Back in February, my best friend, Ashley Stone, got engaged to the man of her dreams, Luke Emert! He took her to Colorado and proposed after an early morning hike in The Garden of the Gods. I remember hearing the news and shedding a couple tears of joy. Immediately, I started firing questions-“did he ask your parents?”, “how did he do it?”, “can you send a picture of your ring?”, “do you have photos of the engagement?, “have you set a date?”…more tears of pure joy! It was about 2 weeks later and we finally got together for Blake’s birthday (aka St. Patrick’s Day). I planned a dinner at In The Raw on the Hill. Blake and I pulled up just on time along with Ashley and Luke. I was ecstatic to she her in person for the first time since her engagement. That night, she asked me to be her bridesmaid! I started crying again. I’m guessing the emotions of a bride transferred to one of her bridesmaid. I’m a sucker, I guess. (Note: Regarding Ashley’s engagement/wedding, I have only cried two more times since the above mentioned times!)
Immediately, I start thinking of “what does a bridesmaid do besides stand next to her on her special day?” Other bridesmaids and I start talking about a shower for Ashley! Somehow we landed on throwing her a Wedding Storm, otherwise known as a Couples Shower. I started to call around for a reasonably priced venue (yes, the hosting bridesmaids have jobs, but we are still young and on a “college budget”). We couldn’t find anything to fit our party budget. We landed on a house. My house. Backyard.
Rewind: when I bought my house, the yard and garden areas were filled with silk flowers and a shabby looking detached garage. Let the backyard makeover begin. A garage before, during and after (I also got a new garage door, but didn’t take a picture):
Much work was done to the landscaping as well, including many beds weeded, new flowers planted, deck power washed and lawn manicured to perfection. The work wasn’t done just to look good for Ashley and Luke’s shower, but it did give me a deadline to complete the housework I had wanted to do since I bought the house in October 2009. So in a sense, thank you to Ashley and Luke for getting engaged and to Brooke and Amber letting me throw a party at my house. Another special thanks to Lucia, Tim and Blake for helping with the makeover.
The party was scheduled for August 28th from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The other two bridesmaids throwing and helping with this shindig were Brooke Lunsford and Amber Webster. They had thrown a shower recently for another friend and even though they were out of town, they were the best help. Communication happened mostly over e-mail and the end result was fantastic! I really couldn’t have done this without Brooke and Amber. You two are truly amazing and so very helpful. I think we done good! Because I was busy hosting, I don’t have as many pictures as I would like, but what I do have is shared below (for those of you who couldn’t make it. I know you regret it)!
The party was filled with family, friends, food, drinks, and games involving personal questions and Ashley’s feeling 5 men’s legs and guessing which was Luke. Oh and by the way…she guessed wrong! I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our best friends engagement, wedding and life with the man she loves! Cheers to Ashley and Luke. I couldn’t be happier for you two and I now look forward to October 2, 2010!
Oh and the night before the shower, we visited the Caravan for a night of two-steppin’ and pool.
No comments:
Post a Comment