Wedding weekend

 This is me and my dear friend Kristen, who got married a couple of weeks ago, woooo! I managed to worm my way into a lot of the preparation/execution of the reception (under the expertise of Emily and Teena!), so here's a rundown of all of the wedding-related fun:

 Grace hosted a bridal shower for Kristen one night at the end of November (Emily left before we remembered to take a picture, dang it!) where we all sat around and laughed and talked and painted toenails and laughed some more.

Kristen crashed at our house a couple nights the week before her wedding since her apartment was packed up, and Mason and London got to stay one of the nights too! These four kids are stair-step in ages (7, 6, 5, 4) and they loved all getting ready for school together in the morning!

 

Friday we all met over at the church building to start setting up for the reception the following day. Kristen's good friend Beth set up the music and she and Kristen took a quick dancing break :). And Beth's sweet little girl Maxine joined in too!

 We set up tables and chairs and put out the supplies we had (such as these cute tags that Emily made - guests wrote advice and date ideas on them) and then called it a day so we could all make it to the sealing on time.

Chilly December evenings are not ideal for pictures, but here's a shot of the newly married Kristen and Nathan :).

And one of my sweet husband and me. I love attending temple marriages and having that opportunity to reflect on the covenants Chuck and I made eight and a half years ago.

 The next morning it was back to the church bright and early so that Teena could work her magic. She does weddings for a living and she is AMAZING.

 

 For example, the top photo is how I would have set up the refreshment table. The bottom photo is how it looked for reals after Teena, Emily, and Lori stepped in :).

 Some more shots of the table decor.

 

Last minute refreshment table prep with Emily, Tami, and DeArley. It's such a testament to how loved Kristen is that everything came together so well - so many people contributed their time and energy and talents, from making cookies to decorating to helping in the kitchen during the reception to photography to music. I loved being a part of it!!

 Nicole even spent her birthday afternoon doing Kristen's hair for the reception! It looked SOOO good :).

And then it was go time! Here's the Bishop talking with Nathan and Kristen right before the ring ceremony.

Sign-in table, as put together by Lori and Emily with help from Annette.

 Beautiful cake made by another friend, Alyssa.

Cutting the cake!

 

Photo op with the beautiful bride! I was honored to be able to share my wedding dress with Kristen - she made it look GOOD!!

 Jana, Kristen, Emily - I love these girls! Ignore the fact that it was at the end of the night and we were all seriously exhausted :).

As I said earlier, there were so many people who helped out and it was such a fun bonding experience to work alongside some really incredible women from my ward - especially Emily, Teena, Lori, Annette, DeArley, Alyssa, and Tami. We had so much fun in those two days as we worked together - we decorated, moved furniture, made ice runs, mixed hot chocolate, set out cookies, taste tested cookies, made executive decisions regarding lamps and lighting and tablecloths, etc, etc - and laughed a ridiculous amount along the way! Love you ladies!!

And of course, congratulations again to Kristen and Nathan and their newly blended family of FIVE kids :).