The Wedding (Rated PG - Potential Girlyness)

I attended and was in my best friend, Heidi's, wedding this weekend. It was a blast! I was surprised at how much fun I actually had. I also wore myself out completely. The run down:

Thursday: Matt and I get into Cleveland just before 9pm and head over to Heidi & Kevin's house to help set up. We decide that since the afterparty/reception will involve alcohol that we will set up the bar. We realize that Heidi's parents have bought enough liquor to open a small bar (envision at least 5 bottles of gin, at least 15 bottles of various whiskeys, 6 bottles of rum, 4 bottles of vermouth, and lots of other stuff). We stay up late just hanging out and listening to the cd's I made for Saturday. I get lots of thumbs up from Heidi, her brother Scott, Lauren (Heidi's sister Gretchen's best friend), Heidi's mom, and others.

Friday: We arrive at the house again at 9am in order to go on various errands like picking up the flowers for the church, buying food for the party, and other misc. stuff. I get caught up on life with Heidi while Matt keeps Kevin sane. Beth S. (also a bridesmaid) shows up. Heidi goes on errands with her parents while Beth, me, Matt, Kevin, and Scott go to the mall to find Beth some shoes for the wedding. I get my first of many girly-girl points for the weekend by finding a pair of shoes that fit Beth and look cool. Beth gives kudos to my cd mix that Kevin stole to listen to before Saturday. Matt and I go back and crash for an hour before the wedding rehearsal. We arrive at the church at 6:30pm. The minister urged us to stick with a two-drink maximum, which led us all to say "What? 2 Drink Minimum??". We have pizza and wngs at the house. Anne and Sean show up as do my parents. We were all mostly good and crashed early.

Saturday: I stumble out of bed and pick up Sue L. so we can get our hair done. I miss the exit to go to the mall because I'm talking and haven't had enough caffiene. We get there 10 minutes late. The lady doing my hair pulls off a miracle and all of a sudden I have these awesome curls on top of my head in an up-do. My hair is piled so high that it almost touches the roof of my car when I get in. Luck and massive amounts of hairspray are the reasons for this. I almost don't recognize myself in the mirror (hopefully I get pictures soon). Sue, also full of curls, and I have the next girly-girl moment and rock out to Basement Jaxx's "Do Your Thing". We get to Heidi's house late and quickly change into our dresses. All the bridesmaids pile into my wee Toyota Tercel and we take off for the church (late, mind you). Gretchen has taken out all her piercings (including her lip ring which allows her to breath through the hole left behind and freak everyone out) and looks adorable but comments that she'll look like a refugee when we get back to the house after the wedding. That prompts everyone to spontaneously sing, "You don't have to live your life a refugee.. don't have to live like a refugee!" ala Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Heidi puts on her dress. We all spontaneously sing "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story. We take pictures. Can you just feel the girly-girlness oozing now? The wedding commences. We all get misty eyed and sniffly. I almost don't recognize my friend, Joe, from college, but it's all good. My dad marvels over my hair. We put cans on the back of Kevin's jeep. More pictures. I go back to the hotel and change, collect Matt, and return to the house. We eat, drink, and be merry. I have to inform Joe about a mutual friend that committed suicide, "Oh My God.. Joe.. we tried to reach you.. really.. we did." I updated Meg on news. Anne tells us about how she tripped as she tried to get out of a waiter's way at Perkins, fell over, and ended up flashing a table full of big black men (she was wearing a thong). They commented, "Nice butt" or something like that. Sean misses out on that. I enjoy the scene since I'm getting to see people from high school, college, and other places all in one setting. A mini reunion if you will. Everyone slowly drifts away and I hang out by the fire with Kevin and Matt. We leave so I can crash.

Sunday: We get up and have breakfast with my folks at Bob Evans. They leave for Rochester and we go over to Heidi & Kevin's to help clean up. Everyone is bumming around with that look like they hadn't slept in days. OH wait. They haven't. We do some cleaning. Beth, Gretchen and her boyfriend take off. Lots of hugs. We bum and clean for a bit more and then take off. I sleep most of the way to Erie, PA and then take over the rest of the way back to Rochester. We collapse in bed. What a great time!