My Best Friend's Wedding

Besides your own wedding day, it is a day you always dream about- your best friend's wedding. We have talked and dreamed about our big days for years- 9 years in fact, since Sept 1998 when we were college roommates. I've written about Leslie elsewhere so this post is dedicated to the week of events leading up to her wedding. I had the incredible honor of being her maid-of-honor, something that I was so touched to have.

The maid of honor traditionally gives a bridal shower for the bride. Leslie told me that she wanted it to be very small with just a few of her dearest friends from freshman year who were in town and available to come. It was me, Leslie, and darling Sarah Loose and the three of us had a FABULOUS time for 3 hours at Macaroni Grill. Fortunately, it was not crowded at all for lunchtime and so we didn't feel bad about being there so long. I still did a few bridal shower games- on a smaller scale. We did Romantic Movie Quotes where we match the movie with the quote and then I emailed the list of "questions" for Ben to answer and then have Leslie guess what he responded. It was super fun, but mostly to be all together again and catch up about our current lives. Here's a pic of us taken by the waitress.

Leslie had bridal portraits done on Wed. and she wanted her bridesmaids to be there to get some formal shots. I got to have my hair done all fancy- this was even fancier than at my own wedding! This one girl was amazing and did everyone's hair- so 8 of us total (including Leslie). What patience this girl has!

The bridal portraits began in the lobby of Hotel Monaco and Leslie got some stunning shots! (I'll talk later about her dress when I show the photos from the actual wedding day). However, the photographer wanted Leslie and us to have some "outdoors" shots. So, we caravaned over to the Salt Lake Temple Grounds by the pedestal. IT WAS FREEZING! Both Leslie and the Bridesmaids only had short sleeves and so it was FRIGID due to the blowing wind. I think it was a painful experience for everyone and I just kept thinking how glad I was to have gotten married in May! Fortunately for everyone, there were only a few photos outside and then we moved inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to finish the photos.

On Friday morning was Leslie's endowment and it was so neat to be with her and her family and friends at the Jordan River Temple. Our friend was slightly late and I saw her in the changing room and they asked if anyone was missing and I raised my hand and said that she was. They went down to the chapel and got her- I felt like it was getting the 1 lost lamb and bringing her back to the fold. The session was packed and it was incredible to see so many people receiving their own endowment for the first time.

Later that evening, it was the rehearsal dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was a lovely evening to honor the couple.

Here are the centerpieces

And the delicious main course- there was even shrimp on top!

I sat at a table with Sarah Loose, William, my parents, family friends of Ben, and then Mike and Melanie, Leslie's brother and sister-in-law and their baby Brooke. Here's Sarah and I

My dad and mom

Other guests.

Leslie's sweet younger brother Adam played the piano for them

However, the highlight of the evening for me was when Ben's father got up and welcomed everyone to "Ben and Lindsay's" Wedding Dinner. Ben was quick to yell "its Leslie" :-) Hey, at least Ben knows her name and that's the most important.

The Girls!

The happy couple- Leslie and Ben. Ben is one of the few men who can truly pull off an orange shirt.

Now. . . . .onto the moment you have all been waiting for . . . THE WEDDING DAY! I went early on Sat. morning Dec. 29th to get my hair done by the same girl, who did a great job again, and then went to the temple to watch my best friends be sealed for time and all eternity in the temple. I admit, tears were in my eyes as I watched her get married and then especially as I hugged her afterwards. But, I have to admit, I cried less than she did, which is quite a feat for me :-) I was proud of myself for holding it somewhat together. It is truly amazing the power of revelation as I felt that the counsel given to Ben and Leslie was perfect and directly relevant for them, but it also taught me ways that I can also improve my marriage.

It always takes a long time to come out of the temple- mostly due to us women who have to change into our elaborate dresses with corset backs and have to re-fix our hair and make-up, but I have to say that it was definitely worth the wait.

Leslie looked STUNNING! Like a true Princess- everything was PERFECTLY Leslie- from the stunning/elaborate dress, to the hair, to her shoes, and to the bling-bling jewelry (on a side note- I kept having people asking me if they (the jewelry) were real- nope, just great fake ones ( rhinestones!))

Here come Mr. and Mrs. Evans out from the temple! Look how radiant Leslie is- it makes me happier than anything to see her so happy.

Best Friends Forever

Check out Leslie's BEAUTIFUL veil- I just love it so much (mostly because it was mine :-) I thought it was the perfect "borrowed" item.

Doesn't Ben look stylish in Leslie's cape?

I have to admit that I am a huge personal fan of the cape- that would be the only reason I would ever have gotten married in winter is to wear a great cape like that. And the gloves truly complete the outfit. I still can't get over just how awesome the cape is!

Yes, this is my husband demonstrating just how cold it was. It wasn't quite as bad as the bridals, but it was still cold, especially being outside for prolonged periods of time. I have no idea how Leslie and Ben did it cuz they still had to take couples shots after this. And this coming from the Arizona girl who freshman year turned the heat up in our room to 90 degrees and still would have sweats on and be under a down comforter! Way to have toughened up Les!

Here's Leslie's family- I just love them so much. They are all super great. It was so fun to be able to spend some time with them over the week.

William captured this at the PERFECT moment!

Then, it was the reception that evening at Ben's parents house. They have a place up on the benches of Sandy that has a stunning view of the valley- what a great location for a reception.

Here I am holding one of Ben's nephews. I love the little pink tie.

All of the bridesmaids. I felt so bad for poor little Sarah- earlier in the day, she had fallen and broken her arm. She did get a pretty matching pink-and-black cast though- she knows the importance of color coordination.

I got such a cute bridal bouquet- too bad they don't last more than about a day. But, here's a photo of it to last forever.

The wedding cake

The guest table

The father-daughter dance. Leslie followed my advice and stuck to the basic priesthood shuffle, which was smart because her dress was even fuller than mine and William and I made that slightly embarrassing mistake that the dress impedes any fancy work.

They had an incredible spread of desserts- the chocolate decadence was my personal favorite. These desserts besides feeding the guest, played a dual role in being some of the materials for decorating Ben's car.

And now, for one of the best moments of the night. The cake ceremony. Ever since I can remember, Leslie said how much she HATED people shoving the cake in each other's faces. Well, Ben obviously didn't get that memo as here he is shoving it in her face!

Leslie wiping it off and both her and Ben laughing hysterically.

Leslie got him back really good though- unfortunately, William's photo came out blurry, but you get the picture.

Hehehe- it took him awhile to clean up his face.

Aw- nothing better than the Kiss and Make-up part- especially with some tasty cake.

The best part is that I was talking with Leslie about the cake incident after it happened and she asked Ben why he did it because "We're a fun couple and that is totally something a fun couple would do." I love this guy- he is so perfect for her since she has a crazy, fun-loving side to her.

So, the last part of the night was spent downstairs by the yummy desserts (and the home theater with real movie seats, the amazing toy room, and the jazz game (a necessary for Ben)) and we were talking with some very dear friends- Sarah, and the Sjobloms (Brekke, Matt, and Audrey) when all of a sudden, I looked around and everyone was gone! I ran upstairs only to see everyone already holding lit sparklers. We missed them. Leslie's Aunt Joan was so cute and told me she got them on her camera- well, the back of them as she wasn't quite fast enough. Kind of a bummer not to say good bye, but not that big of a deal. Here's a few of the remaining sparklers.

Then, came a moment that will live on forever in infamy. I continued talking with everyone when not 5 minutes later, I look over and shout "LESLIE!" They were back! I could not stop laughing- it was so funny. Ben's friends had paid him back for all of the many times that he had decorated their cars, and they got him good. Cakes, PEANUT BUTTER, marshmellows- I have to say that I love Ben in that, in true boy style, picked off a giant marshmellow from the car and ate it!

I have to say that I am so grateful for the car decoration because it gave me the opportunity to help Leslie emerge from the dress and talk with her about her feelings from the day and to express my love and well-wishes. The best part though is that in the end, they didn't end up taking Ben's car since it was so gross- they took his parents! I'm just glad they made this decision AFTER Leslie came back and got changed. All in all, everything turned out perfectly Leslie and words cannot even begin to express my complete and utter joy for her and Ben as they begin their new life together.

BFF's 4 EV-ER!