as you have seen from my previous travel post i headed to md/va and bodie headed to me. this was for the nuptials of my very good friend miss megan horan! megan and i met in grad school at north carolina state while working on our masters degree in higher education administration. to be honest, when the two of us finally "found each other" (it wasn't an instant school friendship, we were both "mentally occupied" with other things at first) - it was a match made in heaven. i must has that year and half (give or take) has probably been one of the most fun periods of my 20s for sure!! "take a lap" is coined for raleigh adventures!
either before ... or after we "took a lap"
one of those raleigh nights on glenwood - LOVE me some erotic photohunt!
can't go wrong at the hibernian
anywhooo - miss horan told me of her "almost engagement" during our epic thanksgiving road trip of 2010 (a post for another day!). and i must say i couldn't have been happier for her. i had met kyle the previous fews day while i was in athens and they just "mesh" - megan was glowing and i was SO happy for her!!
thanksgiving road trip 2011 - with our fab host mr. lamar "earl" crawford
shots, shots, shots - i bet its soco & lime
so when the official "facebook" engagement was announced (isn't it sad that its really not REAL until its facebook real?) i was a mix of emotions. of course beyond thrilled and happy was the first and then a little "my partner in crime is now ENGAGED" was the other (if thats even an emotion). after taking some time to think about why this has been the only engagement to give me that emotion (the feeling of loosing your wing woman) was because basically all my other friends have been engaged/in relations since FOREVER, or at least since i've known them. megan has been my only friend (thus far) that i have experienced TRUE single life with together -- and the up's and down's of dating/men/online dating (yea for another post!!) so i have decided my emotion was justified and it was ok to feel a little selfish (yes alex, i just justified my emotion!!)
so now you know the basics behind the MADness (haha - megans new initials are MAD!) here comes the wedding journey and what a BEAUTIFUL wedding it was.
one lovely day at work i'm chatting with megan via gchat (love that thing) and we're discussing her wedding plans, and what i think are still an elopement to savannah, ga. but then she starts sending me pics of her wedding dress (SOOO beautiful, but i'm thinking... isn't that a bit much if you are going to elope?) and then a venue (prior to that i was getting links to elopement package/b&b's in ga) -- this venue was in VA. HOLD THE PHONE... i'm confused! fast forward... no elopement --- just a beautiful small wedding so families can be there (let me tell ya.. the horan fam is AMAZING -- SO MUCH FUNNNN!!) and then megan drops the bomb (a good bomb) that shes inviting 5 friends, and i am one of them!
so as i sit here a type this i get a little teary thinking about it. let me explain. megan has some really AMAZING girlfriends that she has been super close to since college (sorority sisters to be exact), girls that i felt like i knew, even before i met them. and then there was i - the grad school friend, the other friends has 4+ years over me!! to say i felt honored just isn't enough. i've always considered megan one of my best friends. i'm a firm believer you gain best friends along the way - i have high school best friends (shouts to marissa & mallory), college best friends (lauren & laurel, and some REALLY amazing sorority sisters as well), grad school best friends (megan, jermisha and anne) and then big girl job best friends (alex of course!) - some have more longevity but all in all they are all girls that i could really count on for anything. so to sum it up - really i felt super special, not gonna lie :)
you know you have a best friend when she drives to clarksville to celebrate your 25th birthday!
so then the big week arrived. i headed down to va on wednesday to spend the evening with the bride-to-be! when i arrived denise was working her magic on megan's makeup for the next day (which was BEYOND amazing!) and just played catch up. i also got to meet some of megan's extended fam - super fun people! so then came time to sleep. miss horan and i would be cuddling up in her brother's bed (thanks again chip!!) now, if you were the one to get married, i'm pretty sure you'd be nervous too. BUT nothing a little guided meditation can't fix! enter iPhone! i busted out my "relax and sleep well" app and glen harold guided us into a state of deep relaxation! it completely worked and we both passed out!!
the day of started with some yoga to limber up the bride-to-be (oh denise austin, you always give me a run for my money!!) and then off to the required beauty to-do's (nails, hair, you know!) we then made a run for the venue. megan & kyle got hitched at a BEAUTIFUL winery in front royal, va - Chateau O'Brian - check out the website, it was gorgeous and the views so amazing! from there chelsea and i got the bride all dressed up and then on with the festivities!
what a view!!
so sweet!
the ceremony was so sweet. each read passages from pieces of literature (SO SO megan and kyle - book nerds!!) - and it was quick, can't complain to that! next up was a wine tasting, following by a delish dinner, more wine, some beautiful words, more wine, cake (and it was so good and i don't even like cake!) and the tossing of the bouquet (which none of use really wanted to catch at the time - sorry megs!)
post-offical wedding party - came the after partay! we headed off to this LOVELY establishment called Stonewall Jackson's - we had a private room to get our drink on and then of course we had to make moves on the dance floor! after quite a few shots with the new mrs (WHY do we always get soco and lime? i'm not even sure if i like it!!) we headed back to the hotel. epic night for the books!!
the lovely ladies & an acquired friend
i had the joy of waking up the next morning to drive back to bwi (hungover a wee bit - and exhausted) but it was totallllly worth it! congrats to the new mr. & mrs. i couldn't be happier for the two of you!!
peace & love to the the newly weds!
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