Wedding Planner of Honor?

That's right folks, in October I took a weekend off from planning and played Maid of Honor.  (Ok, I AM married, but calling myself a matron makes me feel SO old!)  One of my best friends Michele finally found the perfect man in Ryan and married him in the same spot as her parents were married in years before at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia.  So, I got to take a little weekend vacation.

You heard me, VACATION!  Time OFF.  I was ABSOLUTELY not a wedding planner that weekend.  People ask all the time if I am able to enjoy myself at weddings.  The right answer, anyone in my profession learns to take advantage of the times they can enjoy themselves at a wedding.  That clearly includes a few drinks.

But not, of course, before the speech!  I wrote and memorized it laying in bed MONTHS ago.  Then, frequently as I lay awake in bed as the wedding drew near, I would repeat it to myself, making small changes and hoping I wouldn't forget anything.  I had been daring enough to speak without notes when my girlfriend Jessie got married 4 years ago, but I'm not generally so ballsy these days.  Plus, at least then I wrote it on paper first and THEN proceeded to memorize it.  Yikes!  In the end, I think it went pretty well.  I was even able to reference Michele's father's speech from earlier in the night off the cuff.  Way to go Stuart for that bonus.  It fit perfectly.

I mentioned earlier people ask me all the time if I am able to enjoy myself at weddings.  Truthfully, I do a pretty good job of doing so.  Inevitably, there are people who ask me what I think.  Michele's wedding was no exception.  The truth is, her wedding was stunning.  Others, well, lets just say I've had to bite my tongue.  My husband will tell you, you don't want to be sitting next to me if it's taking a while for dinner to be served.  I start looking around all agitated :) 

But it was truly an honor to be a guest at their families' special affair.  Even more so then at my own wedding, I was able to relax, sit and get my hair and make up done, and most of all, I truly enjoyed being told what to do as opposed to the other way around. 

Congratulations Michele and Ryan, I love you both!

                                         Photos courtesy of Baiada Photography

Sara