If I didn't drink for four days straight, I'd know how to blog about this wedding

I have been trying to formulate a cogent way of describing the wedding of one of my best friends, Marianne to her betrothed (I love that word.) Rob last Friday for about a week and change now. For some very odd reason I cannot seem to gather my thoughts into anything understandable and one of the major reasons I suspect this is happening is that I was drunk for a large majority of it, as you do. I have also been "suffering" the lasting effects of a cold that will not die. Barring all of that, this is one of those times where I was just having too much fun to sit around observing everyone and their nuances. It may make for a disjointed recounting of events in this blog I'm afraid.

Being part of a bridal party is a unique experience, unless it isn't, i.e. I have friends who have been in more than 5 weddings. I really did enjoy it and I did like my dress as the bride was kind enough to not pick the same dress for every bridesmaid. Why that was ever a "thing" I will never know. It probably falls under the same category as making jeans with incredibly wide legs also have incredibly wide waists because naturally, all women are tubular. I'm getting off track. How about recount what I can remember in bulleted points?

• The rehearsal at the church was for many of us, bride and groom included the cold water in the face as it were that this wedding was, in fact, happening. More than once Rob said "Wow, it is really hitting me now." I agreed. The engagement happened two years ago and even after all the planning and discussing and whatnots, all it takes is your loved ones to walk in a procession in front of you to make you take a step back and go "oh, so this is what it feels like."
• The rehearsal dinner was lovely, tinged as it was with anticipation (and wine). Catching up with out of town friends, family members of the couple all over a meal...these traditions are worth preserving, whatever you think of weddings and their trappings.
• Thankfully all the wedding related events took place within a mile of my apartment, allowing me to relax about getting from A to B (that is a euphemism for "allowing me to drink at my leisure") and as a result I remember having several interesting conversations, the kind of which I feel like I'm always chasing and never having time for in normal life. But the details of those conversations are foggy. I know we discussed Paris and trepanation and love for certain but don't ask me details because I wouldn't know. I left the rehearsal dinner party after party feeling tipsy and satisfied. Is there a better state of mind to be in?
• The day of the wedding came sluggishly b/c I awoke very early and very groggily and had 1.5 million things to do on a very tight schedule. But problems don't get more first world than having all the things one has to do be related to hair and makeup and getting ready in a pretty satin dress. 
• I made it to the bride's house on time and in time for a lot of milling around excitedly and the first cocktail of the day which was made out of wine. I should probably just fully adapt to the life of wino right now. 
• Marianne and Rob had rented a school bus to transport the bridal party to meet up with the groomsmen at Rob's house and then to the place where we took the photographs. I really loved that idea and it proved to be such a fun part of the afternoon, all of us as excited as overgrown schoolchildren only in wedding gear. And with beer.
• Standout snapshot of my memory: seeing Marianne traipse through the endless backyard of Rob's parents' house with Dana behind her, holding the train of her dress to the tree where Rob was waiting. The day had turned out to be quintessentially autumn with leaves falling and a chilly breeze blowing. It may pain Marianne to admit it but it was really quite romantic. 
• Taking the portraits was freezing and I anxiously await the final products as I'm reasonably sure my hair was flying in opposing directions. I'm told that wedding photographers can defy gravity in the photo lab (old school) so I'll be looking forward to that. Amazingly everyone's hair looked fine as we boarded the bus again so I'm optimistic. But most of us were buzzed so maybe I should be worried.
• Before this wedding I had no idea that the bride and groom sat facing each other on the altar in the Catholic (cat-lick) church. I liked this as well. It could have been the 100 year old church we were in but everything about the wedding ceremony felt so charmingly traditional.
• I am the type of girl that cries at weddings. I wouldn't think so about myself but there is something so fearless about promising something to another person for the rest of your life.
• All of us in the wedding party piled into pedicabs to get from the church to the reception. It was a charming way to travel, if a bit freezing. I focused mainly on the straining muscles of the calves of our driver and my chattering teeth.
• The reception was gorgeous as the many, many photos peppering facebook can attest. By this point in the day I had continued my steady drinking, with fortitude so what I remember is a room full of happy, dancing people. That's really all weddings should be.

As time goes on the best part of wedding celebrations is in the remembering.  I started this post three days ago and over the course of those three days, my cold has gotten worse. I'm sitting in a darkened living room,coughing, blowing my nose and drinking tea to the click clack of my keyboard and were it not for recounting the memories of the wedding, life would certainly seem a bit grim. That's all I've got and that ain't so bad.