Katie's wedding!

The physics department, the honors ceremony and my friends' wedding all happened in the same week. It was crazy busy! Since I was a bridesmaid in her wedding that meant that we were there for the rehearsal dinner and I was there at the butt crack of dawn on the actual day. For the rehearsal my parents watched the kiddos so that we could go (that's right, two nights that week we went out kidless!) and it was really good to catch up with friends. The rest of the girls from the quintet I played in, KABAJ, were in the wedding as well, so we got to hang with them! I don't know what it was but I couldn't keep my crap together during the rehearsal. I was a hot mess. I was honestly a little worried about it since this was just the rehearsal and not the actual day... but the tears they were a-flowing! I felt a little better because the other girls were a bit weepy too... I'm thinking it was a combination of things for me. That week was a lot of planning and being organized and then, of course, watching a childhood friend marry the love of their life is always a bit of a tear jerker.

The next morning came early! The wedding wasn't until 1 in the afternoon but she wanted us there at 8:30 for hair and make-up. Since I got my hair cut earlier that week mine was going to be simple and it was something that I could do. The make-up was a little nerve wrecking but I had a little bit of practice earlier that week during G's honors ceremony. The only time I had gotten all done up was when Jane did it and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to replicate, but I got my falsies on and everything and I think I did pretty well. I'm not gonna lie I was getting pretty tired by the time the wedding rolled around because we did a few pictures beforehand and as comfy as my shoes were they were getting a little sore already.

The ceremony went wonderfully. Nothing weird happened and I kept everything together! :) This wedding was a little extra special because I grew up with the groom, like I remember playing together in preschool, and the bride has been in my life since middle school! A lot of things coming together in the name of love and it's beautiful. It was also really nice to see the other girls and their significant others as well... just kinda made everything feel right.

The reception was a blast! It wasn't a typical reception but I would take this one over typical any day. It was at the Grand Rapids Brewing Co downtown. We got drink vouchers which was really nice of the bride and groom and their food selection was great! The bride, Katie, is a vegetarian so I was interested to see what food she picked. They had a mac n cheese bar which was amazing and excellent finger foods to go along with the beverages that you could get there. Our bass player showed up and it was a wonderful reunion of everyone.

Since the wedding was so early the reception was actually done by 7/8. I was ready to go home by then because I hadn't seen the kids all day! The crazies woke up in time to ride in the car with us to drop me at the church but I hadn't seen Norah yet. It was also fabulous being able to spend all the time with the husband all by myself. :)

Congrats to you Katie and Bram. May marriage rock as much for you, as it does for us. Blessings my friends!

JVG