Wedding Bells.

I've really been slacking on the blogging lately between my new job and the maid of honor duties and it's making me feel a tad guilty. To catch up, I'm happy to report that my best friend Erin got married on Halloween and it was beautiful. She was originally pretty nervous (as any bride on their big day is I assume), but us gals kept her pretty calm and we all enjoyed ourselves. The rehearsal itself came and went smoothly. We spent most of our time laughing and smiling with the little flower girl Cecilia (age 2) who was debating going down the aisle or not. Finally she turned to me, big brown eyes sparkling and said: "Katie is this a weddin church?" "Yup." I replied simply. She paused, brow furrowed. "I go down the aisle okay?" she asked, as if giving herself permission. "Okay." I said. "And tomorrow, you'll be wearing a beautiful dress and you get to hold very pretty flowers."

She was sold.

Her big brother Topher was the ring barrier. "We're getting married right Cookie?" he asked his sister (her nickname) causing us to crack up and Erin to loosen up, momertarilaly forgetting all the "what if's" that could go wrong. The priest carried us through the rehearsal pretty quickly, with only a few minor mishaps and lots of jokes. (Cecilia decided she didn't want to stand with the bridal party and declared this quite loudly with a "DON'T WANNA GO OVER THEREEEE" and tears. Lots of tears. "Mamma?" She begged. "I wanna be with youuuuu." I told her that Mamma was going to be right where Cecilia could see her. "Let's wave Cookie!" I said. We waved, Mom waved back. Tears averted. When the priest said "You may now kiss the bride" the best man pretended to push the groom out of the way and kiss the bide himself. We once again collapsed in laughter, with even the priest wiping away tears. "This is honestly the most fun wedding party I've ever had."

In the evening, instead of a huge rehearsal dinner, her mom had food prepared (insisting that she didn't need help) and we had a family meal. Erin's favorite was next on the agenda. A bonfire in the backyard. Growing up in Ohio, bonfires were a pretty big staple for me, so I too was as happy as a clam.

It's starting to get pretty chilly here in the northeast, so no coat weather is once again becoming a distant memory. We just about managed to keep warm with our hoodies if we huddled close enough to the flames. The groomsman party were mostly EMT's, and they kept us entertained with their crazy stories from work, including one about a man who was so angry that his car was cut open in order for him to be rescued...he sued the very people that saved his life. It sounds like kind of a dower written here, but trust me when I say it was hilarious.

After the groom party broke up for the night (hubby to be and pals stayed at a hotel the next town over, with a pool and other fun stuff) we just hung out at Erin's watching movies, then cartoons and prepared for the next day. I took a shower the night before at the hairdresser's request. While eating some snacks, Christine (one of the bridesmaids) looked at my hands.
"Katie!"
"What?"
"You bite your nails?"

I'll admit it, I don't have many bad habits. I don't drink (much). I don't smoke. (as in at all). But I do bite my nails. I have since I was a little sprout and my mother (bless her heart) never could get me to stop permanently. I did once, when money was promised, but I haven't kicked the habit for good.
"Yeah," I confessed. "And I know my hands look terrible."
"Wait here," Christine told me. She returned with fake nails. I'd never worn fake nails before. I don't know. The idea of putting super glue on your nail beds just to place acrylic crap on top never sounded appealing to me. But it WAS a wedding and I really couldn't have hands like a little girl's. I relented, and gave her my fingers. Each nail she placed on (carefully) looked okay until we reached the thumbnails. I have VERY tiny hands (children's gloves can fit on me. To get an even better idea of how elf like I am, I wear a size 3 children's shoe.). when I looked at the fingernails, they were a little long, but do able. The thumbnails however, were ridiculous. They were twice the size of my thumbs. The nails had to come off.
"Do you have nail polish remover?" Christine asked Erin. She did, but we also had to drive to CVS to obtain a chemical that would remove the nails and the glue. I'll say it rather undiplomaticly: What a pain in the ass that was. It was also painful period. Christine had to make sure that she didn't rip my nail beds off or the skin surrounding it. She tugged a little at one of the fake nails. "OW!" I blurted out. "Oh my God!"
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "This might hurt."

I have a pretty high pain tolerance, (spinal surgery will do that to you) but I was whimpering quite a bit as she removed each nail. Never again I say. Never again.
We went to bed pretty early, (around ten) knowing that we had to get up by 8 the next day. I slept in the guest bedroom like a baby, until sunlight hit my eyes. "It's going to be a great day for a wedding," were the first thoughts that entered my brain. And indeed, as I pulled back the curtain, I noticed the colorful fall leaves on the trees and the gorgeous flowers that had arrived the night before in the front yard. I climbed out of bed and was greeted by Maggie. She's the family dog, but has a special bond with Erin. They usually go everywhere together, Erin driving, Maggie her co-pilot with her doggy bed in the front seat. She's even been on a few dates with Erin. We knew James was the one when Maggie approved and James didn't care that Erin's four legged friend joined them on adventures. "Good morning sweetheart," I greeted. Her tail was wagging a mile a minute. "Are you excited?"
Erin's mom was already up. On the table, there was a whole platter of muffins, bagels, toast, pancakes, waffles and fruit.
"WOW!" I gasped.
"Eat up!" she said cheerfully. "It's going to be a busy day."

And indeed it was. Once I was up, I was off and running. Soon Christine, Amanda and our bride to be Erin, were up as well. Tammy, Erin's childhood friend and recent cosmetologist graduate, went to work on our hair at 8am. I was first.

"Warning you now," Tammy joked, "You're gonna hate me. There will be lots of pins and a ton of aqua net. You ready?"
"Sure." I said.
There was, indeed, tons of pins a lot of aqua net. I tried not to think of what I would have to do that evening when I would have to remove the pins, and was instead curious on what my hair looked like. I soon found out when she handed me a mirror and announced that she was finished. I was stunned at what she could do in 30 minutes. I loved it.

Amanda was next, followed by Christine.



And of course, our Erin.

After getting dressed and doing our makeup, we surprisingly had some time to relax. I couldn't believe though, that in a couple of hours, my best friend would be married.