In Honor of the Bride

Last April, my best friend in New York heard those magical words that so many dream of hearing, Will you marry me? She said yes of course, and made excited phone calls to family and friends to share the wonderful news. After hearing about her proposal and paging through wedding magazines at a corner deli over coffee and snacks, I heard those magical words that best friends dream of hearing, Will you be my maid of honor? I said yes of course, and could not be more honored to be included in Lindsey and Brendan's special day.

As her big day got closer and closer, the bridesmaids came together to plan a gathering in honor of the bride- her bridal shower. We emailed, called, ordered, coordinated, and invited, and the shower came together beautifully.

The day of the shower, Kellie and I rented a Zipcar and left the city around 9 am to drive to Philadelphia. We planned to arrive around 11:30 to help the rest of the girls set up before the guests arrived at 1 pm. We caught up as we drove downtown and through the Holland tunnel. After leaving NY and entering NJ, we stopped for some donuts and coffee before driving the rest of the way there. I snapped pictures of the highway signs and skylines, making sure to document each part of our day. After the gas tank was full, I even asked the gas station attendant to take our picture. I have no shame when it comes to getting the pictures I want...

After being on the road for almost an hour and a half, we started to notice that we were not seeing any signs for I-73, the next direction on our trusty Mapquest print-out. In fact, we weren't really seeing any signs at all. Just trees, snow, and an occasional house. We got excited when we finally saw a few big, green signs ahead, but once we came closer panic set in. The signs marked an upcoming bridge to Delaware. Yep. Delaware. We apparently drove about 45 minutes out of the way in the wrong direction. We called Lindsey confused and lost, and felt a little better after she told us that her and Brendan had done the same thing before. For the rest of the drive, I had my iPhone directions in front of me at all times, slowly watching our little blue dot travel up the purple route line to Philly.

What a relief it was to finally see the Philadelphia skyline. After our Delaware detour and roundabout driving, we had finally made it!

Once we were changed and ready, Kellie and I helped with the finishing touches around the shower room. Since Lindsey and Brendan are traveling to Jamaica for their honeymoon, we hosted a Jamaican/Caribbean themed shower. Food stations were prepped, flowers were arranged, desserts were plated, and pictures of Lindsey and Brendan were strung for a game played throughout the shower.

Lindsey arrived right around one, and was able to greet her family and friends as they arrived and sipped cocktails (the Luminous Lindsey, our signature cocktail for the day, was delicious!).

After we mingled for about 45 minutes, we introduced our adjective game. Throughout the shower, guests could select an adjective written below each picture of Lindsey and Brendan and tell a story about the bride related to that adjective. The bridesmaids started the game off by telling some stories about traveling with Lindsey in Europe, both in high school and college. Towards the end of the afternoon, more of Lindsey's family told stories about Lindsey when she was younger. Regardless of when the stories were from, they all had something in common. They all showed what a kind, determined, and amazing person Lindsey is.

At two o'clock, our Caribbean themed lunch was served. All of the food was authentic and delicious.

After lunch, guests played How Well Do You Know Lindsey, where they answered questions all about the bride...

... and then we watched Lindsey open her gifts, including our beach bag full of honeymoon essentials like beach towels, flip flops, and luggage tags from the bridal party.

After gifts were opened and thank you's were said, everyone snacked on red velvet cupcakes as they sipped coffee and tea.

As desserts were devoured, Brendan joined us for the final game of the day. We asked him to answer questions before the shower, and then had Lindsey try to answer the same questions at the shower. For each wrong answer, she had to chew a piece of Double Bubble. She got a lot of the answers right, but still ended up with quite a wad of tropical flavored gum in her mouth for her wrong ones.

All in all, it was a wonderful day for a wonderful bride-to-be. I feel so fortunate to have Lindsey in my life and as a friend, and I am so excited for her wedding!