Lauren and David tie the knot!

Guess what?  This little baby behaved himself and stayed put for Lauren's wedding...and it was such a good weekend with such good friends and I am so happy that I was able to be a part of their big day and weekend.

We started off the official festivities on Friday with a girl's lunch at Red Robin.  In which we all got salads, which I thought was funny since it's so known for it's burgers, but boy did they have good salads.  I will be going back to have it again.  Anyway...haha.  After we ate lunch and Megan headed back to work and Katie headed to go hang out with her mom, Lauren and I walked down the block to a hair and nail salon that she made some appointments for us to get pedicures (and her a manicure) at.  It was definitely an interesting experience because (1) they only had one pedicure chair and (2) they weren't Asian.  Not to say that's bad, but I have to say that I love the work that is done at my normal salon that is owned by an Asian family because they are VERY efficient.  So Lauren sat there and when Miranda showed up, she and I just sat there and chatted.  Pretty funny.  However, it took this lady so long and she kept wanting to get in our conversations, so we were pretty amused.  Then she took Lauren in to get a manicure and Slava took over and gave me a pedicure while Miranda talked to me.  Needless to say, two and a half hours later, we only had one manicure and 2 pedicures between the 3 of us.  Yep, that means Miranda had to peace out and go to a more efficient salon.  But no worries, we all got them done.  Enough of that, I just don't want to forget how funny that was.

Then that night it was time for the rehearsal at the church and rehearsal dinner at Brio. It was so exciting to be at the rehearsal knowing that it would all be happening for real in less than 24 hours.  And the dinner and company was so fun later that night too!

The groom and his bride!!  CHEERS!

Um - the food was delicious!!!

The mini desserts - SO good!!

They had such a cute video also of the two of them growing up.  Lauren was such a cute little girl and it's crazy to see her niece Gwen because she looks exactly like Gwen when she was little!!  After a few toasts, it was times for pictures and to call it a night.

The bride and all her bridesmaids!

Now we don't have too many opportunities to take pictures of just the two of us, especially dressed up, so we got a few that night!!

Oh Jimmy - holding onto my big belly!!

And I had to get one of me and bride!  It was fun to have baby Carter in all these pictures too!  It looks like my belly is glowing....haha.

It was a good thing we called it an early night because we were up early the next morning and met at Lauren's house to all get ready.  Lauren had a great girl come to her parent's house to do all of our hair and then she had an amazing make up artist come too.  She did such a beautiful job with everything and we were luck enough to get our eyes done too (all the bridesmaids).  I have to say, I was happy she had some extra time because I was a little swollen in the morning and her eye make up did wonders for me.

After that, we headed to the church to put all of our dresses on.  When the flowers were delivered to the bridal suite, I was blown away.  Check out our beautiful bridesmaid bouquets!  (and yes, the flowers at the reception just got better and better...)

After all the bridesmaids got on our dresses, it was time to dress the beautiful bride.  And then Miranda helped out to apply some extra lip liner/lip stick before it was almost time to walk down the aisle to her groom!

It was such a beautiful ceremony!  Gwen and Greyson (Lauren's niece and nephew) ALMOST made it down the aisle.  Look at how cute they looked (it's a little Lauren and little Matt (their dad and Lauren's older brother))!!!  They practiced a lot with them at the rehearsal, but Gwen was just not having it that day and made it about halfway down and then plopped down and Matt had to go get her.  Still - they were so freaking cute and it was great to have them there!!!

The ceremony was beautiful and it was neat to get to stand right up next to them as they took their marriage vows and exchanged their rings.  I just love weddings and listening to two people so in love stand up in front of their family and friends and declare their life long commitment to each other.  I cry every time.  No fail.  Not just because I'm super pregnant either.  It's just pretty neat and even more neat to have it be your best friend in the world who says those words to the love of her life!!  And what a beautiful couple!!

And then it was time to get in the limo, party and take some pictures!!  The heat couldn't stop any of us!

We went to about 3 places around Kansas City following the ceremony and got some great shots.  Her photographers were just great too and didn't keep us in the sun for too long.  It was nice when we finally made it to the reception because we all had to pee so bad!! I was fine most of the time in the limo, except at one point I really thought I was going into labor (not really, but I was in pain)...so I just sat by my man in the back and took it easy and then was ready to go for the next shots!

While we were waiting to be introduced, we got a few really cute shots (disregard my nasty arm pit stains.  What can a girl do?  Only 2 weeks until I pop out a baby, I'm not responsible for my appearance or bodily functions at this point...)!

And then one of Jimmy and I and his new suit that he went all over town looking for that morning.

And then we broke out the pregnant shots.  Me at 37.5 weeks pregnant and Katie at 18 weeks!  Our little men are growing.  It's amazing how much bigger my stomach is too!!!

And then the bride and two of her best friends....pregnant and all.   What a trooper she was for never getting mad  at us - even when I told her that my side 8.5 heels that she bought for me to wear that match all the other bridesmaids didn't fit.  Like they wouldn't even go on.  So I had to improvise.  Yep, she didn't care I sported matching flip flops all day.

Close up with no pregnant bellies!

And then such a freaking cute picture of Lauren and her older brother Matt!!

Ok, so now for the flowers.  The reception was at Studio Dan Meiners and he is famous for his flowers and arrangements.  And he did not disappoint.  Wow.  The space was literally breathtaking and the flowers were just so beautiful and perfect!!  Here were some flowers on the head table!

A shot of the tall arrangements

And then a random shot of Jimmy and our other "date" Katie, since Barry couldn't make it into town!

And then it was time.  After the food and some drinks (sprite for me....), it was time for the speech.  Ah, one of the joys of serving as the matron of honor, right??  Well, as much as you would think I would have prepared this speech months or weeks in advance.  While I had been thinking about it a lot and what exactly I would say to this room of people of Lauren and David's family and friends, I started to actually put a pen to paper on Friday night after the rehearsal dinner. That didn't work out too well because I fell asleep.  So I got up early that morning (since I sleeping isn't quite the most comfortable thing these days...) and got on my computer to type it up.  And it turned out so wonderful.  I was so happy with something that was not too long, not too short and covered all the parts of our lives that Lauren and I have shared together over the last 20 years (YES - we have been friends for 20 years....that's crazy, right???).  And then talked about Lauren and David together and what a great couple they make.  I got lots of cheers when mentioning David's super white teeth from David's fraternity brothers, so I think they liked that, which was good!!  Overall, it was a success and I was so happy that I was able to stand up there and tell everyone just what a perfect friend Lauren has been over all these years and just how much I love her and especially her and David together!!!

Had to get a shot too with the best man, David's little brother, Jeff.  He did a great job too on his speech!!

So if you aren't blown away already - check out this cake.  Wow.  It was not only freaking beautiful but it was so delicious.  And I knew it would because Lauren is in love with cake..and she did good!

Then there were the dances....

A picture of me and my sister...she looked so cute!!  (please disregard the ridiculous stains on my dress.  Everything falls on my stomach now because it's so big!)

And after some great dancing songs from the fabulous Michael Beers Band, it was time to throw the bouquet and toss the garter (which turned out fun because Lauren's little brother, Calen, caught the garter and his girlfriend - who is just wonderful - caught the bouquet...so fun!!). And check out the side shot of her gorgeous dress!

Capped off with being serenaded by the K-State Beta boys - so cute!

I have to say, the wedding was quite a success and so fun that we didn't even head out until 11:15 and it ended at 11:30.  It was just too much fun!!!  The next morning at brunch, we found out that Lauren and David had a little bit more prolonged fun because they took a rick shaw (you know, those bike things?) to P&L district and went to some bars in her wedding dress and didn't get back to the hotel until like 3:30AM.  Lauren and David - that doesn't surprise me at all because they are party animals, so fitting to have that much fun on their wedding night!!!!

They were off to Mexico that Monday morning and I'm sure had a great time!!  Can't wait to hang out with the new Mr. and Mrs. Hart and have this little baby meet them too!!!  Love you both and thank you again, Lauren, for letting me be a part of your special day!  And thanks to her parents also for such a fabulous day - it couldn't have gone better and been more fun!