Goodies from the Bride

This is just one of several wedding-related blog posts I'll be putting up in the next week or so! I hope you like celebrations of love. If you don't... well then read this bitchy rant instead.

I was honored to have been asked to be part of the bridal party for my friend Jenna's wedding on August 3. Jenna and I met at UMass circa 2005 and she is one of the most positive and loving people I know. She and her now-hubby Dan started dating just a few months before David and I did, at the end of their senior year at UMass in 2007. They are a gorgeous couple, inside and out, and you can feel their love for each other radiating whenever you're near them.

Their wedding was absolutely perfect, making it even more of a joy for me to be a part of it all. As if getting to be in the bridal party for this beautiful couple wasn't enough, Jenna very thoughtfully gave her bridesmaids some lovely gifts as a way of saying "Thank you" to her girls. She is so sweet!

I loved this fabulous chevron printed makeup bag with my name embroidered into it...

You might imagine that it's not easy to find items with my name on them (think keychains/magnets/coffee mugs/pens, etc)... So this was extra exciting for me: 

Jenna is a talented jewelry-maker, and I knew in advance that she would be making the bridesmaids' jewelry for the big day. What I didn't know was that she was going to be designing unique jewelry for each of the bridesmaids. Here is the beautiful amethyst necklace and earring set that she designed just for me:

Aren't they gorgeous?! I loved the dangling chain detail that hangs down the back of the necklace:

.  the jewelry came in this beautiful little box too  .
.  bonus!  .

Jenna also gave each of her bridesmaids a glass ornament in the shape of our first initial:

.  B is for "miiiiine, Bitchessss!"  .

It's a beautiful translucent light blue ornament of pretty substantial weight. I really like it and will probably hang it up on the wall behind my desk, which is sort of "my area" of our living room. Since Dave and I always buy tiny Christmas trees, I'm not sure that any holiday tree of ours will ever be strong enough to hold this ornament!

Here are all of the bridesmaids together at the rehearsal dinner:

.  dan's sister theresa, me, jenna's sister lauren (MOH), jenna, abigail, sarah, kara  .

Check out the gorgeous bouquets that the bridesmaids got to hold during the wedding! I wish I had a close-up of these bouquets because they contained some amazingly unique items. Eucalyptus, succulents, lavender-colored roses, lamb's ear, calla lilies, orchids, and more. Jenna's bouquet is the one in the center with the additional bright magenta flowers.

Fun fact: The above is the last picture I have from the entire wedding ceremony/reception. After this my camera died and refused to take a picture the rest of the night!!! For that reason, any pictures from the actual wedding that I post here will not have been taken by me.

I also happened to have caught the bridal bouquet at the reception. Hysterically I wasn't even trying to catch it and I'd even had to be physically pushed out onto the floor to participate in the bouquet toss in the first place (thanks Derek and Marcou for the literal nudge). Even though her back was turned, Jenna seemed to throw the bouquet directly at me, so maybe she's trying to tell me something?

Another thing that I loved from attending this wedding were the favors: tiny glass jars of Mediterranean sea salt/seasoning. I snagged a few of them at the end of the night and have been using this seasoning on everything. Sandwiches, pasta sauce, salads, soups - you name it, I've seasoned it with this stuff. Jenna and Dan are both Italian, so this Mediterranean seasoning was very fitting.

I've got another post planned that's all about the fun hair and makeup we had done on the morning of the wedding. Getting our hurrr and makeup did professionally was a blast!

I also plan to do a whole post with lots of pictures from the wedding and, as promised, none of the photos will be my own. #ThanksCamera #WayToDieAtTheWorstTime

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