Wedding recap: My bridal party

I don't know if I'm weird when it comes to this, or normal, but I've always thought about my bridal party. Like, for a long time. I've thought about the girls I'm closest to and who would be amazing to have by my side on my wedding day. The list has evolved over the years, but the three girls who were always on it were next to me when I said my vows to Dan.

Megan, Rachel and Kari. The people who've known and loved me the longest.


My maid of honor, my sister, Megan. Never in a million years could anyone else have filled the role she was born with. She's my only sister, and for all the difficulties we've had in our relationship growing up, she'll always be my first and best friend. As we've gotten older, despite the miles that now lay between us, we've become closer and closer. We have a common ground we didn't share before. Soon we'll both be wives, and hopefully mothers, and our bond will only grow stronger. I was honored to have her by my side on my wedding day, and I'm absolutely gushing with pride to return the favor in six months and 4 days.

My bridesmaid Rachel, my "Nerd." We've been friends since the last weekend of our freshman year. She was the pretty, popular girl at school and I wanted to be friends with her and her crowd. A mutual friend invited us both to her birthday party. At some point, Rachel walked over to me, handed me her brush and said "brush my hair!" I froze. If you knew Rachel in high school, you'd know she took meticulous pride in her bangs. She sometimes wore her hair curly, and sometimes straight, but she always had the bangs. And she wanted me to brush them. Eek! I did, and we've been friends ever since. We are the type of friends where we may not talk for weeks or months and then we get together, and it's like we saw each other just a week ago. When my ex-boyfriend broke up with me, she treated me to a night at a resort and went apartment shopping with me. She comes to town to celebrate my birthday with me every year. She was the first friend I told that Dan and I talked about getting married. I'm blessed to have a friend like Rachel.

My friendship with Kari is a really cool story, though I think she gets a bit embarrassed when I tell it. When we were 7, we both read a book series about pen pals. In the back of the book was a sheet you filled out with your name, address and age and sent off to be matched up with a pen pal of your very own. Some time later, I got my first letter from Kari. We wrote letters back and forth for years. When I was 9, her family came to Tucson and I got to meet her. At some point, we promised to be in each other's weddings. Our relationship tended to ebb and flow with the busy nature of our lives, thanks to sports, boyfriends, and school. We sent gifts and cards for birthday and Christmases. We connected over having high school boyfriends and getting ready to go to college. When my high school boyfriend broke up with me, she called me first thing the next morning and listened while I cried. She and her boyfriend broke up as well, but eventually got back together. In May 2006, I kept my childhood promise and stood with her as a bridesmaid at her wedding. I was so excited to ask her to stand with me 3 and a half years later. Kari's the kind of friend that no matter where we go, we'll always be connected. She's my oldest friend, and I have no doubt she always will be.

So there you have it. The three amazing girls I had the privilege of having by my side when I married Dan. I may not have a ton of girl friends, but I have a handful of truly great ones.