7 Dresses....So Far.

"It's wedding season!"  To some of you this may conjure up some great memories of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson motor-boating their way through Wedding Crashers (I realize this is likely mostly male readers).  To others, this makes you think of the months of May - September when weddings appear to happen as often as the 100 degree plus heat in Oklahoma and Texas (as of August 7 we had 12 days in a row that topped 100, someone get the sprinkler!).  Now some people LOVE weddings (mostly female) and others HATE them (mostly male).  Being female, I am one of the ones who loves weddings....not really a shocker here.  For me it is all about the music, alcohol, and the cake.  


First off, I don't care if you want to have italian cream, lemon, chocolate, or red velvet cake....be as creative as you want (however, let's leave the creativity to the groom's cake).  I get really disappointed at weddings where I cannot have some form of vanilla cake.  Call me a boring person, but nothing is better than eating a piece of vanilla cake and then dancing to "Shout" with everyone from little kids to grandparents.  I know it's cheesy but that's what makes weddings fun.  You can't really have a wedding without the following classics:  Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide, Shout, and YMCA.  All you need is a little alcohol and (as was the case with me at a wedding yesterday) you find yourself dancing with someone you wouldn't normally dance with during one of the previously mentioned songs (which was the groom's father...shockingly this wasn't that inappropriate).  Now, I am not condoning alcoholism, but if you are going to shove several hundred people in a room and expect them to "get down" you have to throw in a little liquid courage.  It just makes the party more fun, and iced tea and punch will not get you there.


Moving on with the point of this post, I have had the blessed opportunity to be in several of my friends weddings.  I didn't really realize just how many weddings I had been in until one of my friends pointed out all of the pictures I had of me with the various brides.  So, in true Katherine Heigl style, I am going to "model" each of the weddings I have been in.  Enjoy, and remember the quote "you can shorten it and wear it again".  (And FYI - I actually have worn several of these dresses again, so that statement is in fact true):


Friend #1 - Allie

My sorority sister Allie's wedding was the first I was in.  This was fall of 2007.  We lucked out here; it was supposed to rain, the weather had been cold and rainy all week.  But the day of the wedding, the sky cleared up and we were able to have the wedding outside, and it turned out perfect.

Friend #2 - Sarah C.

Sarah and I became friends during middle school drill team tryouts.  That was back in 1996 and almost 15 years later we are still great friends (I am ready for her to be done with Optometry school so I can see her more often).  I have to tell you the meaning behind this picture.  Sarah and I became friends during the Spartan Cheerleader days of Saturday Night Live (look for a future post on my love for Will Ferrell). Therefore, we are paying an ode to our favorite SNL skit.    The Cheer we were known for involved the Spartan Cheerleaders trying to impress people at a party who were watching the movie "Halloween".  We may or may not reperform this cheer upon request, especially in McDonald's parking lots:  "Boo! You're Scared, I think you pooped your pants.  Now run downstairs and clean yourself and do a funky dance!  Look, it's Michael Myers, he might hurt us.  If you're scared, you'll be bouncing up and down like Jamie Lee Curtis.  Jamie Lee, Where's her bra? I don't know, I don't know....  Jamie Lee, Where's her bra? I don't know, I don't know....Headlights!"  

Friend #3 - Audrea

Audrea and I have been friends since we met in the OU dorms in the Fall of 2003.  She got married in 2008 right before moving to San Diego.  Thankfully, she is moving to Fort Worth in January so I will get to see her more often again!  But, I will miss having a friend to visit in California!  She is frowning in the pic because she let me borrow her engagement ring and I did NOT want to give it back!

Friend #4  - Jenni

Jenni and I have been friends since we were babies.  She got married back home in Ardmore in the Summer of 2008.  Weddings in your hometown are always great because a lot of local people come and help you celebrate.

Friend #5 - Crystal

Crystal and I have known each other since youth group at the First Baptist Church.  I kind of had a girl crush on Crystal, but she was a year older than me and we never really had the opportunity to hang out.  However, in college we got the opportunity to become great friends though my friend Holly.  Now, she is like a sister to me and I love every moment I get to see her, which is at least once every 2 months because she is also my hairdresser!  (I didn't have a picture saved on my computer of us together with me in my bridesmaid's dress, so this will have to do.  One is a pic from Crystal's bridals, and the other is all of her bridesmaid's the day before her wedding).

Friend #6 - Sarah P.

Sarah is my best friend from Kappa.  She has been a great friend to me over the past 5 years and I am so thankful for her friendship!  I loved the grey and yellow theme that we did for her wedding (thanks to the wonderful wedding planners and friends, Ann Marie and Jenny)!!  




Friend #7 - Amy 

I feel weird calling Amy my "friend #7", because she is actually my number one friend since she is my twin sister.  However, I did these in chronological order, and my sister was the most recent person in my life to get married.  She went with a very classy black, white, and pale pink color scheme and it went off without a hitch.














So there you have it.  I have been in 7 weddings in the past 3 years.  They have all been such great experiences that I wouldn't change for anything.  I doubt I will be in 20 more weddings to make it to the golden number 27, but if so I will highly consider asking all of the bride's to wear their bridesmaid's dress to my wedding (just kidding!)  On a final note, I would like to thank all of the brides involved for not doing any themed weddings...nothing is more weird than being on a horse, underwater, in the air, or in a themed outfit to match some special motif the bride wanted to follow.  

Next up, a detailed opinion on ABC's new show The Bachelor Pad, plus a tribute to Will Ferrell, and a discussion on my favorite aerobic activity:  running.


Until then, Ciao for now!