My Best Friend's Wedding, part one

Clearly, I have a little explaining to do about the sudden disappearance of my long time (almost three years!!) website, BeingBugsie.com. After this past weekend's events, however, I decided that conversation could be put on hold for a bit longer. I have so much to share about Erin's wedding!
As most of you reading this know, Erin and I have known one another for... ever! She was married this past weekend, and the 3 days that we spent celebrating were phenomenal. The story is, perhaps, best told with photos:

Here is Erin on the day before her big day, rehearsing her hairstyle and trying to relax:

The wedding rehearsal and dinner were on Friday. Erin and David were married at Heritage Hill State Park in the same church that Erin's parents were married in exactly 35 years ago on Monday. The rehearsal dinner was at Z Harvest Cafe. Dave and I had never been there, and the food was to die for (a theme that repeated throughout the weekend!!)

Dave and I on Friday night. Erin's mom, Erin, and me at Heritage Hill.

The rehearsal went wonderfully and pushed me nearly to the edge of excitement/nervousness/anxiety/pure joy over my best friend's wedding. I got my first glimpse of Erin's wedding program on Friday and, opening the front cover, I read:

Understand, I'll slip quietly

away from the noisy crowd

when I see the pale stars rising, blooming, over the oaks.

I'll pursue solitary pathways

through the pale twilit meadows,

with only this one dream:

You come too.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

This little bit was all it took to kickstart the crying. Always a sucker when it comes to weddings, Erin's ranked right up there with my sister Jessica's when it came to (my) tears shed. Erin had so perfectly considered every last detail. I noticed Dave, even, was misty eyed a couple of times throughout.

So, here are a few more pictures from the rehearsal. Erin looked adorable in the sweetest little vintage "bumble bee" dress. The first photo is of Erin holding her new nephew, 7-week-old Charlie, who was an angel all weekend. His mama, Sarah, is Dave's sister. She was the officiant for the wedding ceremony, and she did a beautiful job. The next two photos are just of Erin and Dave during the rehearsal.

This is a picture of Erin reading a page from a 1950's home economics text book on "how to be a good wife." I think I took this when she got to the part about running a dust cloth over the tables before your husband gets home from work so that he feels as though he's reached a "haven of rest and order" or some crap like that. Her future-in-laws (both retired educators) presented the "rules" to her at the rehearsal. If you know Erin, you know we got a good laugh... (I love the flabbergasted look on her face, and the amused, knowing look on his.)