My Best Friend's Wedding (Recap Of My Sister's Wedding and the Other Surrounding Events.)

My older sister got married to her college sweetheart this weekend.

I posted a lot of photos on facebook, but I'm not going to post a lot here.

I'll post enough so the blogosphere can just get a feeling of how much fun it was.

The day before there was the rehearsal and dinner.

First thing's first, we had to drop Bruin and my parents' dog Molly off at the kennel.

I think they thought we were just going camping. But they caught on fast...

 Then once we made the three hour drive to the area that the wedding was taking place, we needed to get our nails done. We met up with the bride and the other two bridesmaids (his sisters) to get all perdied up. (One of my other sister's couldn't make it because of the trip but we took care of that later.

I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my nails. Acrylics or natural? Color or basic french manicure?
I decided that since I've done the acrylic thing a couple of times and hated getting them off, I would skip it this time around.
And then, looking at my short nails I decided that this wedding was going to be a good time. My nails might as well look like I was having one.

Cue in the wedding colors and polka dots.

You're only maid of honor once right? Well maybe not, but still, maid of honors are supposed to help the party progress. My nails did the talking.

The rehearsal was sweet and a taste of the wedding to come the day after.

They were so cute pretending to do their vows.

The reception for the rehearsal, hosted by the groom's parents, was at an Italian restaurant that provided a beautiful space for us to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. It used to be a bank so there were some people eating in vaults which was cool. We had a nice wide open space with lots of natural light.

I felt like I was in a pretty greenhouse!

Oh, and there were fancy butters.

After dinner the wedding party headed to the pool at the resort for the reception and rooms where there was a huge water slide. Let's just say we had a pretty awesome time.

Then it was time for the big day.
The groom and his groomsmen (which included my husband Dave) spent the day bowling and go-karting. Not seeing Dave the night before and the entire day, and then seeing him in a tux reminded me of my wedding day a little bit. (Which got me even more excited for my sister's!)

The bridal party got ready at the bride's house all day long. Because that's just what happens when you're a girl. But don't worry, we had a blast!

The photographer and hair/make-up arrived at 9 AM. They're a husband and wife duo which was very convenient. And they were a whole lot of fun!

We spent the day getting our hair teased, chatting, snacking, and taking selfies.

Getting our hair set took most of the morning!

One of the groom's sisters and fellow bridesmaid getting beautified by the master.

My turn to get my hair done. At this point we had 3 minutes before we needed to leave. She worked well under pressure!

 Notice my bling? On my right hand I had a yellow ring that complimented our dresses.
And on the left hand? Oh that would be a Claire's special!

I just couldn't resist! Love was the theme after all! And when else could I wear something else like this other than when I'm in a bridal party???!!

Just because.

The dresses:
We finally got dressed into our Dessy Twist Wrap dresses. They're super cool because you can wrap them every which way you'd like so all of the bridesmaids had different styles. I think I might actually wear it again, unlike every single other bridesmaid dress in existence.


My sister's dress was purchased from Andrea's Bridal in Portland. I went through them for my wedding, and she loved it so much she did too. I can't say enough great things about them. They make you feel special, the staff cares about you and get to know you ( We loved my consultant Ashley so much that we got her again for my sister!) and they really do get you the perfect dress in both style, comfort and price. If you live in Maine or close by, you HAVE to visit them. No where else is better!

So we got dressed and accessorized. I pretended to put Nicole's veil on before the hairdresser actually did with bobby pins and magic.

And then we filed into the limo off to the church!

Oh and I forgot to mention, it was pouring rain.
It's good luck right?
A few people joked that since on my wedding there was a blizzard, and Nicole had a thunderstorm, that my other two sister's would probably have hurricanes and earthquakes. All good luck!




I don't have any photos from the ceremony, because you know, I was busy holding the bride's flowers and handing a tissue back and forth. But I promise you it was beautiful.

A little anecdotal story as proof:
Nicole handed me her tissue because she was about to exchange rings and do vows.
Well, as you can imagine, the waterworks started going like any good wedding.
With no tissue to dab, and her hands in her groom's a tear started running down her cheek.
Well Travis reached right over and wiped that tear off her cheek.
Those who weren't already tearing up in the church started to riiiight about then.

The ceremony ended, we proceeded out, and then came back in for our professional photos. (Which I am super excited to see, I think we took some cute ones!)

The wedding party made our way out into the rain and into the limo.

The reception was held at Steele Hill Resorts, where many of us were also staying for night. A worthwhile and beautiful place to check out if you're ever in the Laconia area.

We made it to the reception hall and got shuffled into order, I was told myself and the best man were giving our speeches immediately when we got in. (Don't worry I got a sip of champagne after the best man did his before I did mine!)

That's when the real fun began.
We danced and danced and danced and danced.
There were sweet moments like their first dance, the father daughter dance, and the mother and groom dance.
I especially enjoyed the first dance.
It was to Michael Buble's "Everything" and they had rehearsed it.
Now, normally I'm not into rehearsed wedding dances.
BUT OMG THEIRS WAS SO ADORABLE!!!!!

Did I mention that my sister is incredibly gorgeous, the groom is handsome, and they're perfect for each other? Well now I have.

The garter was caught, family members were visited with, the shoe game was played. (If you don't know the shoe game or haven't seen it LOOK IT UP.  It's a lot of fun!)




I don't have many other photos from the reception because, I was again, do maid of honor-y things, which primarily meant dancing my face off.
I did get some time to visit with my in-laws (my husband's family) who were invited to the wedding. They were big hits on the dance floor.
Here's just one of the photos of me and the studs when they were taking a break from breaking it down. This also kind of shows my hair. I had a side braid with a low bun on the other side, and a side twist to dress up the other..

 The bridesmaids and bride were able to steal away for a few photos with our new sunglasses we received the night before as a part of our thank you gift. We just couldn't resist.

The two maids on the left are the groom's sisters and of course the bride and the other two goofballs are my other sisters. Some good looking gals don't ya think?!

Overall, it was a fantastic time. It had all of the right parts of everything. Beautiful ceremony with some moments to laugh and cry. A reception with good people, good food, and good dancing.
The party lasted all the way until midnight, and we enjoyed ourselves every single minute.

Perfect ending to the perfect night?
Watching the groom carry the bride from the reception area back to their suite to keep her from getting wet. (Collective awwwww is appropriate here.)

Of course the next morning we got out of bed, packed up, ate brunch actually right where the reception had taken place and took in a few last views with friends who had traveled for the wedding.

My mother and father, youngest sister, husband and I traveled back up to Maine together in our rented vehicle taking a few naps and reliving some moments of the wedding.
And of course one of my highlights of that day was picking up Bruin from the kennel.
When we pulled in we saw him and my parent's dog playing around in their run having a grand old time, which actually made it easier picking him up, knowing that he was enjoying himself.

But based on his reaction when he initially saw us, and later when we traveled back up to our house I'd also like to think he was pretty happy to be going home.

There it is, the wedding weekend.

I mentioned last week that I spent a lot of time and effort crafting my toast for the bride and groom.
I got my sister's permission and will be sharing that here later this week.
I will also be sharing the gifts that I made and gave them and the DIY tutorial of how I did it. 

Have a grand Monday!