My Best Friend's Wedding

So it's Saturday night, I've just arrived home from my third and final wedding this summer, and I've got two choices of super fun things to do: 1. clean my house. 2. update this blog.

     It's not too hard to guess which option won. A little disclaimer beforehand: I am extremely exhausted (mentally and physically), as well as emotionally drained (today's beautiful, heartwarming wedding on top of hormones), so this blog may be a bit all over the place. I am not going to proofread it fifteen times to assure that no spelling or grammatical errors were made; take it as it is!

     Today was Jaymo's wedding. As you may know by now, her real name is Jessica, but I just cannot find it in myself to start calling her that. Since 2008, her name in my phone has been Jaymo, and it will stay that way so long as I still have a phone. She married a handsome fellow named Josh, whom I actually graduated from high school with (Jaymo is one year our junior). Can I talk for just one minute about the history of their relationship?? I was there for all six years, including the year they spent apart. If any of you broken hearts out there need proof that the whole "if it's mean to happen, it will be" thing is true, just take one look at Jaymo and Josh. Six years ago this summer, I stayed up all three nights at cheer camp listening to Jaymo cry over Josh. Five years ago this summer, I was constantly having to call him to try and straighten things out between them. At some point during my senior year of high school, I recall stepping in front of Jaymo to prevent her from beating the hell out of him. Over what? No one remembers and no one cares. The point is that these two have been through a lot together and still somehow always found their way back to one another; that's true love, folks.

     We began with a rehearsal dinner at their church on the eve of the wedding. Normally I would have been running around snapping tons of photos, but there wasn't really time for all that. I did get a good one of me, Jaymo, & Vaught :)

 

 

Wedding Day

     I would just like to make it known that I was there on time. I was late to the first wedding I was a bridesmaid in four years ago, and I was late to my own last year. I pulled up to the church at 12:01; didn't have to be there until 12:30.

 



     If you ask me, getting ready is the funnest part of being a bridesmaid, especially if you can all be there together. You don't really even have to "get ready" together, but the togetherness and the closeness you feel as you hang out with your girls for the last time as a single woman--there's just nothing like it! I'm glad we all got to spend some time together before the wedding, and I know Jaymo loved it too. Getting her in her gown was both comical and emotional; she already had on her boots, so it was fun maneuvering her into the dress, but seeing my best friend since high school all done up as a bride really hit a nerve (I'm proud to say that I saved my tears for the ride home though).

 

     And this was one of my favorite moments... Jaymo and her sister Allie are extremely close. As her mother was zipping her into her dress, I couldn't help but notice Allie quietly crying as she watched her little sister put on her wedding gown. I had to take this (I hope you don't mind, Allie!!) I love it because it is the perfect illustration of how strong the bond between sisters can be. I have two, and the three of us aren't close at all. I don't mind because that's just how it is, but I love how Jaymo and Allie are so different from one another yet so alike in their love for each other as sisters.

 

     And a little less touchy is my getting ready selfie I took in the bathroom. Once the gown was on, I had to step away before I became an emotional basket case. I smiled to keep from crying, and it's actually a pretty effective technique! BIG thanks to Jessica at Mane Image for my hair, fabulous as always. What would I do without that girl??

 

 

     There was once a time when I would have posed with my hand on my hip, the "skinny arm," as its commonly known, but now that I'm seven months pregnant, I'm slightly more inclined to carry out the "holding the bump" pose because I really could not care any less if my arm looks skinny or not and it's just much more convenient. I think my hand just automatically goes to my belly; I caught myself patting my stomach a little even during the ceremony.

                                    

     And as for the ceremony, there's not much I can say, other than it was absolutely perfect. It couldn't have been more beautiful. Obviously I couldn't capture pictures of it, but I will definitely post some when the professional ones come in.

     The reception was a pregnant woman's dream; seeing as how it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, there was no need to serve a full course meal to all the guests, so the bride and groom opted for dessert tables instead-- all the cookies and cakes you could ever want! My mom was there, and we feasted on both bride and groom cake and between the two of us I think we tried one of every cookie there was! Two hours later Vaught is still kicking around from the sugar high!

The couple left around 5; they will leave from their new home in Ashland, MS, for New Orleans to board their cruiseliner tomorrow morning. They departed through a sea of balloons released by family and friends.

 

 

     As I said, I saved all of my tears for the ride home. I didn't really get emotional until Jaymo hugged and kissed me goodbye; it really hit me that my best friend is finally a Mrs. Although there's only a year between us, I still see her as a little sister, so I definitely feel some of Allie's pain in "letting her go." She's also special to me because we've been best friends throughout her entire relationship with Josh, so I saw this beautiful union take shape over the years. I have no doubt that the two of them have an abundance of happy years ahead of them. Eric and I figured out pretty quick that the key is putting God in the middle of it all, making Him the center of your relationship, and I know that Jaymo and Josh will too.

Congratulations, Mrs. Josh Wilson. I love you to the moon and stars and back!

Did I mention I got to help with bridal portraits a few weeks ago?! :)

 

I will do a blog relating to "bridesmaid etiquette" very soon--I'm actually already working on it now, and it's sure to be a veryyyyy interesting read with all of my experience and whatnot. I will Instagram and Tweet it when it posts.

 

 

The Honeymoon That Never Was...

     Now I need to move on to the blog I have been meaning to work on for a week; it's odd that I just got home from the beach a week ago, but my beach vacation already seems so irrelevant! Even still, I feel like I should keep my readers in the know with all of that, especially since Mr. Pace ended up driving down to surprise me.

     There's a lot I could say about our family vacation; I could go into detail about how it got started in 1999 and how it slowly evolved into what it is now. However, that would take way longer than I have to type and you have to read, so we'll just say that it's changed a lot! From location, to the number of people present (from 16 or 17 down to 9 or 10), we've definitely been through a lot over the years. Until this year, I actually had not attended since 2011. With a little one on the way though, I definitely wanted a small vacation, even if it was only a few days. The original plan had been for Eric to go too, but when push came to shove, we both decided that it was in our best financial interest that he stay home. I almost felt guilty for leaving him behind, but he encouraged me to go and wanted me to have that time with my family. I love that about him.

     I left Wednesday  morning at 2:30am--odd timing, I know. I had gone to bed at 8:30 and woken up at 1, unable to fall back asleep. By 2, I just said "screw it" and got out of bed and left! I did have to stop at a gas station and close my eyes for just a few minutes, but I was pulling into our condo before 10 o'clock. By noon, Eric was calling me, asking tons of weird questions... like where to board the dogs if "something came up" and if we had the funds available if he needed to go somewhere in Tennessee that afternoon. I knew the whole time, but I didn't really believe it until I saw him pulling into the parking lot at 10 that night. I had even left the address of our condo scribbled on a sheet of paper on the counter at our house--you know, just in case.

     I refer to our little vacation as the honeymoon that never was because that's exactly what it is. We weren't able to go on a honeymoon right after our wedding last April due to our work schedules. When we finally were able to schedule one for that summer, Eric sliced half his finger off in an accident at work the week before we were set to leave. We tried rescheduling for October, but it interfered too much with football season, so we just put it on hold, thinking we'd go somewhere nice this summer. Along comes a baby, and trust me, you're not really thinking about taking any fancy trips when you see those two pink lines!! So, to us, this very short vacation with my family really was like a honeymoon. We got up really early Thursday morning and went for breakfast, just the two of us, at a buffet near the condo. We got to lay out all day and just enjoy each other's company without the realities of being at home. Eric grilled for the family Thursday night, and we went to Lambert's Café, one of his favorite places, Friday. I hate that we couldn't have stayed longer, but we're already planning for our family vacation with Vaught next year. It's definitely exciting to know that he'll be with us, although caring for a nine-month-old at the beach is sure to be an experience!

 

     I wish I had some pictures to share with you of our trip, but I really wasn't worried about taking very many while I was there. You know the families that bring white outfits for pictures on the beach? Yeah, we've definitely never been one of those. I think we did it one time in 2008; it was a disaster, and we've not attempted another family photoshoot ever since. For the few that I did take, check my Instagram-- katepace12. Even still, I have the memories, and I couldn't ask for anything more. I love and cherish the time that I got to spend with my husband and my mother's side of the family. I can't wait to have Vaught join us next summer!