A wedding and old friends

I spent a lovely weekend in Raleigh NC attending the wedding of my maid of honor, Jacque. I have known her since we were 15 yrs old. We had a fabulous youth group and made life long friends with some of the people. Attending the wedding were some friends that I had not seen for 10-20 years, even writing that makes me feel old. Greg, Holly, Ginger, Scott, Jacque, and I all grew up together. Ginger's husband Scott and I went to elementary and high school together as well as the same church that we all met in. It was beyond fun for me to catch up with all my old buddies and realize that even after 10 or 20 years we could pick up where we left off. I don't think there was one small down time in the conversation. Everyone of us still has a relationship with God that has grown and changed over the years, and we have all found a measure of peace and fulfillment in our lives even though our roads have been so diverse. I was so happy to be able to reconnect with the people who have known me the longest, seen me at my most awkward, and loved me in spite of it. Cheers and blessings to each of you!

The wedding was simply divine. For a stay at home mom like me, I felt like I was treated to a ball. You know that I can not talk about something without mentioning the food, but I think that it would be more appropriate to talk about the bride and groom first. The ceremony was very touching, they read vows to each other that they had written, and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Unfortunately many forgot hankies, so their was lots of sniffling. Jacque looked gorgeous in a light pink gown, her bridemaids wore a chocolate brown and carried pink flowers, very nice. Jac's husband has an adorable son the same age as Jac's daughter. They were beyond cute when they gave a toast to the happy couple. I had never met Danny before so I really didn't know him at all, but what impressed me the most was his relationship with his son. It is obvious that they adore each other and have a blast together, and that pretty much sums it up in my opinion. If your teenage son likes you, you must be doing something right.

Okay, now to the food. As soon as the ceremony was over we went into a room for refreshments while the pictures were taken. I thought this was a classy touch, in light of standing around and waiting. There was a bar, fruit, cheese and cracker table and a beautiful table with a giant ice sculpture that had jumbo shrimp, crab claws and raw oysters. (I was in heaven, minus the oysters) Next, we were ushered into a ball room in the old historic inn that was stunningly decorated. I don't remember all the details, but the flower arrangements on each table were gorgeous and there were more glasses and silverware at each table than I knew what to do with. There was a water glass with lime, red wine glass, white wine glass, and a champagne glass. The silverware was more daunting, but luckily we remembered the rule to start on the outside and work your way in. I won't bore you with further details so here was the 5 course menu. It was a 5 star kind of meal with all the fancy trimmings. I hadn't had anything so nice in over a decade.

1. crab cake
2. artichoke soup
3. spinach and arugela salad
4. chicken or steak
5. wedding cake with chocolate truffles on each plate

And if that wasn't enough, back in the bar room across the hall from the reception where we first waited, was a giant chocolate fondue fountain with all sorts of yummy things like strawberries, pineapple, marshmellows, rice crispies, and cookies.

After all this, there was dancing. The men were hilarious to watch and Nate and I had a slow dance and one dance Kevin James style from the movie Hitch.

The happy couple departed at 5pm after 5 hours of fun and we hit the road home to find a place to spend the night.

p.s I took no pictures because my friends had better cameras and took a gazillion pics, so hopefully they won't forget to send them.