me & my {beautiful} mess: {+} 1

How was your weekend?

is what I heard as I sat down at the beginning of my shift last night.

Uhhmmm....I had to think hard about what I did this weekend.

I know I did stuff...but it's all kind of a blur.

Except for the wedding.

I wore a new dress, I took a bunch of pictures, I had a good time.

{maxis, chevrons, bold stripes, oh my!}

I was the +1 for this wedding, the once removed guest, the friend of the friend.

{my date}

I cannot lie, I kind of went with the Wedding Crashers mentality.

I sure didn't expect to find another date to take home with me, but I was definitely there for the food, the wine, and the entertainment.

{proof of curled hair that I knew would eventually just melt down my back outside}

I know, I know, it sounds terrible, being a wedding crasher, but I met my obligation as the +1, made nice with everyone at the table, and told the bride she looked beautiful, which she did, as all brides should look on their wedding day.

Even in the 100* wedding outdoors, sweet mother of industrial fans!

{Kelly's Mama bought us all electric fans for the heatwave, mine lit up, Kel's had Scooby, yup,that's how we roll}

{So you see, this is Kathy, she was my neighbor at table #9, I convinced her to have a "model" moment in the fan with me...ha! she said it looked like we were falling out of a plane.
Well, the fan was the size of a jet engine, so touche, Kathy, touche!}

{try as I may, and with the encouragement of the lady in the big, black, floppy, Kentucky Derby hat sitting behind me (and maybe some wine), I just keep trying to work it!!! with the wind. Look Ma, like this?!}

{I kept insisting that I was merely a brunette, but then this picture of my hair in the sunlight surfaced and it explained the stained white table cloth, the wine soaked clutch, and the deceased wasp that tried to make friends with me at.table.number.nine. Apparently, you get a little unruly when you go red. Mmmhmmm that's right.}

I refused to get up when All The Single Ladies started playing...and don't we all love that tradition where you are heckled to stand up and join in with every single woman in a 5 block radius, the younger ones under 18 being shot glances by their fathers, and the older ones, the aunts & the divorcees not getting eye contact at all. Keep singing Beyonce, my unruly butt stayed right where it needed to be, in my seat, in front of the fan, and behind my champagne glass.

{I just refuse to get into the bouquet hungry mosh pit}

Even if I refuse to play tackle for the bouquet, I am just a girl (and a photographer and a very creative soul), so of course I noticed all the little wedding things that I'm sure took months to plan: the flowers, the table decor, all the pinteresty details, the accent colors, the way the light shone through the trees, the bridesmaids shoes, the up-do's, the delicately tied ribbons in pink and green, and finally a detail that was pointed out to me by my date: the name of the bride's late mother front row and center and then again in the brides bouquet a picture of the two of them when the bride was just a baby.

There's always a moment during weddings that I just kind of love the most. It's not the I-dos or the first kiss or the vows...it's the moment when the nervous, excited groom sees the bride for the first time. It's the moment that the rest of the audience usually neglects because they're all turned around looking at the bride. Yeah, she gets her dues, it's pretty much her day, but I always like to sneak a little glance at him and see his face light up when she first steps into view. I know, I'm such a romantic, but you know they say it's not about the number of breaths you take but it's the moments that take your breath away.

{ Hey, just breathe, buddy, just breathe.}

Ironically, I was almost late to this shindig, solely for getting caught up on 1) sleep and 2) YouTube videos of the.one. the.only. my.cinematic.love-of-all-romance-movies: The Notebook.

*sigh*

I just have to share.

First I stumbled upon this (again):

(Girl crush alert! She is so damn adorable!)

and then I landed on this (for the millionteenth time):

{one of my absolute favorite parts of this movie...the couple that's not afraid to tell it like it is...
"so it's not gonna be easy, it's gonna be really hard, and we're gonna have to work at this every day but I wanna do that, because I want you, I want all of you forever, you and me every day...picture your life...don't you take the easy way out...what do you want?"}

and finally cause I just love these two together and that Ryan Gosling swagger and mischievous smile and that look he gets in his eyes... (oh chil' I'm fanning myself just thinking about it! I'm all veclempt!)