a wedding weekend in phoenix

My semester is over. Whew. Certainly, I enjoyed what of it that I could (all of the sitting and studying, not so much enjoyed). It was a crazy busy semester and on my final morning of finals, I packed up my car for winter break, went to campus to return all my books and sell back my lab manual, got coffee with a friend for last minute Spanish studying, took my Spanish Literature exam (oof), took my ballet final, had a two hour rehearsal then hit the highway to St. Louis. I unpacked the car and my bags, then packed right back up for my weekend trip to Phoenix.

I was jumping from extreme amount of being busy to the next. But this kind of busy was the fun kind, a kind I had been looking forward to for a good portion of my semester, one because a friend so near and dear to me was getting MARRIED (!) but also it was a sign that my hellish semester was OVER! (two impeccably awesome things). Boy, was it a good getaway from the freezing cold, rainy, cloudy weather we had been having in Missouri as well.

(disclaimer: this post contains many photos and lots of words)

Friday, the 19th, 8:30 am: the flight

It was surprisingly an easy flight, the airport had a bit more traffic than what I am used to due to it being the weekend before Christmas. But we got in and through security no problems this time (last time I accidentally left my taser in my backpack...) The flight itself was easy too. My mom and Sue, a mom of a friend of mine who couldn't make it to the wedding, and I all sat together. Sue had some drink coupons that we used on our flight, Bloody Mary's at 8:30am? I'll take it!

Friday, 11am Phoenix time: lunch 

After we reached our Phoenix destination, we met up with a friend, Laura, picked up our rental car (2015 Altima! Ooo did that car have some sleek features and some speed!), then headed over to the bride to be's parents place for lunch.

Friday, 4pm: wedding rehearsal

Our car (Melody, the bride to be, Christy, her sister and maid of honor, Laura and I, two of the bridesmaids) got stuck in traffic and showed up a fashionably 20 minutes late to the wedding rehearsal...oops. The wedding venue was beautiful! Holy cow, it really truly was. We did our little run through of the ceremony then the boys and girls split up for bachelor and bachelorette festivities.

Friday, 6pm: bachelorette party

The girls split and ate a lovely Applebees dinner--the sisters thought that'd be a semi-uncrowded place for a Friday night party of 13 group of ladies. After our meal, we wandered over to The Duce a place where Melody and I discovered while I was in town this summer. There, we met up with quite a few more ladies and simply danced the night away. It was too fun.

Saturday, the 20th, 10am: ultimate frisbee with the bridal party

Saturday, 2pm: lunch and wedding decoration prep

With Melody's wedding being pretty relaxed and laid back, the bridesmaids and some family/family friends helped put together wedding decor along with the bouquets and boutonnieres. Now I know how to make such flower arrangements! After putting together our bouquets, Laura and I continued on with the jam packed schedule, ran back to the hotel and changed to return to the house for a delicious Greek dinner in the back yard gorgeously set up with a whimsical, twinkle light touch.  

Saturday, 5pm: rehearsal dinner

Delicious dinner where I indulged in a wee bit too much food. (Worth it.) It was lovely conversing with new friends and meeting family members from both sides of the wedding. 

Sunday, the 21st (wedding day!), 9am: bridal party brunch

The incredible sunrise that greeted us on such a special day.

 Once again...more food. I mean, goodness, I feel like this weekend revolved more around the food than it did the wedding! ;-) 

Sunday, 11am: beautification of bride and bridesmaids

Enough said. We used the whole amount of time, but it was nice to have plenty of time to leisurely get ready rather than rushing around frantic and frazzled. Lovely, lovely. 

Sunday, 2pm: arrive at venue, photos

Ooo so close to wedding time! We got to the venue and saw our bridesmaid room. Huge! Vintage decor and basically a room of a castle. Couldn't complain about our bridesmaid quarters.

Sunday, 4pm: wedding ceremony

Sunday, 5pm: cocktail hour

Sunday, 6pm: wedding reception aka dance partay

Monday, the 22nd: heading home

Needless to say after a long night of smiles, laughter, swing dancing, and lots of clinking glasses to the happy couple, we slept pretty well. Before we caught our flights, we ate one last delicious meal (brunch) over with whomever was left in town--mostly all of the STL peeps. After we departed their abode and dropped Laura off to the airport for her flight, mom and I explored a bit of Phoenix with the time we had left before our own flight. We sure took full advantage of the exquisite weather by stopping by some "fast food" called Hummus Xpress. Not exactly your stereotypical fast food..more of a Chipotle-style Greek food with yummy hummus and greens! We took the goods over to a nearby park with a view of the mountains and palm trees. Such a good final hour in Phoenix before departing back to the rainy St. Louis.