Wedding Weekend

Mom and I traveled to Hotlanta this weekend for the wedding of my childhood friend Jennifer and her new husband Lawton. Mom was pretty nervous about the driving aspect of the trip. Since we weren't staying near downtown I wasn't too worried. I had all my driving directions printed out and we made sure to travel prior to "rush hour(s)." Dave wasn't able to join us because he had to work. We have another wedding in a few weeks for my cousin in Nashville and he's taking time off then which meant he had to sacrifice this weekend.

Friday night, Jennifer's aunt and uncle hosted a great party at their amazing home in Alpharetta. OMG!!!! Think guard station with mandatory check-in, rolling hills with manicured yards, and beautiful, multi-million dollar homes. Jennifer had requested food from her favorite barbecue restaurant and it was delicious. The evening was very laid-back, casual and comfortable.

Saturday morning Mom and I set out to make sure we could find the wedding location in Decatur. Then we headed to IHOP for a yummy spinach and mushroom omelet and pancakes. Afterwards we headed back to the wedding site to see if Jennifer needed any help setting up. Jennifer had everything very organized and setting up didn't require much effort on our part. Jennifer has always been very resourceful, creative, and crafty and she made some very simple, tasteful decorations all on her own.

When the set up was done, we got to visit with Jennifer, Lawton, and Jennifer's parents, Kathy and Jim, at Jennifer and Lawton's house. When it was time for Jennifer to get ready to head to her salon appointment, we followed Kathy and Jim to the Dekalb Farmer's Market. I wish we had something like this place near home. It wasn't like the outdoor farmer's market you might envision. It's a huge indoor market with a prominent fresh seafood department, lots of unusual produce, spices and seasonings, a great cheese department, and lots of ethnic foods. Navigating through the market was a bit like driving on the Atlanta freeway, though. If you paused too long or went to slow, you risked getting run over.

From there we headed back to the motel to meet up with Melissa, Elliott and Olivia and visited for a while before getting ready for the wedding. We got to the wedding just in time to visit for a few minutes with sweet Kerri Anne, Jennifer's roommate and mine and Melissa's suite mate from college. It has been nearly 3 years since we've seen her!

The ceremony was short and very sweet lasting about 10 minutes altogether. Then we had cocktail hour while the caterer finished setting up and while they took pictures. After the bride and groom were introduced we sat down for a delicious dinner. Then the dancing started! Everyone there participated and it was so much fun! I took Sandra and Melissa back to the hotel and then went back to the reception to pick up Mom. Everyone had a great time. It was a simple, uncomplicated event minus lots of the traditional wedding "stuff" and it was perfect.

We're so glad we were able be there to celebrate and offer our congratulations. It always great to be home, though. Two more weeks and we'll be heading to Tennessee to do it again.