bride to be

#CoakleyEverAfter – Part 1

| The Bee Life

The festivities for Katie & Travis’ big day started Thursday night, when Katie, Jodi and I met up for manicures to get our fingernails in tip-top shape for the big day, a wedding must in my opinion if you’re in the wedding party! The entire long weekend was really surreal to the fact that is was actually Katie’s wedding. I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve known each other for so long and have gone through so much, or what? But I kept having moments of disbelief, yet being extremely happy and emotional through the whole thing!

Friday was the rehearsal, which went as most rehearsal’s go, a little chaotic but smooth at the same time,  working out the kinks and asking all of the questions.  From the venue, we headed out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice dinner, especially when it came time for the presents – because the thought that was put into them by Katie and Travis was overwhelming, especially for the parents, there were tears all around. She gave all us bridesmaids a bag of goodies, including our jewelry for the big day and she gave me a special bracelet that reads on the inside; “Today my Maid of Honor, forever my best friend ❤ 5.21.16” it is so perfect.

After the rehearsal, Katie and I headed to the hotel, to have one “final” girl’s night together before the big day! It was nice having some one on one time before the craziness of Saturday happened. She actually brought a notebook that I had made her all throughout high school and even early into college, it’s an old composition notebook that is filled with pictures, notes, stories, memories, stickers, from all of our fun times. It was pretty funny to look back on and read. We of course popped some bubbly and chatted more about “can’t believe you’re getting married tomorrow” and Katie also finished writing out her vows. Not to mention the hotel cups were pretty funny.

Saturday, May 21, 2016. The big day! We both woke up pretty early, it got to the point where we were just sick of laying in bed, trying to fall back asleep. So after Katie rewrote her vows, we had a Backstreet Boys/N’Sync jam session (I highly recommend this on a daily basis). It was the fun little start to the day to help get the jitters out and have a carefree moment during the day. Then the morning started with a Starbucks run (of course) and over to the venue to set-up some of the centerpieces and last minute details before we needed to be back at the hotel for hair and make-up to begin at 10AM.

The day didn’t seem to go too fast, although Katie might object to that statement. We (me and her sister Jodi) had to make a few trips to get some last minute things that were forgotten or needed throughout the day and making sure everyone was on track and where they needed to be, transportation was ready, and even checking on the weather for the ceremony location, since the rain clouds were rolling in.

Come back for Part 2 – tomorrow!

XO

Weekend Recap – Katie’s Bachelorette!

| The Bee Life

Where do I even begin? This past weekend was Katie’s bachelorette party, after months of planning, it was finally the day to actually celebrate!!

We started the afternoon with a toast to the bride, I selfishly wanted some practice for my MOH speech, although totally winged this one.  We then piled onto the limo bus with our coolers and started the party.  Apparently you can get pretty buzzed in 30-minutes thanks to Jell-O shots, wine and champagne – oh and some fun music.  We were also lucky enough to have some hotties join us for the days festivities, you may know them… Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling and Benjamin McKenzie (famously known from the OC).IMG_1877Our first stop was Monet & Merlot. A wine and painting place, which is all the rave lately.  This was my first time at one, and I ended up liking it way more than I expected! It went off without a hitch, for having 17ish buzzed women, not to mention we actually finished under the estimated time frame!  We did a pretty simple picture, but I thought it was amazing how everyone’s picture came out differently, even though the directions were all the same.

After paint, we made our way to dinner, although the drive again was a good 30+ minutes, so more jell-o shots, dancing, and drinks. By the time we made it to dinner, I’m not sure if many people were hungry but most people were definitely tipsy. But hey, that’s the point of a Bachelorette party, right?

I loved everything about Katie’s bachelorette, especially because we were celebrating this beautiful girl and everyone truly let loose and had a good time.  I seriously want to consider renting a limo more often just to drink and dance without having any cares!  But all-in-all, we danced, drank maybe a little too much, laughed a lot, took way to many selfies, and had an awesome time. Oh, and the guys were a hit.

The party was definitely a success! And I can’t wait for the wedding, I was a little sad when I said good-bye to Katie realizing the next time I would see her would be DAYS before her wedding as opposed to WEEKS. It amazing that after so long, her big day is finally going to be here.