Goin' to the Chapel...

Last weekend, September 20, one of my closest college friends got married. What was to be a November wedding was moved up by two months (thanks U.S. Army!).

As a result, many thoughts ran through my head:

"Daaang, one my college roommates is getting MARRIED!!!!"

"I wonder if I have enough United miles for a free flight?" (answer - no)

"I can't wait to see all of my ND girls!"

"Crap, when am I going to get my dress fitted?"

"I hope the weather is perfect this weekend."

"Ack, one of my college roommates is GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!"

I'm sure there were many more thoughts, but the jetlag from my sojourn in Europe overtook everything else. On the plane trip from Chitown to Raleigh, NC, my only thought was "ZZZZZzzzzzzzz."

Arriving the day before the wedding, I spent that Friday following road directions, exploring the mystery that is a rental car, coveting Bojangles fries, attending the rehearsal, thoroughly enjoying the rehearsal dinner, and helping to throw a lingerie party for the bride late that night.

Bright and early on Saturday, the dedicated bridal party awoke at 5:30am to hike it over to the reception location to put together the flower arrangements for the tables and just help out in general. Never did I think being a bridesmaid would include hosing down rocks in a yard for the arrangements at 6:00 in the morning. I think that's under "other duties as assigned." But for the former Miss Fuchs, anything...

Apres ca, we made a priority run for Chick-Fil-A, followed by some naptime, but then off to make ourselves pretty and get to the church.

At this time, I would like to give a major shout out to the golf pro shop of our hotel for letting us borrow their steamer.

The ceremony was great, the bride gorgeous, and I didn't trip. And I didn't tower over my escort in my heels - that's very important. We laughed, we cried, we blew bubbles, then off to part-ay.

And party we did. Finally, our four years of dancing during college - in clubs, in our dorm room, on the quad, in the engineering building - finally paid off! The bridesmaids hit the dance floor and kept the party going. No one was safe from our attentions, and much fun was had.

The bride and the groom eventually departed and the bridal party did the only thing we could think of - hit up a couple of NC bars in our gowns. The boys totally wussed out and changed.

The flight back to Chitown was exhausting, but unlike the flight before me, mine wasn't cancelled due to fog, and by the time I entered the door of my apartment, I was ready for a nap. Which lasted from 4:30 to 7:00pm. I went to bed at 8:30pm...you do the math.