March Part 3: Jen and Karl's Wedding

The day after I got back from Austin, I threw a bridal shower for Jen. It was a fairly simple affair since I had it catered, but I decided to make snickerdoodles and sugar cookies with lime frosting the morning of the party. I had ordered the Smoked Taco with pick up in American Fork, and I made arrangements for Scooby to pick it up on her way to my house. Unfortunately, when she went to pick it up, they didn't have it! They had mistakenly put the order in at their Murray store. Thankfully, they sent one of their people with it to my house, and it got here only a little bit later than I wanted it. 

We didn't play any kind of shower games, so hopefully, Jen was okay with that. 

Jen mentioned that she wanted a lego figure cake topper since they put legos together on their first date. We got to work 3D printing some lego figures for her. I think they turned our really cute, though it did take a few prints to get them right. 

We hosted their rehearsal dinner as well, but nobody took any pictures of it. 

On the day of the wedding, I headed to Provo to help set up. I got my first glimpse at the program they made for the ceremony; it's super cute! 

Jen booked a hotel room for all of us to get ready in. She also got us all matching robes, and I embroidered our names onto them. Here's Lorelei filing and polishing my nails while I get my hair done. 

I have never seen Jen so happy as I did this day, and it was wonderful! 

Bridesmaids! Me, Copper, and Lorelei. 

The back of my hair. 

My crew made it to the ceremony, and they all looked so good! 

Jen put me in charge of the emergency kit, and I was excited when some of the items I brought were needed. Before the ceremony, I made sure Jen and Karl got some Listerine strips. Not pictured is me nervously walking down the aisle, trying not to trip or walk weirdly. We also don't have photos of the ceremony, but it was lovely. Copper told me that one of my duties as Matron of Honor was to take out anyone who objected to the wedding. Thankfully, nobody did. 

After the ceremony, we took the bridal pictures while all the guests had a dirty soda/mocktail hour. Then, we had dinner. 

We got seated with Scooby and her family, and we made Jen jealous when Karl came and we got a picture with him. 

So then she came so she could get one with us. 

My family looked so good that I had to get pictures with all of them! 

Gotta fluff the hair. 

Family members, including Jen's son Owen, played a special number for us. It was so beautiful. 

We got a selfie with the whole crew. 

The cake cutting. I somehow missed getting a picture of the cake with the cake topper. 

Somewhere in there I made a toast. I forgot a lot of the things I wanted to say, but I loved the opportunity to reflect on our friendship over the years. I talked about the first time I met Jen, and she was wearing a shirt that said, "The Mountains are calling, and I must go," but it said "Splash, Space, Big Thunder, and Matterhorn" or maybe not Matterhorn, but it was clearly talking about Disney parks, and I knew we should be friends. That night she asked me if I would be willing to drop everything at a moments notice to go on trips, and I said yes, hoping that would be the case. Most of our trips together had more than a moments notice, but at least one was pretty last minute. She called and we went to New York the next day. I talked about how we've laughed together and cried together over the years. I wanted to talk about how she sat with Brian in the waiting room of the hospital while I got half my thyroid removed, and how she lifted and carried my bags for me when I was still struggling to get my A-fib under control, but I forgot about those things. Brian said my speech was short and sweet and just right. I always think people need to hear more nice things about them. 

After cake and toasts, it was a dance party. I loved dancing with all my kids and seeing my kids dance with each other. 

We had a blast. 

Don't worry, I also danced with Brian. 

Before Karl and Jen took off, we made sure to snag a picture with them too. 

Michael went home with the kids, and Brian and I went to the room the bridal party got ready in to pack up everything so Jen could pick it all up easily the next morning. I am over the moon happy for Jen and Karl. I loved getting to know their families better through this whole planning and wedding stuff. Brian commented that he'd never seen Jen so happy. I sat with Jen through her divorce mediation, and because of that, it was such a joy to be with her on this wonderful day. We wish you all the joy and happiness you deserve, Jen.