Our First Event as an Engaged Couple

When Jon and I attended our first event as an engaged couple, I was reminded of when Miss Wizard wrote about their First Event experience on WeddingBee. It made me realize that I could write about ours, too! 

So naturally, I went into the wedding with this mindset. I would excitedly tell Bridesmaid Y, who was also at the wedding with Groomsman Y, "I can't wait to write about ____ on the blog!" 

personal photo | Schrends Do A Wedding

The wedding was for one of my  very dearest friends. He and I work together and when I started last year, in a different department of the company (also known as 'purgatory' - so thankful I am not there anymore, for the record), he was one of the people who trained me. Over the past year, we have grown from co-workers to good friends. He helped us move (by helped us move, I mean loaded and unloaded the truck almost completely by himself in like a 2.5 hour period - he thinks he's Superman) and he is just an all around good guy. I have also grown to know and love his wife and I was so happy and honored to attend their wedding and celebrate their love. 

It was a beautiful wedding. Both of them mentioned to me at different points in the evening (and through multiple texts the day after) that they had so much fun, and truthfully, that's all that matters.

However, in my honest opinion? I had an okay time. The Catholic ceremony was super long and impersonal (I was raised Catholic, so I am familiar with and understand the ceremony/mass deal, I just strongly dislike it), there was a serious lack of communication after the wedding/before the cocktail hour that resulted in mass (for real - 300+ people) confusion; the bar was shut down during dinner and there was a serious lull between dinner and the next part that felt even lullier due to our table being the last one to eat.

Something that really upset me was how separated the couple was. Admittedly, I'm not very experienced with weddings. I've been to one as an adult and it was as Groomsman Pythagoras' date to his sister's wedding. But I noticed that the bride and groom 'split' the table visits. Because I know them, I know and understand why they did it: they had a lot of guests, they wanted to see as many people as possible, so they split up who would go where. I get it, but I disliked it. I was so sad for them! 

Another thing I noticed was that the groom had to take care of a lot of things. I was really irritated with their wedding party for them. He came over to our table at one point and joked about how they were running low on alcohol (thank God for our venue: they have their own private liquor store/warehouse on site) and he was going to have to get more. To me, this is not something the groom should ever hear on his wedding day. Best man, groomsman, parents, family members - where were you? Again, I know him, so I know that once he heard about it he had to take care of it, it's his personality. My thoughts were that he never should have heard about it. As a funny side note though, I ended up helping his dad stock the coolers.

Overall, it was a really fun evening. I know that they had a blast and she was incredibly stunning. Even hours into it, after a ton of dancing and jumping around, she was impeccable. I am so beyond happy for them and I know how happy they are, which again, is all that matters.

personal photo | Although this isn't the most flattering picture, I promise this dress is phenomenal and one of my favorites (RIP - I'll tell this story later). But more importantly, please take note of my shoes. Yup, they're heels - I went there, despite my damn near disability when it comes to wearing/walking in them. I actually wore them almost all night, even when we went out with our friends afterward.

Throughout the entire event, both of us went back and forth with "at our wedding. . ." comments. Of course, I often initiated, but even Jon caught the fever after so long. It was so fun to celebrate with our friends and it made us excited for the fun that our guests will have. 

What events have you attended as an engaged couple and how did it affect you? Did you see anything that you put on your 'Must Do!' or 'Must Avoid!' lists?