Wedding Day!

As most of you know, the timing (and main reason) for my Portland visit was becuase my BFF Mercedes' little sis Mariah was getting married. Mariah is like my little sister and I am just so amazed at the woman she has become. The man she married is just as kind and mild-mannered as she is, and their amazing combination of genes has already produced two lovely and delightful girls.

Anyway, the wedding was held Saturday 4/19 at Holy Redeemer, the Catholic church in North Portland that the family has attended since the girls were little. The ceremony itself was sweet and moving- the priest opened by saying that the couple was just "great". He said it with such sincerity, and it is truly true. I told myself I wasn't gonna cry, but when Mariah's 3-year-old daughter came down the aisle as the flower girl, I started to leak. I leaked even more when the bride's mother (who is like my 2nd mom) gave her away... no pics of the wedding, but I did get some at the reception,which was held in the same ballroom where I had my senior prom!

Everything was so simple and elegant all around- just like my girl. Here are some highlights:

Mercedes and her madre showing us all how to dance.

Mariah's daughter picking up petals on the dance floor. Which she then proceeded to throw at people. Apparently she was really into her role as flower girl. She also picked her nose during the ceremony when she came up to receive the blessing along with the parents of the bride and groom. I almost peed my pants. Truly her mother's daughter...


Mariah's younger daughter. Check out the blue eyes. Both of her parents are brown and I am just amazed that this kid is rockin' the baby blues...


Mercedes and I with DJ and friend Charlie Deep. Who I now call Charlie Feedback. Let's just say that there were some issues with the sound during the best man's speech. Nice- and so not his fault, but it is fun to tease him about it. And the fact the he referred to Mariah's man as Mr. instead of doctor. Yep, that's right... my girl went and married a dentist. And she saw him through school. Nice.

The view from above. The meal was awesome and there was an excellent array of libations. Which people got into. A lot.

As evidenced by the activity on the dance floor.

And at the end of it all, Mariah couldn't find her shoes (Perhaps due to the libations? I loaned her my extra pair... I wore just FAB shoes, but I needed some backups for comfort). However, it would have been really funny to see her running through the streets of downtown Portland in barefeet with her wedding dress. Mercedes took about 30 minutes to find her cell phone, and Mariah's friend Kim (who I've known since we we all kids too!) was extra-tipsysilly and kept asking me to make this face that I always made when we were kids. Which I did. I haven't even shown The Man this face because it is so hideous and it broke us all up. Good times, good times. Here I am in the midst of these, some of my favorite ladies, all just being silly and keepin' it real:

Wow, I am such a white girl. OK, really more red from the libations and the dancing. How come I'm the one who looks the most crunked when I was the soberest of the bunch? Must be the Irish in me.

Oh, I almost forgot! You know how at most wedding receptions they do some horrid thing like the chicken dance or the macarena? That is not how my girl rolls. Here is the crowd gettin' busy to 50 Cent's In Da Club. What is even more amazing about all the people dancing is that Mariah's mom's side of the family, who are representing for the Scandinavian peeps of Minnesota all got out there. And had rhythm. In this vid, the lovely woman in the purple suit is Mariah's mom. Let's just say that back in the day, when all the other little white girls were gettin' their hippie on, Margaret was into Motown. She has some real soul. This wedding and reception were just so fun- a perfect time for a perfect couple!

One of my other favorite parts was seeing Mariah's grandmother (who is also like my g-ma- I still call her "Mima") gettin' her groove on. I wish a glass of wine would get me goin' like that!

Please Lord, let me keep moving like this when I am 80. I am so honored to be so close to this family and love that I got to be a part of this event.