Usually I wouldn't start a blog entry with a photo of a detail… but let me tell you… THESE shoes were QUITE the show stopper!  VERY much Laura's favorite element of the day. 

🙂

 She waited until I photo'd the shoes to put in the "foot petals"  Though, upon further examination… their shape (sitting on her knee) is quite interesting… 😉

 This is SOOOO Laura… and I adore her! 🙂  You see, they had to do some SERIOUS teasing to get her hair to have a good poof…  🙂 I've never seen hair teased up that high! (which would explain why her hair didn't BUDGE the entire day!)

 She had this hanger made by an Etsy artist… Pretty cool, huh?!

 Chuck is a journalist… Laura gave these vintage typewriter key cufflinks to him the morning of their wedding.  One of the many things I learned about Laura that day… she's an incredibly good and thoughtful gift giver!

 …. SEEEEEE… he likes them! 🙂

 On the way over to the church, we were all on the bus when Laura snuggled in to his neck to smell for Chuck's cologne… "Are you wearing the cologne I got you?!"

He responded… "I put it on!"

She sweetly moved in to smell his neck…

"WHERE?!"

Maybe you had to be there… it was super funny. 😀 I told Mike about it later and he said… "I watched him put it on!" I thought to myself… Mike never remembers little things like that… weird!  Then I saw this photo… and realized why he remembered! That's quite the memorable expression for the application of cologne! 😀 Chuck is so expressive/animated!  I'm a fan 🙂

 ABBBBBBSOLUTELY our FAVORITE part of the day… this was THEEEEE best first sight we've ever ever EVER witnessed.  Chuck turned around to see her and with THE most genuinely astonished look on his face he exclaimed, "WOW!!!! You look like a model out of bridal magazine! You're so beautiful!!!!" Meanwhile Laura is wiping tears.  MAN OH MAN I'm giving this ZERO justice as I'm not good at telling stories… but I assure you… it was one of the most perfect and genuine moments we've seen.  Mike's favorite photo ❓

 BRING IT IN TIIIIIGHT!!!!!

 Cleveland in January = COOOOLD! these two were TROOOOOPERS! 😀 Laura said, "cold is temporary… these photos we'll have forever" Yeah… told you I adore her 🙂

 OH how I wish more guys would wear fun socks! (hint hint hint…)

 Laura did ALLLLL of the calligraphy… and it was beautiful (and properly bobbi+mike branded!)

 AHHHH!!!!!! SO FUNNY!!!!!! Right as she was getting ready to feed him the cake… she faked him out and took the first bite 🙂

 I cannot get over the perfection that is this photo… Chuck, I love how you love her.

 Then we went out for a few minutes to get some nighttime downtown Cleveland amazingness.

 Dontchya wish you were invited to that party?! BOOOYA!!!! WE WERE!!!!! 😉

 The most amazing ending to an awesome day.

Notice her bustle came loose? You see… right before the reception, her bustle broke.  Now, I don't mean to brag… but I'm kind of the queen of the bustle. 😀  I'm also the queen of humbleness! 😉 Anyway… as soon as it broke, the wedding planner ran over with some safety pins… Laura has been reading this blog for quite a while and has known of my bustling triumphs… "BOBBI! YOU CAN FIX IT!!!!!" So, I went to work and guaranteed its quality… 

"It'll last all night, I promise!"

Well… 4+ hours later… as they were doing their FINAL dance… four safety pins fell onto the dance floor and out came her bustle. As soon as the song ended, she noticed, looked at me and exclaimed "PERFECT TIMING!"

….WHEW!  Close call… Luckily for me, I can still claim my throne as the queen of the bustle 😉

CLEVELAND, Ohio.

The pe
ople who made this day happen:

Wedding Planner: Valarie Kirkbride Falvey of Kirkbrides
Hair: Deena Nicely of Sublime Salon, Orange Village, Ohio
Makeup: Ramona Dauksiene
Church: St. Raphael Catholic Church, Bay Village, Ohio
Florist: Grande Designs
Reception venue: Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square
Caterer: Sammys
Band: The Jerry Bruno Orchestra
Cake: Flour Girl
Reception Lighting: Vincent Lighting
Etsy vendor for hanger: LilaFrances (I asked because I knew many of you would want to know!)
Photographers: bobbi+mike, duh.

I emailed Laura a series of questions… told her she could pick out whichever ones she wanted to answer 🙂

Favorite moment of the day?

The last dance funky reprise of "Stand By Me" – I think it's impossible to get tired of that song, and the fact that they played it twice – for the first and last dance – makes me happy 🙂 Chuck liked when we were announced as "Mr. and Mrs." at the reception and I kind of dove onto him and kissed him. ha!

…By the way… see the last photo above… THAT'S the moment she's referring to! 😀

Advice for future brides/grooms?

Other than hire Bobbi+Mike?! Hire a wedding planner! Valarie was phenomenal – I didn't worry about a thing all day.

Would we change anything?

Nope. It was perfect. (other than the broken bustle – Bobbi to the rescue!)

…a quick tip from me… make sure your bustle consists of more than one tie!

Favorite purchase?

Other than my Kenneth Pool gown, my Shannon Britt shoes were a fave. Hopefully they don't look like Eskimo shoes in the pictures – they were just too much fun!

Laura and Chuck…. AHHHHH!!!!! You two are the BEST BEST BEST!  We loved every second of your day. We TRULY felt like old friends with fancy cameras 🙂 From Chuck's excitement about his gift (a fancy new Canon camera!!!!) and sharing it with us during your first sight… to the trip with just me around the block in the limo bus right after your wedding… not ONCE did we feel like "just your photographers." Usually we try and blend into these private moments as they we're not even there… however, that's not how you two roll… and it was perfect 🙂 Thank you for being you… 

MUCH LOVE!!!!!!

~bobbi+mike ❗ + ❓

PS. blogreaders, could use your help here… is there anything else I could add to the followup questionnaire that you'd like to know?? This new blog format is still so new to me!

Nice photo bomb there Brent! PS. I assure you, I start out the day looking a WHOLE lot fresher… EEEKS!

 first sight…

 My famous dorky winter hat 🙂

 Testing the light before they came outside…

❗ + ❓