Wedding Weekend!

The wedding is over! Hurray! Hurray! I finally realized my lifelong dream of being a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful wedding, mostly because my friend and her fiance were so thrilled to have found each other and to be marrying in their mid-forties, after such a long time of looking and loneliness. That part of the story has a lovely, fairy tale quality of hope.

The actual preparation for the wedding turned out to be so much work. I just didn't see that part coming at all! I am deeply relieved to be done with all of that responsibility. I really felt a deep obligation to do my very best to make my friend's day special.

After hours and hours of grooming appointments, I was finally in my car on Saturday, headed to the big moment. And I just thought, Wow, this really isn't that fun at all. I will say that the appointments paid off. I felt the most prepped and primped that I had ever achieved in my entire life. I was even more styled than for my own wedding! My hair turned out to be gorgeous and my stylist even created lasting curls.

The actual wedding was freezing cold. Unfortunately, we had a cold snap with temperatures in the 40s, so the outdoor courtyard setting with strapless dresses meant that we all shivered through the ceremony. The bride's arms were speckled with goosebumps. Notice that the picture is taken right in front of the lobby fire, where we all huddled to thaw out!!

After some food and many cups of coffee, we warmed up enough to get into the dancing. My girls especially enjoyed that part, and our family tried to keep the party going by staying out on the dance floor as much as possible. Most of the other guests weren't into the dancing, maybe because they were all above 35 years old, or maybe because they were also cold and tired. But the bride and groom were radiant. I hope they'll have a very happy, long life together.