Goin' to the Chapel...

The next few years I can imagine I will be buying a lot of wedding gifts, attending many weddings, hosting showers, and maybe even welcoming sweet new babies to the world (Don’t worry friends, no pressure…). I never thought I would reach the age at which my own friends were getting married. And even though it is happening, I still don’t feel old enough! But my goodness there have been so many engagements recently; both high school and college friends! If you’re in a sorority you can relate to the old tradition of a candlelight. The candle is placed in a bouquet of flowers and the engagement ring is slid on to the candle. The candle goes around the circle as sorority sisters sing a sweet customary song about love. The new soon-to-be bride blows out the candle after it has gone around a number of times and places the ring on her finger. After the surprise and the screams and probably a few tears, the future bride stands up in front of the chapter and shares the proposal story. It is such a fun and sweet tradition! Our sorority has had quite a few of this old time ritual this year (I believe the number is near 14?), and wedding bells are ringing like crazy.

Some of these newly engaged girls (and one already wed) are my very dear friends. I have a very close-knit group of girlfriends at Auburn and will cherish those friendships and memories forever. Graduating and going our separate ways come May will be extremely difficult after spending the past 4 years with them. There are 9 of us; 2 engaged, 1 married, and a couple others maybe not far behind. My friends and I have always loved weddings. Our favorite movies that we watch repeatedly almost all include weddings, (Father of the Bride, 27 Dresses, Maid of Honor, etc…) we’ve fawned over bridal magazines and blogs, tried on (out of any man’s budget) diamond rings just for fun, and could probably plan each other’s weddings because we know each other’s “wedding taste” so well by now. Call us crazy, but there’s something so joyful and fun about weddings!

When the first, Kasi, got engaged in September, it was surreal. We all knew she would be the first, but her candlelight was a complete surprise so it came as a shock to all of us. And we couldn’t have been more thrilled to celebrate. She got married March 5^th. And what a charming wedding it was. It was beautiful and I will never forget walking into the bridal room and seeing her glowing; surrounded by all of our friends praying for her and her new life. She was a stunning bride and had the most beautiful reception in her own backyard. Her husband is currently in seminary and she has moved to North Carolina with him while he finishes up there. Their marriage is purely grounded in faith and a love for the Lord and I so admire them and know they will share a wonderful life together.

Not too soon after Kasi got engaged, my older brother proposed to his girlfriend, now fiancé. Daniel and Krista are getting married June 18^th and I think I’m more excited than they are. I have always dreamt of having a sister and she will, and already has, filled that role perfectly. I have full intentions of writing an entire spiel on their upcoming wedding, so I won’t say much now. I am so blessed to have an older brother that I respect and admire. I have seen from him what a true gentlemen is and I am so excited about their marriage and welcoming Krista to our family. (Here’s their wedding site…tell me you’re not obsessed).

On Christmas Eve morning, while cooking in the kitchen with my mom, my phone rang. I was surprised to be receiving a phone call on Christmas Eve, especially from one of my best friends, Georgia. Of all of our friends Georgia would be the most likely to be dressed up in her Christmas best, wrapping presents, baking cookies, and chatting with her close-knit family on the morning of Christmas Eve. I knew before I even answered the phone the reason she was calling. When she answered in a giddy, high-pitched voice I knew it. She was engaged! We also knew this one was coming, but had no idea when he was going to do it. Christmas Eve is her favorite day of the year, and Scott, her soon-to-be husband, proposed in front of a large Christmas tree in their hometown, Atlanta. I got to spend a few days with Scott and Georgia soon after the engagement while we were at the National Championship. It was so fun to see them together and hear all of their wedding chatter and also see their personalities bounce off of each other. Georgia and Scott are getting married May 7^th (SO SOON!). I imagine we will all be emotional wrecks that weekend seeing that on top of the wedding, 5 of us will be graduating 2 days later, and all of us will be parting. Bring on the tissues.

On to our newest little engaged one, and when I say new I mean it happened 2 days ago. Dana is one of those people that you can carry a conversation with and you’ll leave feeling elated about life and just simply happy. She is one of the most positive people I know and also one of the most intelligent. I have a thing for words…I love words. Interesting fact? Dana has the best word choice/vocabulary of anyone I know. Not only will you leave a conversation happy, but you’ll feel wise too. Dana is a pre-med major and I would move to wherever I could for her to be my doctor. She will be one of those doctors that people recommend simply because she is personable and delightful, in addition to the fact that she will be great at what she does. She and her now fiancé AJ, (who is also pre-med) have had almost all of their classes together. I guess you could say they had chemistry…literally (Dana will appreciate that cheesy joke). They literally spent every second together and after weeks, maybe months, of denial and Dana saying “we’re just friends!”, we weren’t surprised in the least when they finally started dating. AJ and Dana both have fun, bright, quirky (in a good way!) personalities, and it’s almost unreal how compatible they are. AJ is from Michigan and will be moving back to attend Medical School starting in June. Dana, who is from Montgomery, will also be moving to Michigan and will start applying for Medical School. I am so excited for them and their adventure. And what an adventure it will be; the South meets the North. They plan on getting married March of next year. Who knows who else will be engaged at that point.

I guess weddings will kind of be like little reunions. What a fun time to get everyone back together and celebrate someone’s new life and catch up on each other’s. Let wedding season begin! And at this point, I’m completely okay with the chaotic time. If it will give me reason to reunite with all of my friends and help with this ever so dreadful “college to real world” transition…let’s keep those wedding bells chiming!