It's Like I Waited My Whole Life

**Editor's note: I was total paparazzi at the blessed event in which SR became SC this weekend, but since I wrote a novel below, pictures will come next... or maybe tomorrow.**

When a bride's only requests of her DJ are to play "Disturbia," "Glamourous" and "Poker Face," you should have an idea of what kind of wedding you're in for.

 

Friday I made it up to the hotel and hopped in the car with AS, KR and RM to get SR to the church for the rehearsal. SR and I grew up going to the same church, where I have been going to weddings for years. Everyone found their places, practiced the requisite processional and left for dinner. 

 

Dinner was held at a steak restaurant and everyone was packed into rectangular, candlelit tables bordering a private room on three sides. Glasses of wine were practically brimming, and a solid hour of drinking before eating made for lively conversation.

 

Back at the hotel, our neighboring rooms piled into one big bed with the bride in our new white monogrammed robes for one last night of being ridiculous. AV had a new application called QuadCam on her phone that kept us entertained for a solid hour. Easily.

 

Saturday came and we were awake with the sun, or at least prior to 8:00 AM. AS, MK and I set out downstairs in our robes in hopes of Starbucks, and while ordering our lattes, found that we were very near the pro shop for the resort's golf course. Since we were still in the 8:00 AM range, which is prime for a Saturday tee-time, we did not escape the notice of the men wandering through while grabbing packets of Splenda in the full windows of the hotel coffee bar. 

 

We all got ready and drove to a nearby family friend's house, where SR's bridal luncheon was hosted. After eating off delicate china and crystal, we walked outside to admire the backyard and discovered the in-ground trampoline. KR, AV and I headed back to the hotel while the other girls went to the salon with SR. We steamed our dresses, re-did makeup and tangled with our not-always-cooperative brunette hair. We made it to the church and changed, touching up mascara and lip gloss, then camped out with SR for pictures and the lifetime that brides have to endure on the afternoon of their wedding.

 

Afterward, at the hotel for the reception, everyone was buzzing around after a solid 45 minutes of cocktails, and all of us in the wedding party were corraled to the side of the ballroom to await introductions. The hotel staffer trying to keep us in line found that herding cats would have been more productive. Everyone was too busy making bar runs, chasing people with plates of hors de'ouvres, taking pictures and generally acting a fool.

 

We got our act together when the DJ started playing "Forever" by Chris Brown and fell into single-file like a shushed kindergarten class. The ushers decided to run in for their introductions, arms in the air, basketball-team style, but MK and I were wearing four-inch heels, so we opted for the walk-and-wave.

 

The reception was lovely and after the bride and groom's departure (which was actually back to the hotel lobby, via golf cart), the remaining 20-somethings headed to the hotel bar. Green apples, which had been used as decor in the reception, were being eaten by groomsmen in leather chairs by the time I arrived. 

 

RM had supplied us with a box of pizza rolls earlier in the day, and returning to the hotel room, MK had no problem waking up and joining us when we grabbed them from the fridge. KR had mentioned our stash to a few of the ushers, so they found their way to our room as well. 

 

Sunday morning, MK and I enjoyed a leisurely brunch, though all copies of the Times had been confiscated by earlier risers, and then made our way out to the pool. RM and his girlfriend joined us, so I gave up the idea of finishing my book and stayed outside a bit too long without wearing sunscreen. I visited my parents for a few hours, two of which were spent napping, then headed back to Dallas, where it felt like I had been gone a week.

 

SC and husband got to enjoy this Monday beach-side in Mexico... back to work for the rest of us!

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I am nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind...

-1 Corinthians 13:1-4, NIV Bible