So, my friend Laura got married

It's rather sad, I haven't seen her since the wedding. But it was a very nice wedding. I was one of her bridesmaids. Everyone made a big deal out of it because *gasp* I'd have to wear a dress. When will people realize I'm not a 12-year-old tomboy anymore and wearing dresses and make-up, while something I find to be altogether too much trouble, doesn't bother me. Too much.

Okay, so the dress was pink and floofy. Yes, floofy. And strapless. I was so scared it was going to fall off, but I was willing to wear it for my friend. And really, I wasn't even there when they picked them out, or bought the one I was going to wear. I didn't even know my dress size but I gave Laura a guesstimate over the phone. I hate buying clothing, so I preferred not to be there, but I was concerned they were going to get it too small. When it came it really fit pretty well, for the most part. It was kind of tight in a certain area. So we had this whole fiasco about how to fix it, but my Mom, who is really a pretty good seamstress no matter what she says, did just fine. I did feel like a dork in that dress though. I felt like a naked cupcake. Plus I had just about the worst acne I've ever had in my life at the time and the poor make-up people must've put 2 pounds of cover-up on my face. It's graphic, but it's true.

Laura looked absolutely gorgeous. She could've been a model for a bridal magazine. There was no one there to touch her as the saying goes.

The wedding was outside, in their back yard. This was initially done to keep expenses down, but Laura's mom later confided to me that she didn't think it had been any cheaper since they'd been working so hard to make everything look nice. But it did look nice, and it was very surreal for me to watch a close friend get married only a few feet from where we'd played as 12-year-olds not so long ago. I didn't cry. I don't generally cry at weddings, or funerals, or at anything worth crying at. I told Laura about my strange ability to cry over the stupidest things and yet my inability to cry when it's appropriate. She said that certain events are above simple tears, which made me feel like a better person. Although I've never really seen the point of crying at a wedding. It's an exciting, happy occasion. I understand that it's very emotional, but it doesn't seem to be that kind of emotion. I don't think I'll ever understand.

Laura's brother, James, was my escort or whatever you'd call it. His appearance is a little on the bohemian side. He has tattoos, a beard that Laura begged him to shave, and huge ear plugs. But he's a nice guy for the most part. Poor guy's already going bald and he's only in his early twenties. There were quite a few people there since practically everyone from the local church came. Some people had to stand in the back. And then there was the kitten.

This adorable little kitten showed up during the ceremony. It attempted to climb up the maid of honor, thoroughly distracted the flower girl and ring-bearer, and said hello to everyone else while crawling across their laps. They got it in some of the wedding pictures.

The reception was amazing. Laura hired my jazz piano prof, Brent, to play with his trio. I nearly went crazy because I thought we weren't going to get to dance to it. But we did. A guy from CYT who swing dances really well was there although he danced with the maid of honor most of the time, since she's a)gorgeous and b)a dancer. Still I got a couple in. I danced the rest with my Dad. It really was cute. I taught my parents the basic step and they did pretty well.

We were sitting and listening through one song and my Dad decided to request on of the songs he'd heard me play. Brent had asked me to sit in with the group but I didn't feel at all ready since I'd been on a combine and unable to practice. I had mentioned off-hand to my Dad that the only person who I would play for would be Laura. Well, Brent asked my Dad if I would like to play and the little rat told him that the only way I would play was if Laura asked me. So Brent immediately ran over to Laura who then ran over to me and so I was forced to play with the trio. I played 'Autumn Leaves' and it went fairly well. The trio members really liked it, which surprised me, it wasn't that great. But I am glad I did it. It was fun.

Other than that it was your typical idyllic wedding. The weather was perfect, everything went smoothly and now one of my friends is married. I think the reason it's not really weird is that I've already watched my brother get married off.

I could say a lot more really, and I'm probably leaving out things and not saying enough about other things but I need to go practice so that the next time I sit in with a jazz group I'll feel more prepared. And I should call Laura. It's awful how busy things get.