The Push to Elope! part 2

Well… two weeks have turned into forever! But not really since you all are really getting this 2 days later. LOL Ugh, being over optimistic can sometimes blow back in your face. LOL Building a website with NO I.T. skills has been… fun.

via GIPHY

Let’s start the drinking game again! Remember drink when you see wedding, elope, or elopement.

When I turned to Cool Blu saying, “we’re getting married, so you can go on my insurance.” He said, “ok.”

Side note: We did NOT just get married for insurance reasons. At this point we had been together 8 years and Cool Blu had proposed on 02/14/2018. That’s another story for another time.

After leaving the E.R. we went spent a few days discussing necessary life changes and how we wanted to have our now “rushed wedding”. First we told our parents and closest friends/wedding party what was going on with C.B.’s ( Cool Blu) health and how our original plans for the wedding has changed. Most of the parents were excited, until we stated we did not want to go the courthouse route and just wanted a private ceremony with them and maybe our siblings. The excitement faded when we started discussing having the ceremony in either MD/PA or Florida.

We have 4 sets of parents between the two of us, both of my parents remarried after their divorce and Cool Blu’s dad was recently married. The parental sets reside in MD/PA and Florida, hence the ceremony being between those “3” places. (When you live in Baltimore, MD, you’re literally an hour and 30 minutes from PA and if you travel there often they tend to blend to you) BUT two out of the 4 sets decided to make it extra difficult, offering unwanted alternatives, what to accept since it was “rushed” or being difficult about traveling. The traveling aspect was somewhat sympathize even though some options of discounts were provided. So after a few weeks of, “what if this”, “we could do this, to make it easier”, and “$5,000?! I only need the place for 2 hours max! If that!” let’s just say we lost our patience.

So after the, ” F*ck it! Let’s elope!” moment. I instantly went into plan mode! We started discussing where and we wanted for our big day. First things first, my #1 requirement was a mountain background!!! I believe in using nature for what it’s here for… to admire, preserve, and use. Mountains have such a strong and calming presence and that’s the vibe I wanted. Last BUT most important BOMB photos!

First, we considered location… like I stated before mountains were a must. And I left that decision up to Cool Blu. We wrote up a list of states we were considering: Vermont, Colorado, Nevada (Las Vegas), and I believe Arizona was in the running. Las Vegas won, based off of neither one of us ever traveling there, the fun factor, and all the options available for wedding planning. Be careful when planning an elopement! It’s becoming very popular and the wedding industry has found a way to get ALL the dollars even with small ceremony. Since we wanted a mountain background, most national parks require expensive licensing and an extreme amount of paperwork. So we went to the “Mighty Duo” of research for elopement YouTube and Pintrest and received so many great ideas and how to’s. Trust me on this, search, “Elopement videos” on YouTube you will get all the feels.

Seven Magic Mountains was a constant pop up for must-see attractions and elopements. Cool Blu chose Seven Magic Mountains, because the look and idea was dope. And because, “it matches your personality” according to Cool Blu. Ugh, how did I get so lucky! LOL

With the location, ceremony site, and date picked we only had 2 major people left to choose: our officiant and photographer. Dun da Duhhhh (super hero music LOL)

I know you all are asking questions like: “Didn’t your parents have questions?” “Were they suspicious?” “What was the reaction?” “How did y’all pull this off and spoke to your parents on the regular?” “Are your parents talking to you now?!”

Okay, I’m a bad liar! So, it was very hard in the beginning for me. If we were giving out details I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget the lie. My brain works like this; if it’s not something I’m using or a random off the wall fact, I tend to forget. Sad I know, but that’s my truth! LOL Anyway, we gave out very few fake details so it wasn’t anything major to remember. The lie we told was; the wedding was going to be in September, in Pennsylvania located in a public park with beautiful trees. And then I shut my mouth. Prior to Cool Blu going to the hospital I had periods where I didn’t talk about wedding planning at all, so when I got quiet about it, it wasn’t strange to them.

I don’t believe the Parental Blu’s were suspicious, my dad did say he thought for a quick second we might elope, when we went to Vegas but wasn’t sure. We did inform Cool Blu’s stepmom about the elopement, because we COMPLETELY forgot they were going to be in Vegas around the same time for Papa Cool Blu birthday. And did NOT want any mix-up’s or people thinking they were the only one’s invited to the wedding. We had birthday dinner with Papa Cool Blu and luckily they flew out the very next day, one day before the wedding. (Had to underline because some people were trying to stir the pot.) And yes, we still talk and have healthy relationships with all the Parental Blu’s after our elopement. The remaining questions will be answered through out this post.

Where was I… Oh yeah! We had to find 2 more major people for our big day, the officiant and the photographer. Our officiant Jamelle is a “Vegas Elopement” celebrity on Pintrest. LOL I don’t think she knows it. She kept appearing in different photo’s on Pinterest and I want to say a few videos on YouTube. So I thought to myself, she must be great since she married almost everyone in Vegas. I reached out to her via Instagram (@xoxojamelle/ website: www.xoxojamelle.com) and the rest was history! She has great prices and worked with calling during EST that worked for me. I informed her we wanted a champagne toast after the ceremony, she came up with the idea to of the mimosa and donuts set up for us. And supplied it as as well! Bonus: she was a black woman!

• 

• 

Side note: With our wedding we wanted to make sure we used as many Black/people of color, small, women-owned businesses as possible. Think about it Shea Moisture, Juvia’s Place, even Martha Stewart were all one of these type of businesses, now look at them. Support small and local!

Coming up on, “The Push to Elope! part 3” … I tell y’all about our PHENOMENAL photographer, videographer and witness Kelli (@photo_housedmv)! Our parents reactions and more photos! See you in a couple weeks with the conclusion of this story. There WILL be post in between, so don’t you fret!

Love Y’all, Lady Blu