somebody's getting maaaaaaaarried!

remember when i said it would take me two weeks to catch up from my busy trip in june!? ummm, try almost two months! technically, it has only been 5 weeks, but anyway, i am so happy to finally be getting around to blogging about my trip to nashville. it was a friends-and-family-filled trip, complete with amelia meeting several loved ones. so this is gonna be at least a two post-er. maybe even three. but i will start with the main reason for my trip to nashville... my dear friend christie's wedding!! you faithful readers know that my college girlfriends reunite every summer, and we were so thrilled to make christie and jim's wedding the focal point of our reunion this year! the festivities started on thursday night when christie's sister julie hosted a dinner for all of christie's close girlfriends. it was so nice to meet ladies that i'd heard christie talk about over the years. i was seated next to one of christie's very best childhood friends, and we had a wonderful time laughing it up through dinner! here's the college gals (kim, ashley, christie, me, christy, and lynsay). this is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend...



the bride with her sister, the hostess with the mostess.



i was seated across the table from my shy and proper friend, ashley. ;)


our place cards were a picture of each guest with christie. i thought this was such a cute idea. i should have taken a picture of mine, since i'm sure you'd all love to see me totally painted bronze (hair and all) for a musical show i was a part of during college. but i liked this one of the bride and groom that christie used for her future mother-in-law's seat.


i'm glad i decided to bring amelia to this dinner because it was the only chance christie had to meet her! christie has always shown such interest in our kids during our reunions, so i'm thankful she was able to take a minute to love on amelia.


when she mailed the party invitations, julie also included a card for us to write down our marriage advice to christie. at the party, julie read each card out loud and asked christie to identify its author. i was amazed that christie got almost every single one right! she really knows her friends! (of course, mine was the wordiest, so it wasn't too hard to identify! ha!)



moving on to the wedding day!!!! here is my friend as a beautiful bride!


i love this picture of josh and kim and their kids, paxton and lorelei. after i took this shot, i told kim that this would be their proof that they were actually there in case they had to take the kids out. but paxton and lorelei did great through the ceremony! it did help that lorelei was convinced that christie was a princess. :) (and i think jim would agree!)


and here are christie's bridesmaids and maid of honor (longtime friend, college roommate, sister-in-law, and sister). check out julie's 'do. through the whole ceremony, i kept singing to myself, "love shack. baby, love shack!" i was waiting for julie to break out with, "tiiiiiiin roof! rusted." (for those of you with really bad eyesight, it's a topiary behind julie's head. it's not her hair. ok, we're all clear now.)


christie's flower girl and ring bearer were her former students. (christie is the most amazing and most loved kindergarten teacher!) instead of dropping rose petals, the flower girl handed flowers to guests seated on the aisle. the first recipient was an older gentleman who was completely caught off guard. he politely said "no thank you" to her as she attempted to give him a flower. she just kept trying to hand it to him until he finally took it. :) then later down the aisle she accidentally gave two to her mom, and she took one back. she was so cute, and she took her job seriously!!


now here's the real reason i go to a wedding. um, er, i mean... isn't christie's wedding cake beautiful!? i love wedding cakes but not nearly as much as i love sharing in my friend's special day! yeah, that's it. (christie knows i love her more than cake! and that's a lot of love!)


isn't this a precious family!? cary, ashley, and noah were so hospitable as we all lived in their beautiful home for the weekend. more on that in the next post.



lynsay, christy, and ashley waiting on the mr. and mrs.


another one of my favorites from the weekend... these sisters are having too much fun getting these bubbles going!



and there they go! off to disney world!


jim and christie, it was such a blessing to share in your wedding celebration. may God bless you as you begin this exciting journey as husband and wife. congratulations!



and i expect to be playing with your baby at our next reunion!
(juuuuuuuust kidding!!!!!!)