Michigan wedding

Two of my best friends got MARRIED this past weekend! Erica and Tommy had a big, huge tent wedding in Michigan on Saturday. The weather was unusually chilly, but I loved the way everyone looked wearing sweaters over their dresses. It really got me in the mood for fall and apple cider. They did an awesome job designing the whole thing, using mason jar collections from both of their mothers and bouquets of yellow sunflowers on the tables. My camera was being moody, so these pics are all stolen from friends. :-)

Tommy and his parents... don't they look proud!?

awww...

Monkey & Gorilla cake topper

bow chicka bow waaaow....

There were a LOT of great dancers there, but Tommy's parents were my personal fave...

Tommy, Erica, and their families were sooo welcoming the whole weekend. Justin wasn't able to make it up to Michigan, so I was flying solo. Everyone really went out of their way to include me in the festivities. When I look back on their wedding, I know this is the impression I will carry with me. I hope someday people will say the same thing about our wedding!!

This wedding is the conclusion of my "wedding season" this year. How about you guys - are you still going to weddings this fall?

Running of the brides...

Have you ever seen [or seen footage of] the Running of the BULLS? I saw the event for myself a few summers ago in Spain, and let me tell you - it's violent and pretty brutal to watch. I cringed the entire time, thinking of the treatment of those animals. There's a good reason for the bulls to be running away, I'll just say that.

The Line.

Well, after my experience at the July 30th Running of the Brides event in DC, I can understand why the two events are compared. Now, I don't mean to imply that the brides are tortured before they are finally released from capture (like the poor bulls), but a lot of the bride[zillas] DO behave like out-of-control animals. They bring their enormous crowd - some brides-to-be brought 30 people with them!! - and they push and shove and yell at each other. They don't share, even if they KNOW they don't like the gown/s they are holding onto. Sometimes the reason is bargaining; they want to be able to trade for another dress. Other times, it's just for the sake of holding onto the most dresses in the store. Crazy b*tches.

These fine ladies are about to go insane.

Anyway, the Running of the Brides was not for me. Even if the girls were totally nutso, I could have handled that. I mean, that's all part of it, right? The craziness and excitement of buying a wedding dress.

The part I didn't like is that most of the dresses were disgusting. They were filthy from too much handling, a good portion had broken zippers or torn and tattered fabric, and one even had coffee spilled all over the train! Come on, now. I know they're on super-sale, but you can't tell me someone is paying $250 for a gown with coffee spilled all over it! Am I right?

the friends!

Despite not finding a dress, we did all have a fun time going! The experience is totally unique and now I can say that I've done it. I can watch the news next year and giggle at all those crazy people.

Me, my aunt, my mom (can you tell?) and Mo$.

My mom and my aunt drove all the way from Long Island to get up at 6am and wait in an absurdly long line, just to watch me try on wedding dresses in my underwear in front of strangers. Aren't they the best?

Mama and me.

Two of my bridesmaids that live nearby also braved the crowds with us. Oh... um, we haven't actually asked any of our bridal party if they will please be our bridal party yet, so shhhh. Hopefully soon.



Some of these dresses were OKAAYY, but I didn't particularly like any.



Ignore the sports bra. I know, I'm classy.

This last picture is a dress that I actually did love. Lace wedding dresses are beeeaauutiful. The lady wearing it ended up buying it, so I never had a chance to put it on. Oh well, wasn't meant to be I guess.

Now, if you're thinking about going to this event, I would still totally recommend it! I know, I know, I just bashed it for a whole page. Still, though, it's an experience. Maybe you won't find your dream dress, but maybe you will. I've still heard more positive reviews than negative, so you just never know. Maybe it's just the one in DC that sucks. ;-)

See you hot mamas next time.

Getting ready with the ladies

A wedding is a great excuse to spend some QT with your best girls friends, gettin' your nails did at the local hole-in-the-wall salon. Here's two of them, enjoying their sorta-questionable foot bath:

After our nails were all prettied up, a few of us headed over to the hotel to get ready with the bride. My friend Stef is great with hair and make up, so I asked her to style my hair for the night. I'm so glad I did - she did a great job and I didn't have to worry about it. Here she is, doing makeup for one of the other bridesmaids.

(PS - Stef is also an awesome personal trainer in Baltimore!! Her info is listed on Baltimore Bride.)

The morning of the wedding day was nice and relaxed. Kalyn's nieces all got their hair done, so it was fun to hang out with them at the hotel all day. She has A LOT of nieces and nephews... kids have a great way of keeping things laid back. (or sometimes doing the exact opposite...)

Pat's sister also has an adorable little one. The poor baby wasn't feeling good on Friday, but she seemed fine by the wedding on Saturday evening, luckily. How cute is this pre-wedding pedicure? Lucky little girl!

Kalyn and Pat hired Melissa Barrick as their photographer... I can't wait to see how her pictures came out. She and her assistant were so friendly and easy to get along with. It really goes to show how important it is to hire vendors that are people you like! They both made the whole experience very enjoyable.

Kalyn & Pat's engagement pics are here (Melissa's website) and here (Kalyn's blog), if you'd like to see some of Melissa's work. She also posted a sneak peak of their wedding pictures & day after shoot.

Annapolis wedding - the rehearsal

Two of my best friends were married to each other on Saturday. Kalyn and I were roommates for three years in college, and both of our guys went through a lot of their military schooling together. The four of us have so many memories together, and it was awesome to see them through such a special time in their lives. Since the boy and I were lucky enough to be in the bridal party, we spent all weekend with Kay and Pat.

Here they are! Practicing the aisle walk...

A table full of crabs !! YUM.

The beach-side ceremony rehearsal was followed by a ridiculous buffet. We ate every kind of seafood and drank ice cold beers. If you're ever in downtown Annapolis, make sure to stop at Buddy's Crabs and Ribs for an amazing feast.

Princess Kalyn

I threw a bachelorette partaaay this weekend for my very-special-lady-friend Miss Kalyn. All the girls arrived on Friday night and Saturday morning. Our first activity was a trip to the Capitol Skyline pool party.

When we first arrived around noon, there were a lot of little kids and babies in the pool. Around 1 o'clock or so, the dj started cranking up the music, and by the time we left the place around 4 o'clock it looked like this:

The water was so full of hair, suntan lotion, and bodies that we lost a pair of sunglasses on the bottom of the pool. You couldn't even see your feet! Kinda gross, but the people watching and poolside drinks were totally worth it.

Next, we headed back to the house for some dinner, bachelorette games, and a little R&R. Here we are getting the party started back up with some cherry jell-o shots....

We spent the rest of the night getting a little late-night tour of Washington DC on the Boomerang Bus. They don't disclose the evening agenda for the bus until you start the trip, so after the meetup we found out which three bars we were headed to for the night and met the other people on the bus. We ended up having a great time, and now I can't wait to see everyone again next weekend for the wedding!

Nanny and Poppy

My Poppy John is 85 years old and he is so cool. He took all of his original old photographs and scanned them into his computer. Last time I was home, I pulled this one onto a thumb drive to keep for myself, but I can't wait to save them all to my hard drive when I go back to visit this August. I want to frame some of the best ones and hang them in my house someday.

I think it would be really cool to display wedding pictures from our families at our own wedding. I'll have to think about ways to do it.