reception photos for you! If you want to catch up on some of the past, glitter filled, Wedding Wednesday Posts you can see them here. As always, I’m linking up with these lovely gals:

Many thanks to U by Kotex for sponsoring today’s post.

Makeup, Mimosas, and Great Friends! It’s Wedding Wednesday!

June 4, 2014 by Susan 4 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I would be recapping my wedding every Wednesday for you… I mean, it’s about time, right?!

I did one post showing off my dress.

Then we had the Summer Kickoff Blog Series.

Then last week was just confusing because I didn’t know what day it was, all thanks to the wonderful holiday and chocolate russians in my cup.

So here we are. It’s Wednesday and I don’t have any more excuses!

Happy Wedding Wednesday!

Since you’ve seen my bridal portraits already, today I want to show you a few pictures from the morning of our wedding. I am seriously thankful for the fact that I am surrounded by wedding creatives. Two of my maids are wedding photogs! How great is that?! Many thanks to Katie Wilson Photography for snapping these awesome pictures while I was busy being a bride and drinking mimosas.

As a wedding planner by trade, I was wide awake at 4AM, the morning of the biggest shindig of my life, running to-do lists through my brain. I wasn’t nervous one bit. That’s just what wedding planners do. We are obsessive compulsive, we dwell on details, and we don’t screw up. We dot all i’s and we cross all t’s. And then we triple check to make sure we did it right. Which sometimes doesn’t make a wedding planner the most fun bride to be around.

I had nine bridesmaids and my immediate family around for a majority of the day. ~~Luckily~~ Thank you Baby Jesus! We had a two bedroom suite, two bathrooms, a full living room, and a small kitchen to spread out in. Check out J (yes, we are friends in real life!) with her curlers!

Even Baby Amy was there (all the way from Switzerland) to partake in the fun!

I have no clue who I was texting at this point. I know it wasn’t Michael because we really didn’t talk until our first look. I did have our timeline, vendor contacts, and seating chart on my phone though - so more than likely… {Seriously friends, my biggest piece of wedding advice that I could ever give you - don’t become a wedding planner and THEN have your own wedding.}

If you’re knee deep in planning your own wedding (or just need someone to do your makeup!) I highly recommend Best Face Forward. Half of my current clients are using this company for their hair and makeup. I absolutely love how they keep things real! No one wants to look like an 80s hooker on their wedding day. Be sure you work with someone who understands you, your vision, your skin, and your normal makeup regimen. {Best Face Forward works all over Virginia and Northeast North Carolina… just an FYI!}

Don’t you just love the simple touch of “southern” that I required they throw into my bouquet? I am obsessed with trees. Especially the charm of magnolia trees! These magnolia leaves came off the tree in my parents’ front yard. The tree that sprang from my grandfather’s old, great magnolia.

My heroes of the day - Sarah May (my secondary coordinator - but lead coordinator on the day of my wedding) and her mom Jana. Jana flew all the way from California just to help do my wedding flowers! How freakin’ awesome is that?! I’m truly blessed.

It’s so much fun when all of your wedding vendors are your closet friends! I was lucky enough to have my dear friend Paul do my hair!

And my dad’s hair.

So yeah - I know this isn’t the most exciting wedding post but if I just throw all the good stuff out there from the beginning - it will totally spoil the glam and glitz of November 9, 2013. Here’s a teaser for next week’s celebration details though:

Today I am linking up with Little Bit of Class, Little Bit of Sass and Belle in Boots.

For the love all mimosas, to-do lists, and being surrounded by friends!

My Business and the Couple That Reminded Me Why…

June 2, 2014 by Susan 4 Comments

It only takes one. One to burn you out. And one to turn you back on.

I don’t really blog much about (for even for) my own business but most of you know that I am an entrepreneur. Although, I don’t think it’s really fitting to call myself a “business woman.” I mean, yes. I have my own business. And I have run several others in the past, including a restaurant. But the mental image I have in my mind of a “Business Woman” is not me. She is more like Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. She wears sleek suits and is after the almighty dollar. That friends, really isn’t me. I feel like I need to re-look my vision of what a business woman really is…

I do what I do because of the love that goes behind it all. Money would be great, but unfortunately, when running your own business, dollars are few and far between. After taxes, expenses, gas, marketing, 1099 employees, and client appointments at every Starbucks within a 50 mile radius of my house… you have to realize you do what you do because you have faith in the industry, a passion for making people happy and love in your heart for whatever it is that you’re doing.

I’ve been planning weddings for ten years now. I’ve coordinated events all over the country, and even a couple in Europe. If you follow my business, 29:11 Celebrations on facebook you would’ve seen this post and all of it’s views last week:

Ten years ago, my cousin Katie called me up a mere two weeks prior to her wedding. She was desperate for help and knew I enjoyed planning a good shindig. But planning a wedding in two weeks time? This was an entirely new thing for me. Who am I to turn down a bride in need of help?

And so it began. After Katie’s wedding I was a Maid of Honor three times and a Bridesmaid five times, within a four year span. At some point in that mix I realized I truly had a passion for weddings, brides, entertaining and making things pretty.

Fast forward 10 years and it’s 2014. There are a handful of people in my life who can look at me or simply hear my voice and know exactly what’s going on. A few months ago a couple of these folks kept asking slash telling me that I was burnt out. I was tired before the season was even in full swing. My patience was dwindling. Tax Season was an emotional drain. My extremely reliable, over achieving, detail obsessed Secondary Coordinator moved to California. Brides and a few grooms began bullying me into situations I was not comfortable with. I needed to step back. And I decided I would close down or cut back in 2015.

And then this past weekend happened. I was referred to Bride Liz by another Virginia Blogger. I know God had a plan when he put this wedding (and lovely couple) into my life. He knew exactly when and what I would be needing to fill my cup, giving me enough to get through June. {This June will be my busiest month in my business’s history!}

The wedding I worked on Saturday was PERFECT. The kind of perfect you always hope for, but never achieve. To the point that I had the most seamless table transition {live, in front of guests, in the middle of their reception} that I’ve ever had in my entire career. The vendors were amazing. The venue was unlike any other I had ever worked. The overall energy was highly positive and creative. And I want to be best friends with all of the guests: Everybody danced. Everybody partied. Everybody was grateful. Everybody was sincerely happy to be there. Believe it or not friends, these qualities are rare in a lot of wedding guests.

Meet Liz and her brand new husband. She blogs over at I Heart Veggies.

{She’s a rockstar blogger and needs absolutely no intro from a tiny blogger like me. That’s for darn sure!}

The reception was held at the Lewis Ginter Recreation Association in Richmond, VA. Here are the before and after shots of the reception hall:

As someone who also recently embraced purple as her own wedding color, in addition to the fact that it is the color of the year, I immediately loved the decor of this wedding. Keeping costs down they used homemade pinwheels in mason jars as their centerpieces. Keeping costs down even further - they had donuts instead of the traditional wedding cake. When I asked her how she wanted me to set up the donuts her response was “eh, we don’t care.” I had searched pinterest prior to this wedding in hopes of some donut pinspiration and found nothing that nothing stood out. So I winged it! This donut table (along with the tiny milk cartons they provided) was such a hit! At the last minute I stole a few pinwheels from three centerpieces for the perfect extra touch of color and flair!

There are two things that need to be pointed out in this next picture… One - look at the cute reception dress Liz changed into! I loved the lace sleeves! With no AC in this reception hall - switching into this stunning dress was a great decision on her part! And two - out of no where this cat showed up! At first, from across the room, the catering staff and I swore it was a real cat. It’s not. But this was definitely another first in my book!

I have to say, out of all the wonderful moments of this day, my all time favorite was the reception hall reveal. I told them to keep their eyes closed. {For the first time, I really felt like David Tutera!} On the count of three we got the reaction below and possibly some eye vapors from me and the staff. I love when I can take a bride’s vision and turn it into a reality she never thought was possible. {I also love hearing from her father later in the evening “When I walked into this room a few days ago I was crushed that my daughter would be celebrating her marriage in this place. Now that you’ve worked your magic, I couldn’t imagine us being anywhere else.”}

Seriously folks. THIS is why I do what I do.

So another huge congrats to Liz + Alex as they head to my favorite city on the east coast {Charleston, SC} for their honeymoon. And a huge thank you to them, as well as their friends and family for helping me remember why I started this business. This was a perfect celebration.

For the love of God’s Timing and a Wonderful Couple!

until next time… xxoo

Bridal Portraits at The Chamberlin, Hampton VA

May 7, 2014 by Susan 10 Comments

As ~~promised~~ mentioned last week, I really regret not posting my wedding details and photos on my blog. This is my souvenir of life but unfortunately this blog gets neglected when life gets crazy. Crazy times like 2013. Times when I was struggling to make ends meet, times when I packed up my home and moved, times when I was working my butt off to grow my own business, times when I was trying to feel at home when I was in a new house, times when my husband was deployed, and times when I was planning my own wedding. 2013 was just one of those overall crazy times.

But on November 9, all of our favorite people traveled from all over the world to celebrate as Michael and I got married.

As a blogger, I would just hate to look back at this site one day when I’m old and grey (assuming the internet doesn’t explode before then) and wonder where my wedding photos ended up. So how about for the next few Wednesdays we celebrate my wedding together? I will share some photos and we both will sip some champagne. Deal? Deal!

Today I’m starting with a few of the favorites that were taken at my bridal session. Just to give mucho credit where mucho credit is due - my awesome ninja-like photographer was Echard Wheeler. He’s a photography rockstar.

You can’t tell in this picture, but my shoes are glittery gold. Glitter was (and still is) everywhere! I was a happy girl. I bought these shoes years ago for Jess’s wedding and have been rocking them ever since. I’m pretty positive every girl needs at least one pair of glittery shoes in her closet.

I made this bouquet myself. It cost me less than $15. Flowers were from Trader Joes and I used some white ribbon and pins I had in my craft drawer. I loved this bouquet.

My bridal portraits (and wedding reception) were taken at The Historic Chamberlin in Hampton, Virginia. As a wedding planner by trade, I fell in love with this venue years prior. And luckily, for my own sake, I never worked a wedding there, making my own wedding so much more special. (This is also where Michael surprised me and proposed on the rooftop!)

Believe it or not, the picture above was taken in the bathroom! I love the Chamberlin because of his glamorous southern charm. We don’t have many places like this in my part of Virginia.

Below, you can see some of the historic homes of Fort Monroe in the background, not to mention a full image of my dress.

The belt was not part of my dress. Again, I’m a sucker for glitter, glam and flair - so the addition of a belt was a must! Oh and hello giant eyes!

The next picture (below) is not one of my top faves but it stands out to me for the craziest reason. Y’all are going to think I’m nuts but when I look at this picture, I see myself as a little girl. My mom has a black and white photo of me from when I was probably 5 years old rocking some giant headphones. I swear I look just like that photo (minus the 80s style headphones) in this picture. Weird right?

The next picture is by far my favorite. And more importantly, my husband’s favorite. This was the picture I surprised him with at the reception. I had it printed in a large size, framed and hanging with the pictures of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents on their wedding day.

So a few facts for you, in case you are wondering:

Makeup was done by Susanne of Best Face Forward, Hair and Makeup. I absolutely adore her, and Kara, the owner of that company. They work all over Virginia and part of North Carolina.

Again, Photography was all Echard Wheeler!

The dress was purchased from the lovely girls at Ava Clara Bridal in Virginia Beach, VA.

It is the Augusta Jones: Bobbi.

The sash/belt, along with my jewelry were purchases from a small bridal boutique in Richmond, VA.

You know I’m a fan of all-things-wedding so I hope y’all enjoyed this sneak peek into my “Wedding Wednesdays!” I can’t wait to share more with you… but beware - glitter may come through the computer screen at you!

Going to the Chapel!

February 13, 2013 by Susan 5 Comments

Once upon a time, Michael was dating a girl who was a crazy planner. Not only did she plan just about everything for fun, but she was also a professional Wedding Planner.

Michael deserves some sort of award for not only putting up with all of my obsessive wedding talk and hours spent on Pinterest, but he deserves an award for all the thoughtfulness, time and energy he put into planning the perfect proposal! It takes a lot to out plan a planner… but he did it!

Here’s how it all went down:

We had been talking about getting married for several months. Michael even gave me permission to start planning, and to tell people we were “engaged to be engaged.” Whatever that means! I told him that was silly. Only crazy cat ladies actually start planning (and booking) their weddings without officially being engaged!

I went to a conference for wedding vendors in DC with one of my great college friends. On the way home we were talking about my “tentative” fall wedding. She informed me that she (a wedding photographer) was starting to book up in the fall, and she was concerned that she would book something on the day we were supposedly going to be getting married. I told her that I would talk to Michael… I too was getting worried, that if we wanted a fall wedding, places and vendors would be all booked up.

I met Michael for lunch when I got back to Newport News. I casually mentioned the conversation I had had with Katie… and how I was getting concerned. I timidly threw out the idea of us just going to look at a few venues… just so we were ready when we actually got engaged. I told him I had a few places in mind, but there was one venue that I absolutely LOVED… The Historic Chamberlin at Fort Monroe.

He calmly and casually said “Yeah, we could go check it out. I have been wanted to go see Fort Monroe and the historic museum there anyway.” (Which he really had been talking about for several weeks…) Testing the waters once again, I explained that I would have to call and make an appointment to tour the venue. Again, he agreed that it would be okay, even though we weren’t officially engaged.

Then he changed the subject and said “Oh, that Christmas present finally came in for you… want to come to my house and get it?” What girl doesn’t love presents!? It was an easy subject change! And I loved my NY Mets jersey that had David Wright’s number on the back, with my last name BENJAMINSON on the top!

Later that day I called The Chamberlin to set up an appointment. I found out that she still had a couple of dates available in November and got very excited. I told her that I was a local wedding planner, explained that I had seen the venue, but told her I wanted him to see the venue. She asked me what my fiance’s name was… I paused… trying to figure out if I should tell her that I was crazy and we weren’t engaged… or just play it off and spell out G-E-O…

I did what every crazy, non-engaged, wedding planner would do! I spelled his name, booked the appointment for Thursday at 4pm, hung up the phone, and danced around my room because my first choice venue was still available!

Thursday January 24 arrived! Michael was leaving for military work on Friday, so he told me that he had the day off. He just had to go into work in the morning to drop off all of his bags and help wrap up a few work issues. I planned to meet him at his house around lunch time and then we were going to head to explore Fort Monroe and the casement museum (ranked #3 on trip advisor’s ‘things to do on Hampton’s page! Which is why he really wanted to go.)

Of course it was the coldest day of the year. And we were planning to walk around a little island surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay. We toured the museum and wandered a bit. Then it was time to head to the Chamberlin for our appointment. I was sure to keep my left hand in my pocket as much as possible, just in case the lady called me out on where my ring was!

We toured the historic hotel… we saw the ballroom, some bridal suites, the lobby, the space for outdoor ceremonies and much more! I was asking my normal wedding planner questions, and would ask Michael a few things here and there to see what he thought. He didn’t really have all that much to say. To make me feel even worse, he really didn’t even seem to care we were there! My inner dialog went something like this… “He doesn’t want to be here. This was too soon. I shouldn’t have pushed him to come here. This is stupid.”

I asked the lady if we could see the rooftop solarium. I had had meetings there in the past and loved that room. It would be perfect for a rehearsal dinner and I wanted him to see it. She informed me that they were wrapping up a meeting and getting it prepped for a 50th anniversary dinner for two of the residents - but that we could sneak up there to check it out real quick. After going over the menu and the contract a bit (too thoroughly and slowly for my skill level… she was just dragging her feet!) it was time to go up to the rooftop before we headed out. We got into the elevator and Michael began playing with his cell phone. At this point I was really getting mad. This poor lady was doing her best to give us a great tour and not only was he not paying attention, but he was messing around with his cell phone!

When we got up to the room I saw the table set with champagne and flowers for the folks celebrating their 50th Anniversary. We stepped outside to look at the view, but it was so cold I just wanted to go back inside. The lady who was giving us the tour had a call on her walkie talkie. She said she needed to run downstairs real quick, that we should look around, and she would be right back up in a minute.

I looked at Michael and he is taking his coat off. I said in my sarcastic manner “What are you moving in?!” His response was “I’m just so hot. It was cold outside. But now I’m inside. And I’m hot.” Ummm ok.

I was looking around and noticed a present on the table! Here’s how the conversation went down…

Me: Michael look! A present! AND IT HAS MY NAME ON IT!

My Internal Thought Process: WOW! What great marketing! They have a gift for me! This is awesome. Bridal goodies so that I will have my wedding here! WOW She must have facebooked my company because the giftwrap is even purple and yellow. She must have known I went to JMU. Man this is awesome marketing!

Michael: Open it!

Me: NO! She hasn’t given it to me! You don’t open presents before they are given to you.

Michael: Well it has your name on it… you should open it.

Me: No. I’m not opening it until she gives it to me. That’s just rude.

At this point he has awkwardly pushed me in to the corner of the room with the present in his hand. I was trying to escape when he started to pull the tissue paper out of the bag!

Then I noticed a NY Mets jersey in the bag and immediately knew what was going on! But how?! (The jersey had HIS last name on it this time though!)

He got down on one knee and proposed. The ring had been in his pocket all day long!

My answer: YES! But how did this happen?! I don’t understand!!

He told me that he would explain it in a while, but first my sister was coming up to take pictures of us. Leslie said that as she was walking down the hallway to meet us all she could hear was me saying “I don’t understand!! I booked this appointment!! How did this happen!??!”

We had a few photos taken, then we had dinner at the private table that I was told was for the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary! It was for us all along! Champagne, flowers, dinner, and dessert! We had the whole room to ourselves! It was amazing!

Little did I know, not only was the Chamberlin Lady in on this the entire time, but Michael had been planning this for about a month! When I came home from DC and mentioned that we should go to The Chamberlin he freaked out! The plan would work after all!

Like I said… anyone who can out-plan a planner deserves an award.

It was such an amazing evening and will be a great memory for the rest of our lives!