my best friend's wedding

i'm baaaack. while the rest of the blog world is putting up post after post about halloween, i have some catching up to do before i can get to that. so, here we go! i might have mentioned that thatcher's mom came into town last tuesday. she had not been out here since we moved, so we were very excited to have her again. it was also good timing since i left town for four days and she was able to help take care of the kids so thatcher didn't need to take off work. we really appreciated it! i had a whirlwind long weekend in minneapolis and it was such a blast to be a part of my best friend's wedding. so, sit back while i spill alllll the details about my weekend. you've been warned :) 

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i left thursday and arrived in minneapolis at 6:30pm. my mom and brother picked me up from the aiport and we went to harriet's inn for dinner. it's a restaurant that opened in south minneapolis since i left and i had been wanting to try it. after that, my brother went home and my mom and i went to visit bob (my grandma's husband) at his senior condo. my cousin jenna also joined us and we had dessert and visited. it was fun because i didn't expect to see anyone outside of the wedding guests this weekend. 

friday morning i hung out with my mom at her house, then headed a nail appointment with some of the bridesmaids, the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom. we were at the nail salon for 2 hours! i just got a manicure, but some people got a pedicure as well. it was a fun time, and relaxing before all the festivities. 



after nails, we had to run a couple errands and bring things from point a to point b before checking into the hotel. we were already getting short on time (and kelli and jake were understandably stressed), so we were not pleased to hear our room was not ready when we got to the hotel. they got us in as quickly as they could and we had about 15 minutes to change and get ready for the rehearsal. whew! 

we arrived to the church (almost) on time and rehearsed. it was a catholic wedding, so there was a bit to go over. then it was time to head to bonefish grill for the groom's dinner. there were about 45 people invited and we had a private room at the restaurant. they set one long table for all of us and it looked incredible! 



we had a delicious dinner, followed by some toasts from the wedding party. (i considered myself off the hook since i was doing my speech the next night) ;) after the dinner, a bunch of people from the wedding party went to a bar nearby for one more drink before we headed back to the hotel to get our beauty sleep! kelli and i stayed in the bridal suite and jake stayed with his buddy upstairs. ha! 

saturday morning started bright and early! kelli and i were up at 7am in anticipation of all the ladies arriving at our suite at 8am for hair and make up. we spent the next few hours getting beautified, eating muffins, and drinking mimosas. it was a great start to the day! 



then it was time to head to the church to get into our dresses. my mom was assigned the task of bringing kelli's dress (as well as a bunch of other stuff) to the church, so i got to see her again. we all looked pretty fabulous, but of course kelli took the cake. she was absolutely stunning! 

i got to bring kelli outside to meet jake for their "first look". i stuck around for the first 5 seconds after he saw her. i had to hide behind a bush because otherwise i would have ended up in the photographer's pictures. it was such a sweet moment. next they did some professional pictures in the sanctuary.

the ceremony began at 2pm and was an hour long. i lost it the second kelli started walking down the aisle with her dad, but thankfully i didn't cry for the rest of the ceremony. my makeup thanked me! 







my mom and my brother were my dates :) 



after the ceremony, it was time for the wedding party to hop on the party bus to go take some outdoor pictures. only problem was...it was raining! we hoped it wouldn't but apparently that wasn't in the cards. the photographer assured us she had a set of matching umbrellas and we could take some great pictures under a pedestrian bridge at centennial lakes. our dresses and shoes got quite wet during the process, but i can't wait to see the pictures. the trees were incredible! i don't have any pictures from this part of the day, unfortunately. 

then we got back on the bus to head to the reception site. it was at a golf course in bloomington and it was beautiful! they had a cocktail hour then the official announcement of the wedding party, followed by dinner.



 i'll admit, i sort of picked at my dinner because my matron of honor speech was looming and i was feeling a little nervous. finally it go time! the best man did his first. there were 290 people at the wedding, so it was a big crowd. i made it through my speech, only looking at my notes once and only skipping one sentence i meant to say. i started to cry a little in the middle (so did kelli) but i mostly kept it together. whew! soon it was time for the first dances, the photo booth opened, and the party started! 
 

they had the venue reserved until 12:30am, so it was a late night. my brother left pretty early, but my mom and i made it to the end. it almost felt like a family wedding to me because there were so many friends and family of kelli's that i have known over the years. i had a blast talking to every one. 

the next morning, there was a brunch in a party room at a restaurant in bloomington. my mom and i went. kelli and jake opened their gifts and people visited with them. my flight back to seattle was at 3:30pm, so i had to head to the airport in the early afternoon. definitely a whirlwind trip, but so worth it!