What is more exciting that one of your best friend’s weddings?  We’ve been anticipating this week/weekend since Kristina got engaged to Jesse.  It was so amazing to be apart of such a monumental event in their lives.  But there were a few things that happened before the big day…including checking off two items on our summer list.  In fact, I may be putting the cart before the horse, here…but we might need to add items to our list.  We are already making some serious progress and it is only the end of June.  Only time will tell…

Tuesday we decided to try out #22 – Have a tennis match.  There are a couple of courts up the street from our house and after Zach’s hockey practice we stopped by for an outdoor evening activity.  I had actually never played a real game of tennis before.  Sure, I’ve messed around with a racket, but never actually had a serious match.  Let me preface by saying that Zach is an excellent tennis player.  He took lessons when he was younger, so…he’s pretty legit.  He was a really patient and informative teacher.  I must say, I LOVED IT.  How have I missed out all of these years?  Tennis is my new favorite sport!

Speaking of new…I tried a new restaurant this week as well!  Actually, it wasn’t a restaurant, it was a market.  My co-worker, Josh, took me to the Japanese Market on Main Street for lunch.  I was not too excited when we pulled into the parking lot.  To be honest, I was completely sketched out and wanted to go back to Subway.  He convinced to me just walk in a take a look, and to be honest that didn’t help the cause.  Japanese markets have a funk to them that can’t be described and this one was extra funky.  But once I looked around, selected my sushi, and saw that they had homemade Ramen noodles…I was sold!  I guess you can’t judge a market by it’s outdoor sign.

The rest of the week was pretty much a blur.  Preparing and packing for the wedding took the majority of my nights after work.  Making table number cards, making place cards for each guest, finding my wedding shoes, having my dress altered and fitted…you get the idea.

Friday was the first event of the wedding weekend.  Kristina invited all of her bridesmaids to afternoon tea at the Grand America.  It was so beautiful…even the food was beautiful.  I might add that my Diet Coke was delicious.

The scones and clotted cream brought back memories of London.  It felt like London…except my Diet Coke had ice in it.  That’s a perfect London I would say.

Kristina gave us each a thoughtful and beautiful gift for being a part of her bridal party.  We are lucky to be her friends.

Keeping with the ‘wedding weekend’ theme, after our tea party I had to meet up with my brother and Zach for my cousin Shelby’s wedding in Bountiful.  It was great to see family and spend time with them!

After the reception Zach, Blake, and myself decided to go out to eat.  Zach and I had never been to Brio down at Fashion Place, so Blake drove us down there to try it out!

The boys talked business, as usual, the whole night…while I sat over on my corner of the table chowing on my bow tie pasta.  I was happy as a clam.  The food was amazing!  We stayed late, and then we all came over to our place for some TV time and chatting.

The next morning was spent running errands and packing our bags for the wedding.  We also tried a new snack, a twist on the chocolate covered strawberry.  Hulled strawberries filled with dark chocolate.  Much easier to eat than a chocolate covered strawberry.

Then we were off to Park City for Kristina’s big weekend!  We started out at the rehearsal for the ceremony at the St. Regis.  After practicing walking down the aisle with our escorts, we met up with our husbands/significant others for the rehearsal dinner at Reyes Adobe on Main Street.  The food was delicious and we had a great time roasting and toasting to our friends.

After the dinner, my friends’ husbands drove back to Salt Lake – Zach and I decided to get a hotel for the night so he stayed with me.  When their husbands left, they took their cars with them, so my friends had no mode of transportation for the rest of the night.  That meant that Zach was left to drive all five of us girls around all night.  This included a late night run for ice cream and tampons.  Like I’ve said a thousand times, he gets the Husband of the Year Award.  After a few hours of girl talk [Zach was also there] we retired to our own hotel.  We ended the night with a soak in the hot tub and a movie on our laptop.

The next day, to reward Zach for taking care of my friends and myself, I broke one of my ‘rules’ as a wife.  #15 – Breakfast in bed.  I am a mean wife and won’t let my husband eat in our bed.  But considering we were at a hotel, I made an exception.  I made him eggs on toast, one of his favorite breakfasts of all time.  He was in heaven.

After our breakfast, Zach dropped me off at the St. Regis with the rest of the girls to get ready in the Bridal Suite.  Have you ever seen 9 girls in one room getting ready for a wedding?  With only 4 mirrors?  It’s a hot, sticky mess.  Hot because of all the flat irons and curling irons.  Sticky because of all the freaking hairspray.

 

And lots of lipstick application.  Maybe 8-10 liptstick re-applications.

And waterfall braids.  Thanks to my girl Brittany S.  for the braid hook-up!  [There were two Britts in her Bridal Party].

Lots of hair teasing.

And my favorite moment of the entire wedding might be when my escort called Alison “the Albino”.  Yes, that happened.

All five of us [minus the bride] friends since the 7th Grade.  Even though so much has changed…everything still feels the exact same.

Alison’s skillz really paid off, being a stylist in New York and all, helping Kristina get ready.  We even had to pull off a wedding miracle with a little wedding dress mishap…but no biggie.  What are bridesmaids for, right?  Whitney A. [there were two Whits in her Bridal Party] did a really great job putting on Kristina’s shoes too…because she is a mom and all, you know, haha!

Then it was time for the ceremony.  It was beautiful.  It had been overcast all day long, and when they started to recite their vows to each other the sun peaked through the clouds.  Jesse [the groom] and his family are Jewish, so they were married under the hoopa and smashed the glass and everything!  I have a special place in my heart for Jewish traditions because of my Mom’s family that practices Judaism.  It was fun to hear the Rabbi bless the bread and sing his songs.  It was a really special ceremony full of tradition.

The dinner afterwards was so amazing.  I imagine nothing at the St. Regis isn’t amazing, though.  I helped Kristina do her place cards for all the guests.  Yes, I had to put a little cow, fish, and veggie on each card, people.  It took forever…but anything for my friend!

It kind of made me teary to see her card, “Mrs. Kristina Lapin.”  Tender.

We ate, danced…Zach even dance battled some random guy.  It got pretty crazy.

I am so happy for Kristina and Jesse.  I love my friend, and now she has married her best friend.  We love the Lapins!!!