To be clear: this was NOT OUR WEDDING! Lol. We're not getting married (yet). This was our friends' wedding.

Since before we even started dating, we've been talking about going to this wedding. In fact, the first moment we knew we liked each other had to do with accompanying each other to the wedding. Needless to say, we've been building up to this moment for nearly 2 years, and it feels really great that we were able to make it a reality!

The trip was supposed to be four days: Thursday to Sunday, where he would drive down from Canada Thursday morning, arriving in the afternoon, and I'd drive up from home to the hotel at the same time. We spend a lot of time over the summer choosing Brendan's suit, partly for the wedding and partly for future use in things like interviews and other formal events. We matched his shirt (which was also custom fitted and free with the suit) to my dress so we'd be a little coordinated. I had the hotel booked for Thursday and Friday night, and then Saturday night (after the wedding) the bride wanted to put us up in the castle where the wedding was held. It was going to be such a lovely time.

And then... BAM! All at once, our trip got slashed in half.

We only found out a few days before the trip that my SO had a "mandatory" class trip on the Friday, so he wouldn't be able to come down on Thursday. He tried so hard to get out of it but the only options were either a) attend the class trip and come later to the wedding or b) take the course again next year, after he's supposed to have graduated. Option b wasn't really an option, so now instead of seeing him for Thursday/Friday and Saturday/Sunday (Friday night and Saturday morning I'd be completely devoted to the bride), I'd only get him Saturday/Sunday, the busiest of the days.

We thought about staying a day later to get more time together, but I had a big all-day meeting at work on Monday and he had classes he'd have to attend.

As if that wasn't bad enough, when I called the hotel to change the reservation to just Friday night (for Brendan), they informed me that there was a two night minimum stay. I was so caught off guard that I had to excuse myself and then called them back to cancel after I let Brendan know. We were so flustered and worried about finding accommodation, because at this point in time, it was too late to book anything comparable in the area without paying twice as much. I told my mom about it and asked if Brendan could stay with her, and she managed to acquire a cot for her room for an extra $10/night.

THEN, on Thursday morning, the DAY WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE, Brendan gets this message from his program coordinator:

We were LIVID! It was too late, the car was booked for Friday-Sunday and the hotel was already canceled. We were not willing to frantically rearrange our plans for a second time. It was going to be short, and it was going to be stressful, but we were going to do it.


FRIDAY:

Brendan went to his class trip on Friday with the determination of a mad man. His instructor apologized profusely to him and felt absolutely terrible. Brendan, fueled by vengeance, kicked ass at the assignment and led his classmates along, then took off with his instructor's permission so he could at least make it to the wedding venue before 10pm. I asked him to stop by to see me first before going to the hotel where my parents were staying so that I could give him some things I had packed for him, including a belt for his suit.

I spent the afternoon and evening at rehearsal and dinner with the bridal party and the two families. We had a very good time, but missed Brendan during the rehearsal dinner. We'd already RSVPd and his meal had already been paid for; fortunately, the venue was kind enough to package his meal and send it back with me so that he could eat it at a later time.

When Brendan pulled up, I ran out to see him. He was grumpy and tired (it was a 7 hour drive) and just wanted to go to bed. I convinced him to at least come say hello to the bride and her family, since they had been so concerned about him arriving safely and asking about him all day. I brought him up to the outdoor fireplace where we had all been reclining and introduced him to everyone, and then the bride's parents said the magic words:

"We have an extra bed! You can stay with us."

We were SO RELIEVED. Brendan didn't have to drive any more (the hotel was 15 minutes away) and could stay right next door to me with the bride's parents. He wouldn't have to wake my parents up or schlep his things up to their room. It took a lot of stress off of both of us and we ended up cuddling and chatting by the fireplace for the rest of the evening before everyone decided to retire to bed.

The bride (a good friend of mine from high school) and I were sharing a bed, and I could tell she was anxious. I imagine it must have felt so strange to know that you were going to bed "single" for the last night!


SATURDAY:

The big day!!! I was up with the bride at 6:30am to start the process of getting ready. We got everyone showered and into their robes so that we could do hair and makeup (and mimosas). Hair and makeup both arrived at 9 and we each got our hair done up, and makeup if we elected for it (I did not). My hair was done first, so I had a lot of time to putter around before we would be getting dressed, so I headed out onto the back porch and found Brendan on his porch talking to his parents. He looked excited to see me with my hair done all nice, and I got to talk to his parents on video chat for a little bit.

Since I didn't have much to do while I waited, I went back and forth between the porch (to see Brendan) and the bride. I got really excited when I saw him come out in his suit (sans jacket) the first time. It was really happening! He was so cute and it was refreshing to talk to him after coming out of a room that was so full of busy girls.

Before we knew it, the photographer and videographer showed up and were ushering us out in our robes with only our hair and makeup done onto the balcony for photos. We did a shot with champagne, a drone shot of us cheering off the balcony, and various shots in between. Finally, it was time to put on our dresses, and we all came down and did various shots like that, and then the really special part: the bride in her gown. The bride looked so lovely and her dress was so perfect for her. Her mom came over and there was lots of crying while the bride put her mom's corsage on and the bride opened the groom's gift to her (I knew what it was because I'm also good friends with the groom and he told me in advance ).

During all this time, Brendan and I were texting back and forth about moving our things, as well as the bride and groom's things, up to the castle, since we'd all be staying there (in separate rooms) that night. Brendan was SUPER helpful and ran back and forth between the townhouses and the castle many times to get everyone's things and deliver the appropriate keys.

As the day went on and we all started to head outside for photos, Brendan met up with my parents and settled in with them. We finished up outside pre-wedding photos, carefully avoiding being seen by the groom and groomsmen. It took a lot of coordination and we got a lot of neat shots!

Then, finally... the wedding.

The procession was really beautiful and the groom absolutely 100% cried. Everyone was so happy to see the bride in her dress-- she was utterly stunning. Unfortunately, being outdoors and on the water, it was nearly impossible to avoid the wind, so I ended up holding her veil back while everyone said their parts and the couple said their vows. I think it worked out well, though-- I tried fighting the wind from blowing her train back towards me as well, but there was no winning that war!

Everything went beautifully, though, and shortly afterwards we went out on the docks to take some water photos. The grass was super wet and muddy in that area and actually sucked the heel protectors right off my heels as I was walking through, haha. I thought it was hilarious, and the best man (another friend of mine) was only able to find one of them on our way back up. Once we were done with photos, we were driven back up the hill in golf carts and waited for our time to be announced inside.

The reception was a lot of fun and the DJ was spot on with his music and announcement choices. The best man and I gave our speeches-- his was much longer and more poetic than mine, but I don't like public speaking very much and tried to keep it short. Everyone cheered, toasted, and applauded, and I think overall we both did really well. I settled in with my family and Brendan for dinner and finally got to hold his hand for a while, which felt so wonderful.

About half an hour in, the officiant (a friend of the bride's) called the best man and me up. Turns out that although the bride and the groom didn't need witnesses to get married in the state where they got their license, they DID need witnesses in the state where they got married! So I can cross that off my bucket list-- I witnessed someone's marriage!

We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing and dancing. The groom's family had set up a photo booth where you could take photo booth style photos with someone and then paste them into a scrapbook for the newlyweds, which I thought was such a great idea. Brendan showed me a few weeks later that he put one of his copies of the ones he and I did next to his weather clock, so he could look at it all the time. I thought that was so sweet! The bride also had a really great idea to put out a basked of flip-flops that anyone could take. I was in those flip-flops SO FAST, you have no idea. I am not good with heels, haha.

The bride had told me that they had planned to invite everyone outside and would bring out sparklers for some great photo opportunities, but what actually happened was about 100x better: unbeknownst to us, some other company had scheduled a huge fireworks show that night RIGHT on the water in front of the venue. We had the clearest, most gorgeous view of the lake and the fireworks show, and as soon as the fireworks started going off, everyone ran to the balcony to watch. We got some incredible photos of the bridal party and the bride and groom. I happened to take one myself that came out way better than I ever imagined, and both the bride and groom's families asked me to send it to them. The bride is currently using it as her display photo on facebook!

All in all, it was an absolutely gorgeous wedding, and everyone had a fantastic time. We cleared out at 10pm and said good night, then escorted ourselves to our respective rooms. Brendan and I finally got to spend some quality time together and ended up staying up until nearly 1 enjoying each other's company.


SUNDAY:

We got up kind of late and later found out that the bride and groom had apparently gotten up and moving quite early! Unfortunately, as a result of getting up so late, we were kind of crunched for time, so although we started breakfast together, we actually ended up taking turns running upstairs to pack up our things and bring them down so that we could return the room key on time. The best man came and hung out with us and ended up helping us carry things down, which was very nice of him. After breakfast and checkout were done, we said goodbye to part of the crew and loaded our things into the cars so they'd be ready to go. Brendan and I went back to the townhouses to make sure we got everything and ended up talking and relaxing with the bride's family for a bit. They had to go and we said goodbye to them, but we hung around for a little longer, took a bunch of extra food to go (there was SO MUCH!!!), and then walked down to the docks and spent a while just talking and holding hands. We were both pretty sad that it had to be such a short weekend and that we didn't get to spend more quality time together, but we had a good talk about life and things in general before it was really time to go. With that, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways-- him, north, while I went south.

I know you've been waiting patiently, so here they are: PICTURES! :P