Three Days, Thirteen Miles, and One Wedding Later....

I know this long blogging absence may have hinted at my demise during the half-marathon, or maybe death-by-public-speaking during the wedding ceremony (such a sad way to go), but don't worry, I'm still here! (If you're just tuning in, read a couple posts down to get the marathon/wedding intro.)

The half-marathon was long and hot and sort of boring. My mom and I actually spent so much time and energy complaining about the course that we failed to see a bald eagle circling above us. We were in the middle of a massive rant about the lack of water stations when one of the other walkers tapped us on the shoulder, pointed to the sky, and said, "Did you guys see the bald eagle?" Since a bald eagle sighting on the fourth of July had been our original goal for the walk, this was very embarrassing, and we took it as a lesson along the lines of "stop and smell the roses"--shut up, look up, and see the bald eagle.

The wedding, on the other hand, was completely and utterly and totally wonderful. Rachel looked luminous, Scott looked handsome, and everyone in attendance was generally well-behaved and genuinely happy for them. My speech (see below) went really well, and I can't express in words how honored I was to get to be such a big part of their wedding.

Pictures!

Here's me reading the vows up there with Rachel and Scott:

They are so in love--their eye contact was so intense that I was a bit worried if I leaned in too close I'd get sucked into the love beam and have to run away with them and form a really creepy bride-groom-reverend menage a trois.

Then I told them to kiss, and they obliged:


Ta-da! Husband and Wife!

Gosh they will have pretty babies.

After the ceremony, Rachel and I pretended to be awkward prom dates:


Here's my real boyfriend and me:

He didn't want me to post this picture, but I'm a reverend so I can.

As for that hotly anticipated reverend outfit, well, it's probably going to be a bit anticlimactic (no flowing robes or pope hat, I'm afraid). The wedding was uber casual and, as I've mentioned, took place in the bride's family's backyard, so the requirements I decided on for my reverend attire were as follows:

1. It's July, so not, like, velvet.
2. A step up in formality from the wedding guests.
3. A step down from the bride (duh).
4. A dark color to contrast the bride, flatter my figure, and hide my pit sweat (again, it's July).
5. Not slutty, cuz, you know, I'm a reverend.
6. No high heels.
7. Below $100.

I found a dress on sale at Nordstrom that met most of these requirements and was absolutely gorgeous, but I just didn't feel comfortable in it. And when you're giving a speech outside in front of 60 people, many of them your old high school classmates, you've gotta be comfy. On a fairly random trip to Macy's the night before the wedding, I spotted this skirt, and decided to change everything up (yeah, I live on the wild side). I bought the skirt, added a ruched Calvin Klein cotton t-shirt, my mom's pearls, some cute flat sandals, and voila, casual reverend chic:

This picture is extremely awkward because I was literally running out the door when I screamed, "Shit! I promised my readers a picture!" So I struck a pose (with way too much cleavage, good god I'm a risque reverend), made my boyfriend snap one picture, yelled at him that he had better not have made me look fat, and continued running for the door. I made sure to pull up my shirt for the ceremony and, hopefully, didn't resemble a 49ers linebacker quite as much (broad shoulders are the bane of my existence).

So that's the finale of wedding news. I'm so happy for my friends, and if you're one of the 7 million couples getting married today, I am happy for you too. Best of luck to all you shiny happy newlyweds, and not to worry, regular posting on Daddy Likey is now resumed.