Ginny & Jay’s wedding was beautiful, and it was an honor to be a part of it. I loved being with their family and friends. And it was so amazing to see the emotion during the ceremony and know how much this means to those involved.

It was great to get away for a few days, although I would definitely NOT call it a vacation, since I was doing manual labor!

Wednesday I went to Chicago suburbs and met up with Sean & Ali. We went out for dinner and did lots of catching up. This was the first time I had been to Sean’s condo since he’s been married, so it was fun to see the changes and get to hang out with both of them.

Thursday I drove a long ways to Rice Lake, WI, checked in to my hotel, grabbed lunch, and then got to work on decorating the reception hall.

Thursday evening was spent at a co-ed shower and cookout out on the lake. Unfortunately the rain forced us indoors, but it was still nice.

Friday was more decorating/working for the reception. I took a break for lunch and a quick peek around my favorite store – Thyme Worn Treasures. Then back to work. We got a quick tour of Jay & Ginny’s new house before going back to the church for rehearsal.

Rehearsal took awhile, as it typically does. My family all arrived for the rehearsal dinner, and we had a nice time talking with friends.

Saturday (wedding day) began with a Bridesmaid Breakfast at Ginny’s favorite diner, followed by hair appointments and getting ready. Pictures started at 11:30, and then it was just lots of hanging out and waiting until the ceremony started at 2. It felt like a long ceremony, standing up there, hot and uncomfortable, but we all survived.

The reception was fun, and the food was great. I caught the bouquet! The bride and groom didn’t putz around. They were out of there within 2 hours! Then I went on clean up crew for the next couple hours. Finally so exhausted I could do nothing more, I had to plop down on the floor and force myself to stop. Andy, Jen and I went back to the hotel and changed into loungewear. 30 minutes later though, an invite to go out for drinks on the lake pulled us off our rears and out of our room. It’s just so hard for me to pass up an opportunity to hang out with friends.

On the way home Sunday I decided my favorite part of the whole thing was spending time with friends.

Here are a couple pics; I will try to post more this week.