It's Been Awhile!

A dear friend of mine got married last weekend.  She was almost related by marriage, unfortunately, things didn't work out in that respect but I remained friends with her.  She is much too wonderful a person not to have in my life just because she became an "ex."  She is about 13 years younger than I am and it's always so nice to have someone younger (and older) than you are as a friend because it helps keep you young or to see what to look forward to as you age depending on the friend.  I'm so happy that she was kind enough to invite us to the wedding and it was beautiful.

I'll be honest, it's been a while since we've been to a wedding.  The last wedding we went to was my friend's brother whom I've known since he was eight and they are pretty traditional.  It was a big Italian wedding and was very similar to the weddings I saw as a kid, which I loved.  A nice, big church wedding with Catholic aerobics (I can say that, the Mr and I were raised Catholic- HA!) and off to a decorate it yourself banquet hall with a huge cookie table in addition to the cake and such. But nowadays you see these weddings on Pinterest of bride and grooms chucked in a field or barn with farmhouse chic weddings and dreamy filters at golden hour.  What would've been a pretty cheap affair given the surroundings 20 years ago is now a pretty penny given the trend.  So this was our first "trendy" wedding and we had no idea what to expect.  Would everyone be watching the nuptials through a screen?  Do they still do gift tables?  Do they still do Dollar Dances and the Chicken Dance/Electric Slide?  Would we be seated at the misfit table since the bride was the only person there we knew and it's not like we'd really get to see her at all?  So yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a bit of anxiety going into it especially with a 90-minute gap between the ceremony and reception for a cocktail hour...we don't drink, so yeah.  We get to watch strangers guzzle open bar before the newlyweds even get there.  (And drink they did.  Are we the only ones that think it's highly inappropriate to be guzzling beer at the ceremony!?  It reinforced we made the right decision to have a dry wedding, which we informed people of ahead of time, because there was some serious tomfoolery that I'm sure people would be embarrassed about in the light of day.  But I digress.)

So, not only were we not at the misfit table, we were at table one.  Like before her family that flew in from another country!  No pressure.  LOL  We got to visit with her way more than I imagined despite so many people and when she introduced me to her maid of honor, she gushed at how she felt like she knew us because the bride talks about us all the time.  She said she cried at the beautiful gift I gave her the previous week.  I bought a journal on a Hobby Lobby run and made some pockets for the front and back that said "honeymoon mementos" and told her how the Mr and I have journaled every single vacation...except our honeymoon.  It was because of that and little details we lost that I didn't want another couple to lose that.  I told her I knew it was old school but seeing the other person's handwriting and re-reading your honeymoon adventures was something I think she'd cherish in the years to come.  If they kept up the tradition, she could be like us and have over 20 years of vacations to read about (like The Notebook (affiliate link) but without all of the depressing sobbing parts- won't ruin it for those who still haven't seen it!)  The whole thing was beautiful and her brother even proposed to his girlfriend!  It was the bride's idea to throw her the bouquet and then bam...on one knee he went after a short dance to that country song "Hey Pretty Girl" or something like that.  To answer the question, yes they still do the Electric Slide...always have, always will I suspect.   Still don't know how to do it.  It was a night filled with love and I'm so excited for them to start their adventures together.

We got them a pretty sweet carry-on suitcase and a set of canisters for their bridal shower but by the time the wedding came, the registries were a little picked over.  I was going to get her a cookware set but when I checked her other registry, I saw someone had already gotten her one so I wasn't going to buy her another one because you know darn well one of 'em is going back.  So knowing how they love date nights, I messaged her and told her the registry was getting a little picked over would she prefer I stuck to the registry or went rogue.  (I know I'm not good with people going rogue on me.) She's like "go rogue!!  It'll be that much more special!  I trust you!"   So I decided to get two "experience" based date nights for them that they may not typically do for themselves.

I got this book  (affiliate link) that is by the "love languages" dude that gives you date night ideas and there's a prayer or scripture reading that is thrown out as a talking point to bring you closer together as a couple. (She has made it a goal to become more spiritual and pray more this year so I'm not forcing religion on her or anything.)  Some dates are more extravagant than others but they've been together for 5 years so you can always use some pointers in the right direction.  Our two dates we gave them are for them to take a cooking class together and the other is for an afternoon tea at a patisserie.  Both are gift cards so if they wanted to just blow it on cookware and pastries then they could, they're not locked into those ideas but I'm pretty sure she's going to love them.  He's game for anything as long as he gets to spend time with her.  (She works full-time in the health industry and part-time as a photographer when her schedule allows.)

I figure this way they can see what class appeals to them and they both learn how to make a dinner and can take that forward.  I've been dying to take a cooking class to make croissants so I'll have to see how they like the experience and the Mr said he'd be down with doing that too.  The afternoon tea is all about taking the time to slow down and just enjoying themselves. It's the same place the Mr took me for my birthday and it's close to the park where he proposed so I suggested an afternoon tea and a stroll in the park to reminisce about that day.

What was your favorite wedding gift you've given and received?

(This post contains affiliate links.  Should you be kind enough to buy through them, I may receive a small commission at no added cost to you.)

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