If I am being honest, I am kind of surprising myself by having this post live today. After such a fun weekend, it took a lot of motivation to sit down and sum up the whole weekend before falling asleep. I know it’ll be fun to have all the details written down to look back on in the future, so I am glad to have it up and ready for y’all to read as well.
For the most part, the work week went by relatively quickly due to long to-do lists of things to accomplish before heading out of town. I felt like I was trying to juggle a lot work-wise as well as getting ahead to have posts up on the blog and didn’t do quite as good of a job with the blog aspect of things. Monday started the way it usually does with me catching up on emails and social media comments. A lot of the day was spent getting in contact with companies to order in products we have for a shoot this week. I finished writing a piece for our September issue and gathered everything I needed to prepare to send out complimentary copies of our next issue that will be on newsstands as well. After work, I went to the Y where Macy and I were finally able to work out together again. Most of the time when I workout on my own I’ll do cardio and then arms and abs or legs and abs, so I like when we get to do our workouts together since we find a way to incorporate all those parts into a single workout. I screenshotted the workout we did and included it below if you’re looking for something new to try. After our workout, I went home and got showered before making dinner and attempting to get some blogging work done before bed.
Tuesday was a lot of the same with ordering in products, reading through our team’s copy, and working ahead on social media posts. After work, I picked up a couple of things from the grocery store before spending the rest of the evening at home waiting for my bridesmaids dress for this weekend to arrive. We had to get a new color of the same dress style, and I was feeling a little stressed that it wasn’t going to arrive on time. Luckily it did, and once it arrived, I went to Nell’s apartment to borrow some dresses to potentially wear over the weekend. We hadn’t seen each other in over a week, so we caught up a bit but knew we were going to hang out the following day, so we attempted to keep it short. I came home and showered after that and began organizing what I would need to take home for the wedding to make packing on Wednesday a bit easier.
Wednesday was kind of all over the place since I worked from home in the afternoon as our disposal was repaired. That worked out nicely since I was able to do laundry while working so that everything I needed was clean before I started packing. Since our bridesmaids' dresses could be tied a bunch of different ways I knew that applying self-tanner myself wasn’t an option, so I had a spray tan appointment that night at 6:15 (for Birmingham people I went to Escape Day Spa in Homewood). After that, I came home, and Nell came over to entertain me as I packed. She, my roommate, and I all ate dinner together and caught up before I started to put everything in my suitcase for the weekend. I wasn’t positive what all I’d need and definitely overpacked a bit but appreciated having options. I made Nell proofread my rehearsal dinner toast and time me as I practiced it which I’m sure was tons of fun for her. After she left I brushed my teeth and got in bed since I knew Thursday would be a long day.
Thursday morning I showered the spray tan off, packed my car, and headed off to work for a half day. I had several reader phone calls during the morning and helped them to find what they were looking for on top of working on another set of complimentary copies to send out. When 1:00 rolled around, I got in my car and was Fairhope bound. The weather on my drive back wasn’t the best, so it was nice to have an audiobook to help pass the time sent in the car. I’m currently listening to Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter and was roped in pretty quickly. It’s a long audiobook, so hopefully, I’ll be able to finish it before it needs to be returned. I got to Fairhope around 4:15 and went to my parent’s house for a bit before heading to the Airbnb that was rented for all the bridesmaids. Once I arrived there, we waited for everyone to get into town before changing and heading to dinner at Thyme on Section. After our dinner, it was back to the Airbnb for a little shower for Kate (I got her this pajama set). We stayed up talking and getting to know one another before everyone was tired enough for bed. Kate, the bride, decided she wanted to stay there as well so I slept at my parent’s house that night so that no one would have to sleep on the pullout couch. I pretty much lived out of my open suitcase in the back of my car since I was back and forth for most of the weekend.
Friday morning I woke up and got coffee from one of my favorite local coffee shops before taking our dog, Scout, on a long walk by the bay. Not long after that, I had to shower and start getting ready for the days’ activities which began with the bridesmaids’ luncheon at the Fairhope Inn. We had a big room reserved there and were served a delicious meal. Kate had given us all matching pajama sets the night before for us to get ready in on Saturday morning but gave us a cute monogrammed toiletry pouch during the luncheon as well. We even got handwritten notes from Kate and her fiancé which felt like a really special touch. After we finished our meal, we did a charm cake and told stories about how we knew Kate. There was a bit of downtime between the bridesmaids’ luncheon and when we needed to be at her house for the ceremony rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (the wedding was hosted on her family’s property which was very Kate and turned out beautifully). The rehearsal dinner was a low country boil that we all ate before getting into giving toasts. We were there until about 9:00 and then it was back to the Airbnb to hang out and relax before resting up for Kate’s big day.
I had the first hair and makeup time slot on Saturday morning, so I was awake around 7:00 and put on the pajamas Kate gave us to head to her house. It was really fun getting to hang out with just her and her mom at the house for a bit since it felt just like it did as we were growing up. We all sipped coffee and told stories while checking the weather over and over. More girls started to arrive, and it poured rain most of the morning which was nerve-wracking since all of the events of the day were supposed to be held outside. By the time the photographer arrived at noon the rain had stopped, the sun was coming out, and there was only a 10% chance of rain until 10:30. After taking some pictures as we finished with hair and makeup, we did some group shots in our pajamas before it was time to put on our bridesmaids' dresses and prepare to see Kate’s wedding dress for the first time. After that, until the actual ceremony was a blur of photos. The ceremony was at 5:30 so the wedding party was lined up around 5:20 and waited until the wedding planner gave us our cue to walk. The aisle was from Kate’s house all the way to the ceremony site, so I was glad that groomsmen and bridesmaids walked down together.
The ceremony lasted a little over 30 minutes, and both the bride and groom had a few tears during it. Once we did our final walk back down the aisle, it was off to the reception to chat for a bit before the wedding party was introduced. We were instructed to do something fun during the introduction with our partner and all surrounded the dance floor for the first dance, father/daughter dance, and mother/son dance. The groomsmen had prepared a dance so that they could all dance with Kate and then came and got us to fill out the dance floor. I ate after that and got to chat with my parents and some of there friends before running into some other people I knew during the cutting of the cake. I chatted for a while before heading back to the dance floor for the rest of the night. Kate tossed her bouquet, and we all did a sparkler send off for the couple around 9:30. Everyone left after that, and as I got out of the car to walk into my parent’s house that night, it started to storm. We lucked off that it held off perfectly for us the whole day until then. I washed my hair a few times (it’s amazing how strong the hairspray that was used on my hair was) and was excited to go to sleep that night.
The next morning I woke up and showered again before heading downstairs to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom. My dad cooked bacon and pancakes, and we ate that as brunch together before I packed up my car and headed back to Birmingham. The drive back went smoothly, and I was able to catch up with Sophia for part of it which was fun. I went to Trader Joe’s on my way in, and Nell came over once I got back so we could go on a walk after I unpacked. We decided to get dinner as well which took a while, but it was nice since it meant I didn’t have to cook. Once I was back at home, I started some laundry, showered, and got in bed to watch some of the Ted Bundy movie on Netflix before falling asleep.
I hope that y’all had a fantastic week and weekend and I can’t wait to share more professional photos from Kate’s big day once we have them back from the photographer!
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