Wedding Season

The weekend after Adam's grandmother's 80th birthday, we headed down to Cape San Blas, Fl to be a part of my best friend's wedding. At the last minute, we decided to leave Lyla here in Atlanta with my parents. It turned out to be the best decision since we were so crazy busy and it gave me the ability to give my full attention to the beautiful bride. I think since the decision was so last minute, I did not have the chance to really think about leaving Lyla and there was no time for the "sad" emotions to build up. This was our first time leaving her and surprisingly I really did well. I think it helped that we stayed so busy. I was never worried about Lyla, since she is so easy going and does fine anywhere. She was SO excited though when we got home and she saw us, which made me feel good. My parents are so great with her and know her routine so well that I was really not worried one bit. It worked out really nice that Adam's parents happened to be in town for Dalton's surgery so they were able to spend some extra time with her as well, which they both enjoyed!

We got down to the beach late Thursday night and headed straight to the house Danielle and Dustin were staying at. The house was packed with friends and family and everyone was having such a great time. We rented a house a few streets away with three of the other bride's maids and their significant others. We had such a great time sharing a house. Danielle and I went to middle school and high school together and then she moved to the other side of the country to go to college. She went to Washington State University and then stayed on that side of the country to go to law school in Idaho, where she met Dustin. While is has been sad to have her so far away, we have been able to keep in touch and remain good friends. It is rare to find such good friends. This was really the first time I was meeting all of their friends from that side of the country and I have to say, they have such great taste in friends. Everyone got along so well and I absolutely loved the other girls that were in her wedding. I really connected with them and they made the weekend so fun! I had spent some time with Dustin when he had come to Atlanta with Danielle and just knew they were perfect for each other. He is going to be such a great husband to her a love her so well.

Friday the girls had some time to ourselves. We went to breakfast and then went and got our nails done. Then we went to meet the boys back at the house for lunch and some beach time. I am so thankful that Adam got along so well with the other guys, since I was so busy with wedding stuff. He was able to relax a bit and catch up on reading. Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at a park nearby and it was a low-key cook out. Just Danielle and Dustin's style. The food was great and it was fun just to hangout with everyone in a setting that was beautiful and easy to just sit and talk. We ran through the wedding ceremony really quick before heading to dinner. After the dinner, we had lots to do to get ready for the big day. Danielle did A LOT of the wedding preparations herself. She did such a wonderful job with EVERYTHING, that once all us girls got together, we had to take everything off her hands so she could enjoy the weekend.

Saturday was perfect weather. It had looked like it was supposed to rain earlier in the week over the weekend, but Saturday could not have been any more beautiful. It was not too hot and the sun shone all day. Danielle had someone come and do our makeup and we spent most of the morning getting ready before pictures. They had decided to take all the pictures before the ceremony. While we were getting ready, the bridesmaids significant others along with one of Danielle's other friends were AMAZING and set up everything for the reception. Danielle looked beautiful and everything went perfectly!! The ceremony was simple and elegant and the reception was right out of pinterest. It was super cute and the food was great. After the reception they had a bonfire on the beach complete with s'mores and fireworks.

Of course, as usual, I left my camera in my bag most of the weekend but here are a few pictures.

Getting ready.

Beautiful dress. And ps the house that they stayed at/where the wedding was was AMAZING!!!

Danielle getting her hair done.

Beautiful bride...no words can capture how beautiful and happy she looked.

Awesome shoes she wore for pictures.

Beautiful bridesmaids.

This is the only picture I have with Dustin and Danielle, after a long day and night.

The next weekend we went to another wedding, which was in Atlanta. It was another friend from high school who I recently reconnected with a few years ago. Carrie and Brad's wedding was A-MAZING! They got married at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead and it was beautiful. I have never seen Carrie more beautiful or more happy in her whole life. They had a traditional Jewish wedding, which I had never been to before. It was so interesting and each part of the service was so meaningful. They had a cocktail hour while the ballroom was set up for dinner. Dinner was amazing and everything was perfect. They had dancing and even a midnight snack. It was so fun to catch up with old friends from high school and be there to celebrate Carrie and Brad.

It is so special to help friends celebrate their most meaningful moments in life.