This weekend was crazy!
Ben's brother Brandon got married to Brittnae Nuttall on Friday, and Natalie Stucki & Sam Fetzer got married on Saturday!
I was in both wedding parties, so that made the festivities that much better!
Both Ben and I were able to go to both sealings, and they were great. [: It was really awesome to be able to see our close friends and family be sealed for time and all eternity, and it was even better to be able to listen again to all of the promises and blessings that we made to each other on our wedding day.
The night before Brandon & Brittnae got married, all of Brittnae's bridesmaids had a sleepover at her house. It was really fun to hang out with Brittnae, Lyndee, Kim, Lindsey, and Brittnae's twin sister, Bridget. [: After Brandon & Brittnae's sealing we took lots of cute pictures outside of the temple and then headed over to the ward house in Washington for a luncheon. We had really yummy pasta and some green salad. After the luncheon, Ben & I were pooped! So we went to his parents' house and took a nap for an hour and a half!
Then it was time for the reception! We had to stand in the receiving line for a while, and that was actually fun because Lyndee, Kim, Bridget and I sang and danced to the music that was playing. [: Then, it was time to be sneaky and mischievous! Brittnae had parked her car on the opposite side of the chapel, and hid the car keys to try to stop us from getting to it. But Lyndee had an extra key at her house, so she sent Russ home to get it! Then Ben & I snuck out, and started decorating Brittnae's car! We put green easter basket grass all over the inside of the car, silly string on the tires, writing on the windows, and green and blue oreos all over the rest of the car. Then someone from Brittnae's side of the family brought industrial plastic wrap and started wrapping up the car. There was so much of it! A couple of the other groomsmen were there to help, and tied cans to the back of the car. We did a pretty spectacular job, if I say so myself. [: But just as we were finishing, Brittnae popped her head out of the door and caught us red handed! I think she still might be mad at me.. haha. We went back inside, and danced our hearts out! I tried to rest for a minute, but Lyndee dragged me back onto the dance floor. It was lots of fun! When the time came for the newlyweds to leave, they spent about ten or fifteen minutes trying to get stuff out of and off of the car. But after they had closed the doors and were about to drive away, the guy who had brought the plastic wrap ran around the car three or four times with the roll, so they were stuck! When we got to Ben's parents' house afterwards, we found the green stringy stuff dumped on the sidewalk, and there were plastic wrap and rootbeer cans all over Lyndee's front porch. [:
Natalie's wedding was also wonderful! Their sealing was beautiful, and it was so cute to see Sam get all choked up when they were sealed. [: Ben had to work in the afternoon, so he left after the sealing to get some things done before he had to report for duty. There wasn't a luncheon after Natalie's sealing, so after pictures were done, I got to go home and rest for a while. I ended up going grocery shopping with Ben, and getting some things done around the motel room until it was time to go to the reception! Natalie's reception was in one of the most beautiful backyards I've ever seen! There was a pool with a waterfall and waterslides made out of a rock formation! Natalie had gone to a lot of trouble to make everything perfect, and it was. There were pictures of her and Sam all over the place, cute little signs indicating where the food was, and the wedding favors. They had a cute white picket fence behind the receiving line, and there were even little labels on the refreshments table, indicating which food was which. There were blue bows on the chairs, and disposable cameras for everyone to take candid pictures with. I helped out with the food table for the first hour or so, and it was work! There were so many people, it was hard to keep things stocked up! I thought it was so neat that Natalie and Sam had that many family and friends that love them and support them in their decision. [: After the food craziness slowed down I was able to just sit and watch and enjoy the happiness that was on the faces of everyone around me.
While I was at Natalie's reception, I had a realization come to me. That I LOVE being a part of the wedding celebration. As I was thinking about this, I decided that I don't want the wedding fun to be over after next week's open house. I thought to myself, "I think I'd have a lot of fun planning a wedding like this, as long as it wasn't mine." But then I realized that if I decided to become a wedding planner, I'd have to deal with all demographics of brides. From sweet and understanding and carefree, to sweet, in charge, and angry if everything isn't perfect. My next thought was that I might not be too successful in doing business with the latter type. :P So I kept thinking. And while I was thinking, I was watching Natalie's photographer. She was just walking around with her camera, being cute and taking pictures of anything and everything that had to do with the wedding. And then I thought about Brandon & Brittnae's photographer, and our wedding photographer. I love that they get to enjoy every aspect of the wedding experience, from engagement to "I Do," but they get to be somewhat in the background. And, what I think is the best part of being a wedding photographer, is that it's their job to capture the joy and what will end up being the memories for the new couples for years to come. I've always liked taking pictures, and I've always wanted a really nice camera to take those pictures with. And I've decided that wedding photography is something I'm interested in. Not that it's going to replace my education in music or anything, but I think I want photography to be my next little hobby. And who knows, maybe I'll really fall in love with it, and get really good at it, and maybe people will want to pay me to take their picture! (I wouldn't be opposed to that at all!) I'm thinking about looking into taking some photography classes, so I can get my new hobby kicked into gear!
Overall, this weekend was awesome! I'm tired, and I'm sore from dancing, but I had tons of fun! And I'm ready to have that much fun again at our open house in Salt Lake next Saturday! [:
