Twelve years ago, I met a girl who was also named Katie. We were instant friends and did everything together. In the years since, even though we’ve been separated by many, many miles, we’ve remained best friends. We’ve been through it all together. We’re complete opposites in every single possible way you could ever imagine (the standard rule is that we’ll only buy something if the other says they hate it), but we make it work. We talk all day every day, and I can’t imagine what would happen if a day went by without her.

Ten years ago, she introduced me to Jeremy, and 4 years later, she stood next to me when I married him. August 19th, I stood by her when she married Sean, and Jeremy performed their beautiful ceremony.

Their wedding day was the culmination of months and months of planning and stress (I’ll admit, the stress was mostly on my part – I wanted it to be perfect for her!). Luckily, the flexibility of this road trip Jer and I are on meant I could be around the entire month before the wedding. And we truly hit the ground running.

The day after we arrived, there was an “I Do BBQ” at which the highlight was the BBQ themed cake with little fondant hot dogs!

In the weeks that followed, we did so. many. projects. We collected RSVPs, chose centerpieces, created signs, made numerous powerpoints, put together lavender tossing cones, glued ceremony fans, made seating charts… the list goes on and on! Just writing it all down makes me tired all over again.

Of course there were also dress fittings (Katie’s mom made her dress with fabric and beading from her own wedding dress) and a plethorea of hair and nail appointments. Luckily Jeremy and Sean are good friends, so they were always out on the river fishing and didn’t bother us while we fluttered around with wedding details.

After what felt like the shortest month ever, the wedding day finally arrived. Katie and Sean got married at Handsome Hollow, which is one of the most gorgeous venues I’ve ever seen.

They had wheels of cheese flown in from Wisconsin, which we stacked into a cake and decorated with herbs from her mother’s garden and purple and green grapes. It was SO GOOD and a huge hit at the reception.

After the ceremony, we danced all night long, concluding with an intense, all-out family dance floor performance of Total Eclipse of the Heart.

The next day, I hosted a brunch for the wedding guests that were still in town. I took the bull by the horns and made an extra long grazing table. I was super happy with how it turned out, and everyone seemed to love the ease of it. (Not to worry, we also had donuts and chocolate peanut butter cookies!)

Katie’s aunts and cousins stayed the week after the wedding at a house on the Delaware River, complete with the backyard of my dreams. I saw Jeremy maybe once this week because he was always out fishing in the river.

We kayaked, swam, watched the solar eclipse, and made countless s’mores. It was so nice to relax and let the craziness of the wedding settle down. I’m not sure what we’re all going to do now that we don’t have any more projects!

I got emotional a few times during the process (a very rare thing for me, I’ve got a heart of ice!), because, well, she’s my best friend! She was right there beside me when I got married. We’ve spent so much time talking about her wedding day, and to see it arrive and go off without a hitch was so special to me. It doesn’t hurt that she married the perfect person for her!