My Sister's Wedding

Today was the big day. After rehearsal last night, my sister and I drove back to her place and promptly fell asleep. We woke up early this morning, around 7am and began our wedding day adventure which included losing my dress, finding it a half hour later, driving to a small Costco-like place to buy plastic shot glasses, setting up the reception hall, going to her hair appointment and to her make-up appointment, then hurrying to get ready myself before pictures.

I was the Maid of Honor and as I stood there next to my sister as she got married, I tried my best to hold back the tears. She was beautiful. And I really do like David. His love for her was written in his eyes and it was just the reassurance that I needed that this was, in fact, the right thing to do.

Then my eyes glazed over the audience and I realized that I only knew a very small percentage of those in attendance. A handful of family members and about five people from our home ward. That was it. The rest of them were friends from college or work, or people that David knew (including one not-so-attractive SheMan). My sister and I lead completely different lives. This statement was solidified by the presence of three kegs of beer, an open and overflowing bar, disco lights, smoke and 80's music. Our weddings will be as different as our life perspectives. Mine will be a small and quiet ceremony in the temple, the reception will be simple but tactful and maybe even a bit elegant but there certainly will be no strong liquor, no kegs and not even a hint of wine. When I was feeling uncomfortable holding some guy's beer as he hunted for matches, trying to think of new ways to say no to the countless drinks that were offered to me and trying to understand why having three guys holding up upside down over the top of the keg was supposed to make drinking more entertaining, my sister and her husband will be bored out of their mind at my reception.

Tonight, I was only a guest in her life. I was given a one-day-only pass into friendship with my sister. And I loved every minute of it. We're so different and yet so much the same.

As a side note, this whole experience has allowed me to discover a new talent. A reception hall full of drunk people think I'm freaking hillarious when I give Maid of Honor toasts. Seriously, folks... I was a hit!

Another side note, a drunk man who can barely stay on the road can find his way home better than me. Why do I know this? Because I had to follow his home.