Wedding Mania

I find as I'm getting further into my 20s that the number of weddings I go to each year grows exponentially. However, last weekend was the first ever in which I attended two weddings, in one of which I was the Maid of Honor. It was a crazy schedule, but so fun to come alongside my friends as they enter married life.

The first wedding was on Saturday night. My good friend and personal trainer, Mikhail, got married at The Z Mansion in downtown Tucson. I got some fun shots of the wedding site...

...but unfortunately this is the best one I got of the bride and groom.

It was a sweet ceremony - Mike and Mikhail wrote their own vows - and I loved getting to share that with them. I couldn't stay long, however, because my duties as Maid of Honor called me to the rehearsal dinner of the second wedding...

My sweet friend of 5 years, Krista Grinney, extended to me the privilege of standing up next to her as she pledged her love and commitment to Brian Roland on Monday, May 28. But, I get ahead of myself.

Saturday night, we had the rehearsal dinner, and it was the first time that the whole wedding party got to meet each other. After only one night, I could tell that Brian has surrounded himself with a great group of guys who love him and encourage him. We had a lot of fun sharing stories about Krista and Brian individually as well as how we've seen them together. It was sweet to honor them in that way. They then honored us, thanking us for being a part of their lives and their wedding. Krista gave each of us girls a heart-shaped silver box with our name engraved on it and a necklace with our initial on the inside. You can see me wearing the necklace in the picture below:

Sunday, we had the rehearsal (yes, after the dinner), and got to hang out a bit before going out to dinner at Pinnacle Peak. A bunch of Krista's family and friends from out of town came, and so we took up two giant tables filling almost an entire room. They have a rule at the restaurant that you can't wear a tie - if you do, they cut it off. So, of course we made Brian and Krista wear ties. Brian gave Krista a little lesson in tie tying...

The waitress soon cut those ties right off:

It was a fun night to celebrate before the big day, and we got some good time chatting with friends. Brian, with his brother and best man Mark, and groomsman Beau:

Krista, with bridesmaids Gwynne and Crystal:

Me and Krista's brother, Jared:

Monday rolled around, and it was soon time for the ceremony. I'm leaving out a lot of the details, because they're really only interesting to those who were there. :) I didn't get any pictures of the wedding, seeing as I was in it, but my parents got a few shots. The setting was beautiful, Krista looked stunning, and Brian looked about as in love as I think a man can get.

The ceremony went off almost without a hitch. The bridesmaids were able to keep their composure as they were slowly eaten alive by ants (somehow, we were standing in an ant pile. No, we weren't standing in dirt, but there was an ant pile there anyway), and everyone played it off pretty well when the music didn't play at the end of the ceremony as we walked down the aisle. Other than that, things went smoothly. Krista and Brian wanted to make it a God-focused ceremony, and I think they did that very well. Their first act as husband and wife was to take communion, which I think speaks volumes about how they want to start their marriage.

The reception was a blast, with good food, a slide show by Jared, and even a song Krista's dad wrote for the newlyweds. And, who can forget dancing? I got to dance one with my dad, my favorite dance partner thus far.

It was so fun to celebrate with Brian and Krista, knowing that this marriage is a good thing God has done. I look forward to sharing life with the Rolands, and watching God do marvelous things in and through them as a result of this union!

For those of you who are wondering, yes, my trip to Zambia is just around the corner. More on that to come!