Congratulations, Sara and Jason!

Sara catching the bouquet at our wedding

While my Maid of Honor, Sara, wasn't the first person who attended my wedding to get married afterwards, she was the first person who was still there when I tossed the bouquet to get married. Which was appropriate, since she's the one who caught it. :) (Yeah, yeah, I know that doesn't really work, but still... :) ) She married her love, Jason, this past weekend in a beautiful ceremony in Richmond.

As one of Sara's bridesmaids, the wedding festivities began for me on Thursday evening with a pizza dinner at Sara's parents house. We (Sara's friends) call them Mama and Papa P for short. When we were in high school, and even in college, dinners at the Puhala's were frequent, and always a nice, relaxing time. This was the first time in many year that we've gathered at their home in Chester, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone and just have a little downtime before the hustle and bustle of the wedding started.

Friday morning, up and at 'em to get to the bridal luncheon. First, though, I picked up Jen (another bridesmaid) at the hotel and we went and picked up Brooke (another bridesmaid!) from the airport in a covert operation. Sara though Brooke wasn't going to arrive until later in the day, so it was a big surprise for her when the three of us arrived at the luncheon. After some tasty grub provided by Judy, the Mistress of Ceremonies, we all made sure we had our schedules and knew what the next 48 hours would bring.

Sara and her girls (from left: Kelly, Sara, Allison, Chrystal, Jen, Brooke, me)

The rehearsal dinner was hosted by Jason's parents at Texas de Brazil. I'd never been there, but I had eaten at a similar place in San Diego, so I knew what to expect. And the restaurant certainly did not disappoint! Texas de Brazil is what they call a churrascaria, which basically means "meat party." Okay, that's probably not what it really means. But that's what it is. They have an AWESOME salad bar, but the main course is a bunch of dudes they call "gauchos" coming around with giant skewers of meat and sliding about a dozen different kinds of meat on your plate until you turn your little green circle over to the red side. Deeeee-licious! :)

Saturday morning, we were all up early to have our hair done and get to the Puhala's in time for photos and to get the bride (and ourselves) dressed and ready. Sara's new sister-in-law (and another bridesmaid), Kelly, joined me at my salon since the salon Sara was using was getting pretty full. If you check out the pictures, you'll see that we all turned out pretty good. :) I was impressed with the job my stylist did at Salon del Sol, as I have never seen my hair look like that before--and I liked it! :)

Sara's nieces Audrey and Natalie watch their Auntie become a princess

I got teary eyed for the first time when we went to help Sara into her dress... and then maybe a few times more throughout the day. :) Hey, I'm a girl... what do you expect? I certainly wasn't the one crying the most over the weekend! (MAMA P!!!!)

Getting the bride in her dress!

Bryan and me outside the church.

The ceremony at St. Augustine's Catholic Church was lovely, and afterwards we all headed to the Sheraton Park South for the reception. Unfortunately, the bride and groom were delayed just a tad when the limousine BROKE DOWN! Can you believe that?! Thankfully they were able to get a jump and make it to the reception, but, I mean, I guess something like that has to go wrong on every wedding day! :)

The bridesmaids (minus Chrystal, who was on Mommy duty by this point!)

The reception was a blast. The food was good, the wine was tasty, and the cake was heavenly. The music was fun, the dancing plentiful, and our shoes were changed to be comfy. :) One of the awesome things about Sara is that even though most of us in the wedding party hardly know each other, we have a GREAT time together. Heck, I was still worn out yesterday from all the good times! :)

Goofy. Yes.

Here's wishing the beautiful bride and the handsome groom a lifetime of happiness!

You can check out *all* of my photos from the weekend by clicking here.