Sixteen weddings

Matron of Honor duties!

How's married life so far? Here's a fun statistic: In the last twenty months, Louie and I attended 16 weddings (yep, including our own). 

Incredibly overwhelming and tiring! I mean, we didn't just attend the ceremonies themselves; for most of them, we were part of the entourage, helping prepare the bridal showers and bachelor's parties, attending dress fittings, helping the couple with random errands, and travelling for several weekends for the actual wedding. 

But it's also kind of the best reminder that we’re lucky to have so many friends who actually wanted us to share that special day with them. What a good problem to have, now that I think about it. To have your social calendar filled with weddings of people who love you. Certainly worth all the trips and the hangovers!

I think we have every right to claim that we are Professional Wedding Guests at this point. We've memorized the drill, know all the beats, can telegraph in advance what's going to happen next.

The funny thing is, despite the "repetition," instead of growing tired of it, I've grown to appreciate every cheesy tradition and seemingly cliche moment. Every wedding has its own "flavor" - so even the usual parts of the ceremony or the program end up being fun and interesting, simply because of the couple and their friends. 

I've been the bridesmaid (or maid of honor) for a few of my friends, and it was nice getting to know their other friends from different social circles. More than that, I think it's also fun getting to know my friends anew through the lenses of their other friends. To see how they essentially have the same goodness, the same quirkiness, across all their friend groups, but also to be in awe of how different they are in each circle. It’s discovering a new side of them, and feeling that quiet joy of loving them all over again. I felt the same kind of awe during my own wedding, when I saw my friends from high school, college, and law school, all mingling and enjoying each other's company even without me there. It felt so accepting and affirming. It's a good reminder of how friendships are amazing, naturally occurring, organic phenomena, much like falling in love. We don't really know how people are drawn to each other. But just like any relationship, friendships need to be tended to, to be taken care of, to be nurtured. Going to so many weddings, and seeing so many best-friendships in full bloom - whether my own or not - was so tremendously uplifting. I'm so grateful to have attended all these weddings with my husband, but also to share in these wonderful moments with my greatest friends. 

So maybe married life, at least so far, looks a lot like this: showing up, again and again, for love in all its forms. A little tired, a little hungover, but deeply grateful to have his hand holding mine through everything. If nothing else, these weddings reminded me that love doesn’t exist in isolation. It multiplies, overlaps, and gathers people together in the most unexpected ways. And I feel incredibly lucky to be standing in the middle of all of it.

 

And these aren't even all of them! Just 6 out of the 16.