Bridesmaid at the Beach
By: Red Velvet
Three things that can make a wedding enjoyable (for a bridesmaid): beautiful weather, being in a bridal party where you actually like all the other girls and a (really!) awesome pair of heels.
Luckily for me, I got all three this past weekend.
[View from a friend’s aunt’s house and where we stayed for the weekend. This is the kind of weather we had!]
Here’s the thing with outdoor weddings - stalking the weather reports every hour until the day the of is another item on your list of things to worry about. Ideally, you should have a backup plan (though I’m not sure what my friend’s was). But when the weather does work in your favor, like it did with my friend this past Sunday, outdoor weddings are amazing! For my friend’s beach wedding, it was nothing but sunny blue skies and a light breeze provided by the waves crashing on the shore. Are you picturing this? Because it’s as beautiful as it sounds. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.
I can’t get over how wonderful and intimate the wedding ceremony was, though it flew by quickly (it’s funny, the amount of time we took to get ready was about 100x longer!). The music started, us bridesmaids and groomsmen slowly made our way onto the sand (barefoot!), a live bagpiper joined the recorded accompaniment and out came the bride with parents on either side of her. I got teary pretty much immediately.
The entire ceremony was officiated by a friend and put together by the couple themselves. Friends read passages (such as the Apache Wedding Prayer and The Art of Marriage, by Wilferd Arlan Peterson). They included Filipino traditions to honor the groom’s heritage. Then repeated vows they wrote to each other. They both looked so happy! There were some tears too but mostly they looked at each other with these huge, infectious smiles on their faces. It was an honor to be a part of it.
[J & I avoiding having pictures taken of our makeup-free, just rolled out of bed, messy-haired selves]
I’ve heard some horror stories from friends on their fellow bridal party gals. So-and-so is kind of a bitch. This one doesn’t do anything. Her ideas are ridiculous. The list goes on.
But not this bridal party (three of whom I went to high school with). We lucked out. Sure, we hit a few bumps (mostly from lack of communication at times) but one of the bridesmaids summed it up best at the end of the night as we hugged goodbye: “Since we’ve been seeing each other all the time now, it’s made me realize how much I miss you guys!” (This is slightly paraphrased as she was a little drunk at the time.)
I feel the same way though. The only high school friend I really, truly stayed in touch with was the bride. Reconnecting with these old friends, I’ve forgotten how much they make me laugh. I don’t know how well we’ll keep staying in touch but it was so much fun to be a part of this with them. If anything, we had a great weekend watching our friend get married.
[Heels I wore to the wedding reception]
I’m 4”11 and a half. I should probably wear heels more often. But I don’t. I all but gave up on them once I started working in the city. The only time I bring out my heels are for special occasions and my feet feel like they’re dying a slow painful death each time.
Naturally, for the reception I bought a pair of light grey, four inch tall, platform heels that I didn’t even bother trying to break in beforehand. (In my defense, they’re very pretty.)
These shoes are perfection.
I stood around for long periods of time. Walked back and forth from our table, to the dance floor, to the bar and back again numerous amounts of times. And not once did my feet ache or feel pinched. I wasn’t even tempted to put on the flip flops given to us by the bride. No pain whatsoever.
You know how I wrote about my favorite dress last month? Say hello to my new favorite pair of heels.
I can’t stress enough the importance of having good non-painful shoes for the wedding reception. (Or a pair of flip flops just in case.) Your feet will thank you for it. Mine did!
***
It’s been three days since the wedding and I’m still thinking about it. How happy I was to share in their day. Telling stories to my friends. Obsessively checking the photographer’s website for photos.. Oh! They’re up! Gotta go!
