Friday night was the beautiful wedding of my life-long friend/sorority sister/college roommate, Kate Brady, and her new husband Paul Prejean. The wedding ceremony and reception on Friday were the grand finale of a week of joyous wedding festivities, and it was an honor to be a bridesmaid with my girlfriends and stand with the elegant bride!

(Click on any photo collage to see many more wedding photos.)

The bridesmaids kicked off the week with a bachelorette “scavenger hunt”, leading the bride to various locations around town to retrace the couple’s courtship.

Before they ride off and Kate is his bride,
We’ll spend one last day by the single-gal’s side.
We’ll go on a hunt from clue to clue.
To retrace their path from “first sight” to “I do.”

Next in the wedding festivities, my mom, Mrs Nell, Megan, and I hosted Kate’s bridesmaid luncheon. Mrs Nell’s house was elegant with silver, crystal, fine china and matching linens. My mom created beautiful arrangements of roses and hydrangeas, placed along each table to accent the colors of the china. The delicious food, especially Mrs Nell’s white chocolate bread pudding, was enjoyed by Kate’s mom, future-mother-in-law, aunts, bridesmaids, and special guests.

Thursday night we met at the church to practice our role as wedding party in the wedding ceremony.

After rehearsing the wedding at the church, we gathered at the City Club for the rehearsal dinner and to share toasts to the couple from the wedding party and family friends. I can say with certainty that the bridesmaid and husbands’ table (aka “kids’  table”) definitely had a fun time! I’m biased, but I also think we had the best toasts <wink>… with the exception of the bride and groom, who each delivered a tender, emotional speech of gratitude and love for each other and the people gathered to celebrate with them.

On wedding day, the bride, bridesmaids, mother-of-the-bride, and mother-of-the-groom gathered at Ms Kate’s house to have our hair and makeup done for the big event. **Special thanks to the bride for making it possible for this pregnant-with-twins bridesmaid to take a nice, long nap to prepare for a fun night of partying!** I loved seeing Kate transform from casually-dressed friend to gorgeous bride in her elegant dress made from her mom’s wedding dress, her mom’s veil with a special added touch of her new monogram, kid leather gloves, and pearls.

Finally it was time to head to St. Aloysius church! While ensuring that the groom did not get an early peek at his bride, we took a few photos of the girls before the wedding mass. Next was my favorite part of being a bridesmaid. Other than having special access to hug the bride before she walks the aisle, my favorite part of weddings is watching the groom’s reaction to seeing his bride for the first time. As a bridesmaid, I had a great view of Paul, and his reaction was priceless. He held himself together masterfully well, but from my vantage point it was easy to see that he was overcome with emotion by the elegance of his gorgeous bride, the grand organ and harp music, and the church filled with people who love them. The bride and groom were both a bit weepy through their vows… an endearing glimpse of the love they share.

Then it was time to PARTY! The reception was a blast: Juban’s delicious food, incredible wedding cake and groom’s cake, beautiful flowers, lively music from the band Stormy, and a packed dance floor (with some *comical* late-night dancers). Kate said she wanted her reception to be fun and lively… and it certainly was! It was the perfect way to kick off their marriage. I personally danced about half as much as I wanted to… which turned out to be maybe twice as much as I should have with this heavy belly. It was just too much fun to miss!

I couldn’t be happier for my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prejean! Kate and Paul, your wedding was a beautiful celebration of your love and your reception was a rockin’ party! Thank you for including me as a special part of your big day. I look forward to making many more happy memories with you two as husband and wife. Congratulations!!!

(Anyone is welcome to view all 320 of my photos in my Kate and Paul Prejean photo album or download the entire set of full-quality photos as a zip file (706.29 MB)  until Sept 30th.)