If you’ve been reading this blog for the past month, you
know that my best friend got married last weekend. It was absolutely wonderful
from start to finish – I’ll do my best not to ramble, but I make no promises. Also, this is going to be a very photo-heavy post, so be prepared!
I arrived at Erik and Natalie’s house on Thursday night to
find a house full of family members. Their aunt, uncle, and two cousins
(Melissa and Fernando) from Tennessee were staying there, along with their grandmother
and cousin, Carol, from Florida. From that point forward, I spent the weekend
being the only one in the house who didn’t speak Spanish and not understanding
a single thing anyone said to each other.
The festivities kicked off that evening with a quick outing
to a local bar, but Natalie and I called it a night while the rest of the “kids”
went to the next bar. Friday was pretty relaxed – some people had work, the
visiting relatives went to see some other local family members – so I spent the
day lounging with Erik and Carol. The rehearsal started at 5pm, which we were just on time to, and went relatively
quickly.
Rehearsing!
Rehearsal dinner was so much fun. The groom’s mother made
the entire spread, including everything from Swedish meatballs to baked ziti to
delicious cheesecake and cookies. We took tons of pictures and the gifts were
handed out – the bridesmaids got Coach purses (mine’s red!), the groomsmen got
personalized beer mugs, pocket knives, and gift cards for restaurants, and we
bridesmaids also presented Natalie with a photo book we put together. Overall,
it was a fabulous time.
Lady Lumps at rehearsal dinner.
The boys with their new mugs!
The boys with their new mugs!
Saturday morning was relatively calm, which was unsurprising
since I had a later hair appointment than everyone else. With all the other
ladies (besides Carol) at the salon at 8:30 and Erik heading out for groomsmen
bonding, there were four of us left: me, Carol, Fernando, and Natalie’s dad. This was great because I had time to relax and do my makeup in peace.
When I arrived at the salon, Danielle was just getting her hair finished. Mine
took about an hour and then it was time for the chaos to begin. When I arrived back at the house, the photographer and
videographer had just shown up. Danielle and I got ready just in time for
pictures and soon after that, we were on our way.
The gorgeous bride making her trademark silly face.
Me, Danielle, and our fellow bridesmaid, Paris.
The limo ride to the church was the worst part of my day because limos tend to make me nauseous, so I felt terrible once we got to the church. Thankfully, the adrenaline from lining up and watching Natalie pull up pushed away all the nerves and gross feelings. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. I got to walk down the aisle with Erik, which made me super happy. I cried when Nat came down the aisle and when vows were exchanged. It went relatively quickly and before I knew it, we were processing out and handing out bubbles to all the church-goers. After that were a couple of hours of picture-taking, which I absolutely loved (and Erik absolutely hated), and then we headed to the reception.
The bride and her proud papa, arriving and walking down the aisle.
Procession out of the church. We're cute. :)
I had so much fun
at the reception, but I’m not sure I can do it justice in writing. We made our
grand entrances down a staircase – I hitched a piggy-back ride on Erik from the
bottom of the stairs to the dance floor – danced all night, ate really good
food, and took a ton of pictures. Our fellow groomsmen, Steve, kept joking that
Erik and I were taking our bridal party partnership way too far, what with holding hands, dancing together, and
kissing. The highlight was the removal of the garter, where Carol screamed for
Kyle, the shyest and most modest guy ever, to use his teeth… and he DID. Natalie’s
dad sobbed the entire way through the father-daughter dance, making everyone
else cry. I did a decent job at salsa dancing, enjoyed every moment of my slow
dances with Erik, and by the end of the night, I was exhausted in the best way
possible.
Removing of the garter. So great!
My favorites.
On the dance floor!
It was a really great day from start to finish. My anxiety
didn’t get the best of me, the weather stayed gorgeous when it counted (it
started pouring during the
reception), and everyone looked beautiful and had a great time. I had high
expectations for this wedding and I was thrilled that it turned out to be everything I thought it would
be.
