Whew! It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for me, but I’m finally back at my desk and SO ready to recap our adventure. The first part was attending my best friend’s wedding in York, PA and after flying from Honolulu, connecting in Denver and finally landing in Baltimore, we were ready to party! I had been anticipating Allie’s wedding all year and after missing her bachelorette and shower thanks to Hurricane Lane, I was mega excited to partake in all the special wedding festivities. It was an absolutely breathtaking wedding weekend from start to finish and I would be remiss in not giving it some special airtime here on the blog 🙂
Dane and I got to the east coast late Friday evening and were up early Saturday to get in a good workout before getting dressed and ready to head to the rehearsal dinner. Dane had packed his custom grey suit from Thailand without thinking twice, except for when he put it on as we were walking out the door, we realized it definitely no longer fits. He’s lost a good bit of weight since that trip and the pants looked like clown pants. It was BAD. I needed a sticky bra for my dress for the next day so we made a quick pit stop at Target to see if we could remedy the situation. He was planning to wear the suit for both events (rehearsal and wedding) and just simply wanted something that looked a bit less sloppy!
(We definitely streamed the Penn State game while waiting to rehearse + eat!)
Target for the freaking win! He snagged sport pants to go with his suit coat (thankfully that still fits really well) and you could barely tell a difference in the coloring. It was slightly off, but it was mostly dim lighting so it looked great. He changed in the Target bathroom and we were on our way. PRAISE!
As soon as I saw Allie, everything started to feel real! The rehearsal went off without a hitch and then it was time to chow at the dinner (held at Box Hill Mansion). Jim’s parents put on a delicious spread and even more delicious cheesecake dessert…YUM. Allie had asked me ahead of time to give a speech and I had initially written a song speech to the tune of Michael Buble’s “Everything”, but wound up just writing a normal speech, because I was nervous about sound issues. It went really well, even if I cried…FACE PALM. I just couldn’t help it!
Allie and Jim hosted some friends after dinner at a nearby bar, where I got to see more old friends and it was so nice to catch up. We had a super early wake-up call the next day though, so admittedly I was like – okay, I’m exhausted…time for sleeping! I sent Dane home and spent the night with Allie before the big day.
(I didn’t realizing ‘Icing’ was still a thing – but apparently it is! Ha!)
We woke up and I truthfully felt like I hadn’t slept at all, but…IT WAS THE BIG DAY! I remember rolling over and squealing “IT’S YOUR WEDDING DAY!” We headed off for hair and makeup and Allie’s family brought all of us mimosas and breakfast.
After leaving the salon, Allie’s mom had arranged for us to all have lunch back at her house prior to us getting our dresses on, which was so yummy! Honestly I can’t even remember what all was in the spread except Spanakopita, but I kept thinking “I don’t know how she did all this AND is hosting a wedding” LOL! It was finally time for us all to put our dresses on and then for Allie to put hers on and wow – I can’t really even put into words how beautiful of a bride she was. The dress, the hair, the makeup — she was breathtaking. Her dress was really simple, but fit like a freaking glove and just looked so dang classy!
(I loved this sweet moment I captured with her dad)
And honestly – the above is the last of the photos I actually took. My phone got sent in a bag with my parents right after I snapped this, so the only other photos I have are ones that have been sent to me. It’s completely unlike me, but I have to admit – I enjoyed every single moment of Allie and Jim’s wedding day sans technology. The Greek Orthodox ceremony was beautiful and the reception was just so filled with love. A few favorites from the day include: the crown ceremony that took place at the altar, the yummy Jordan almonds given out with the programs (my parents let me have some of theirs!), seeing the reception venue for the first time (it was candlelit and just completely romantic with lots of florals, greenery and sparkle), the funfetti cake, THE LIVE BAND (they were out of this world good), traditional Greek dancing, doughnut wall and just having an amazing time dancing, laughing and smiling. It was a perfect day and I kept looking around and thinking “there is so much love in this room”.
Love amazes me and I could not be happier for Allie and Jim. Here’s to a lifetime of love, laughter and seeing each other more 🙂
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