Vacation Part 2

On Thursday morning I drove further north on 17, all the way into Wilmington, NC. I met up with Cat and then we headed out to the beach for lunch and a little more sunning.

I went to Wilmington for our friend Mary's wedding, which doubled as a mini college reunion. It is so much fun to get to see everyone and to celebrate the beginning of Mary and Mike's marriage. A few of us bridesmaids (and our husbands) stayed at Cat's grandmother's house, which was not only fun and economical, but it made things easier logistically! We all had to be in most of the same places at the same times.

Friday started with the bridal luncheon in downtown Wilmington.


It was absolutely beautiful, and the food was incredible, too! What a treat to get to spend some quality time with Mary, her mom and aunts, and Mike's mom and sister during the weekend.


Mary has a super rockin' cousin named Katherine who was there, too. Katherine, or Special K as Mary calls her, made bracelets for all of the bridesmaids! It was an awesome gift from an awesome 8 year old, and most of us wore them during the wedding - at the bride's direction!


The hostesses had arranged for a charm cake and it was so much fun! I had heard of the tradition, but had never seen it in person. The charms were all pretty, and I ended up with the pelican which means I will have "a life of plenty."


After lunch us girls headed home to nap and then change for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went well, with the most confusing part being figuring out what our heights would be the following day since only one of us (not me) remembered to bring their wedding shoes. I'm sure we looked very silly trying to estimate our varied height changes!



After rehearsal we walked a block or so to the rehearsal dinner. It was on the 3rd floor of a building, overlooking downtown. And I learned something about Mike - he has a major thing for Swedish Fish! There were Swedish Fish at every table, and the cake was decorated WITH the candies, as well as decorated with a fondant rendering of a bag of the candies!


We all had fun chatting, watching a slide show, and listening to toasts. There was a lot of laughter and a few tears throughout the toasts, which is the way it should be!