Our niece and her new husband cutting cake. How adorable is it, that their wedding cake is actually cupcakes!

Best. Wedding. Ever.

I’m pretty sure that was said a thousand times on Saturday. But it really was perfect. The weather was hot at 4 pm (hello 90’s!), but it cooled quickly after the ceremony to “balmy.” The wedding was held outside at the bride’s parent’s home. They had a huge white tent and gorgeous round tables covered in white cloths with purple accents. Melanie carried lavender roses and hydrangeas…so romantic. The party lasted late into the night—since it was mostly family and close friends.

For me, a great wedding isn’t about decor or flowers or food—though those things help, right? It’s about intention. It was clear that the bride and the groom spent months working on their vows and planning details that would make people feel comfortable. I’ve been to so many weddings where groups of people sat at their own “lunch table” never to mingle. Where it’s clear everyone feels more than a tad awkward? I didn’t make it around to every table, but it felt like people were mingling constantly—getting to know distant cousins or catching up with old friends and I don’t think I saw any wall-flowers hanging on the edges the whole night. It really was an amazing wedding!

For those of you not wanting to slog through the rest of this post here are the highlights:

• Bought a dress but couldn’t find matching shoes
• Lost weight
• Found a new dress but shoes fell apart so wore old shoes
• Wedding was perfect
• I’m a klutz

Two months before The Best Wedding Ever:

And it turns out, that my “what to wear to the wedding” angst was well placed if not prescient. I had found a dress at Goodwill ($7.99 Holla!) in July and noted that I didn’t have a pair of sandals to wear with it. But I figured at that price I could easily find a cute pair of  shoes, right? I mean, I had two months.

Saturday before The Best Wedding Ever:

Then I didn’t. With the chaos of the house and the impending visit with the in-laws, I just didn’t get around to finding a pair of sandals. And when I finally did go look, everything was sold out. The boy looked at my Keens and said, “I don’t see what’s wrong with those shoes. Why can’t you just wear those with your dress?” SERIOUSLY? Yeah, I’m not taking fashion advice from this kid. Ever.  So, IZ and I made a last ditch run to the outlet stores the week before the wedding.

We found absolutely nothing! Someday, I will learn that you cannot shop at the end of the season for in season items out here on the edge of the world! In the attempt, I tried on my dress again and discovered… um, I’ve lost weight. Oops.

So wearing a baggy dress to a wedding when you’re just the aunt is no big deal. But our niece had called in early August to ask that I give the invocation at her wedding. Now friends, when you’re asked to pray at a wedding your answer is, “Absolutely, I’d be delighted.” But you don’t do it in a baggy dress. Ok, I won’t do it in a baggy dress.

What to do? IZ to the rescue. Somehow, the man who insists on wearing Hawaiian shirts  and socks with his sandals (I have proof!) walked into a store and picked-out a dress and said, “Hey, Wen, how about this one? They even have your size!”  I looked at it and thought, “I even have a pair of shoes to match!”  I tried on the suitably demure navy dress, discovered it had a lovely eyelet hem, and drooled over the fact the size tag was a size smaller (that, coincidentally?, just happened to coordinate with the Hawaiian shirt IZ wanted to wear) Success! With days to spare. Score one for the husband.

Wednesday before the Best Wedding Ever:

IZ took the boy to PDX to pick up his parents, I stayed here to work on last minute orders in the studio. At some point in the day I hear this flapping. Yeah, you saw this coming right? The shoes I had for the dress, were 4 summers old and choosing to literally come unglued three days before the wedding. A metaphor, perhaps? I hot glued those things back together but I knew they were toast. No way was I going to stand up on a 90 degree day to pray and run the risk that my shoes would melt on my walk back to my seat. HORROR.

So, I showed up to the wedding in my cute flower sandals that felt way too informal to me. All my sisters-in-law and the bride declared it would be useless to go buy a last minute pair of shoes since my sandals looked adorable with my dress. I took their advice and wore them—because they might be 4 summers old too, but I bought them at Anthropologie!

Day after The Best Wedding Ever:

Walking back into our hotel, exhausted from partying and no sleep, I tripped on the sidewalk in front of the hotel door. My sandal snapped at the toe part and now I’m down 2 pairs of sandals. I’m currently wearing Keens with everything. But, the wedding? Came off without a hitch. Perfect in every way. I said my prayer and managed to remain fully clothed through it.

Really. Best. Wedding. Ever.