I spent this past weekend in the lovely St. Louis attending my dear friend, Nina’s wedding. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for the blogging friendships I’ve made. I wouldn’t even call these girls my blogging friends. They’re just my good friends and we met through blogging. I call them, I email them, I text them and BBM them. And I’d be there for any of them through any life event.
This life event just happened to be a gorgeous, family-centered, wedding. And the lovely Nina was the bride. In order to not steal Nina’s thunder, I won’t be posting any pictures of her in her dress. But I will tell you that she was stunning. And the smile on her face was the perfect accessory.
Nina, her mom, and sister picked up Mojito Maven and me from the airport on Friday morning. It was raining pretty hard, but it was the “good luck rain” just coming in the day before the wedding. We went with Nina to Sephora while she had her trial make up run and Mojito Maven and I may or may not have played around with the makeup.
When we got to the hotel, we rested and showered while Nina welcomed all of her friends and family to St. Louis. We met back up with everyone for the rehearsal dinner and we got to meet Mandy from House of Rose and Kelly from The Webb Family (a private blog). Both of these girls were bridesmaids in Nina’s wedding and were so much fun! I’m telling you, bloggers are even better in person!
It was so kind of Nina and JH to invite us to the rehearsal dinner. Their friends and family were incredibly welcoming and there were lots of laughs and tears. I love weddings!
at the rehearsal dinner with Nina, Kelly, Mojito Maven, and Mandy
Kelly, Mojito Maven, and me at the rehearsal dinner
On Saturday morning, we got up and went downstairs to one of the hotel restaurants for a yummy breakfast. We went to see the beautiful bride while she was getting ready and then headed upstairs to get dressed.
Because this was a Catholic wedding with a fairly long gap in between the ceremony and reception, I was able to wear two outfits. So I had my ceremony dress and my reception dress. Nina had a trolley available to take guests from the hotel to the ceremony and back, so we rode that. It was a beautiful day!
Mojito Maven standing outside the Basilica
I boo-hooed through a good bit of the ceremony. Nina’s parents were so sweet to each other during the ceremony and when Nina came down the aisle I kind of lost it. The look on JH’s face was so sweet and touching.
The bridesmaids were all absolutely beautiful and their dresses were about the cutest bridesmaid dresses I’ve ever seen. After the ceremony, we all got to give the bride and groom a hug before Nina tossed the bouquet and before they took their formal photos.
Mandy in the super cute LulaKate dress
After the ceremony, we went back to the hotel to get changed so we could relax during “the gap.” The gap refers to the gap of time in between the ceremony and reception. We had about three hours in between, so Mojito Maven and I went to find some yummy food and wine.
After that, we needed a rest, so we went to the room to read and lie down for a bit. We woke up and got changed again for the cocktail hour and reception. We got to hang out with Mandy and Kelly (and their husbands) some more.
We also met a couple of Nina’s cousins who read our blogs and were so much fun! I’m so happy they came and introduced themselves. So funny how small the blog world is.
Dinner was so good and Nina and JH honored their family and friends so gracefully during the reception. After dinner, we danced the night away. I can’t wait for y’all to hear about all the adorable details from Nina. She planned an amazing wedding for herself. But it was also just so great because every time I looked at her, she was hugging JH or giving him a kiss. Or leaning her head on his shoulder.
The love was there and I know these two will have a beautiful life together.
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YAYAYAYAY this was SO FUN and your recap was so much better than mine would have ever been hahah! xoxoxoxo
Isn’t the Cathedral Basilica amazing? I found that I got too caught up in looking at all the mosaics and couldn’t pay attention to the service when I was there. Can’t wait to see Nina’s pictures. It looks like you had a really lovely time.
This looks like such a fun time! My best friend is getting married in December, and going through the planning process has been so much fun! Seeing these pictures makes me even more excited!
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Soooooo fun!!!! The friendships formed in the blog world are just AMAZING!!!
So fun! I know you girls had a fabulous time!! You all look so beautiful and I LOVE those bridesmaid dresses! I have never heard of a gap between the ceremony and reception before your tweets. Looks like you had fun during that time though! You are always good at recaps!
How fun that you made such good blog friends that you went to her wedding!
looks like you guys had so much fun! Love the bridesmaid dresses! they are adorable and you girls looked gorgeous all weekend too!
Looks like such a fun weekend! You ladies looked great!
Great photos! I think it’s very respectful of you to not post pics of Nina in her dress until she does. So many people “rush” to do that. How respectful and classy of you! Looks like you all had a great time!
Y’all look gorgeous and tiny! I love the b-maid dresses- Morgan was just in a wedding with those LuleKate dresses in blue, and I adored them! So cute on, and two of the bridesmaids were (very) pregnant.
You all look beautiful, but I’m DYING to know who makes Kelly’s blue dress with the bow on the shoulder!!!
Sounds like it was perfect and you girls look so beautiful!
Looks like a fabulous wedding weekend! You all looked gorgeous – so many beautiful dresses! The bridesmaids’ one-shoulder dresses were adorable. Glad you had a fun weekend!
I love Lula Kate! Katherine, the owner, is one fabulous person too.
You look gorgeous!
How fun!!!!
Those were adorable bridesmaid dresses!
How fun!! I know Mandy (house of rose). We have a mutual friend from college.
All of you gals look great!! Love Lulu Kate!
Looks like a fun weekend indeed & great photos. Thanks for sharing. Never grow tired of seeing beautiful wedding pictures !!!
ps – love the cobalt blue dress you wore in the rehersal dinner photos – great color !!!
Why does your friend have purple hair? Everything about the wedding is beautiful, but purple hair on a grown woman is odd.
Great recap! It was great meeting you, too. Mrs. Mojito and you were so much sweeter in person!
Looks like you guys had fun!
Beautiful pictures of such happy girls!! I’m so glad you enjoyed your trip to St. Louis!
Looooove MM’s hair! Too fun! And as always, y’all look so pretty. Love your dresses! Congrats, Nina!
Sarah Elizabeth,
I happen to love my purple hair
Love all the pictures!! You girls all look so gorgeous! And I LOVE Mojito Maven’s hair– I used to put royal blue and bubblegum pink or fuchsia in mine… seeing hers makes me want to make an appointment with my hair guy right now!!
Nina’s wedding looks as stunning as we all knew it was going to be– I know she was a beautiful bride. How could she be anything else with a smile that radiates like hers?
I love these but am so excited to for Nina to post some too! Also LOVE MM’s hair! I wish I had the courage to do that!
I had my wedding at a Basilica too but I managed no gap, glad you were able to pre-plan. Us Catholic brides worry over stuff like that for our guests!
I love MM’s hair too-she reminds me of Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! Fabulous!
LOVE the recap ~ can’t wait to see the rest from Nina. You girls looked BEAUTIFUL!! xx
Beautiful pics! Looks like you ladies had a FABULOUS time!
Nina and I had the same wedding date!
what a beautiful wedding! I can’t wait to see pictures of the bride!
I love weddings where you can feel the love like you described! I can’t wait for Nina to do a big post on her wedding. I’m sure it was gorgeous.
Erin your such a beautiful woman!! The pic of you drinking the wine in the blue shirt is my fav of you! I love you!
All these beautiful pics and the only thing Sarah Elizabeth could change screens to comment was a ridicule on someone’s hair color? The blogger Mojito Maven picked herself up, left her busy life and flew across the country to support a fellow blogger, and all you noticed were her hair tips???? How can we get men, governments and other countries to support women if we continue to circle our wagons and shoot inward?
I am LOVING Mojito Maven’s green & yellow dress!!
The basilica is so beautiful. All the mosaics on the inside … wow. When I lived in STL for a summer, that is where I went to church. I couldn’t understand a word the Filipino priest said, but I was just so enamored with the beauty I had to keep going back!
Loving those bridesmaid dresses! So perfect for a summer wedding. Also loving your hair
I’m sorry I’m just now getting a chance to comment. Erin, you bring tears of joy to my eyes always. Our friendship is hard to explain in words and your genuine words always leave a permanent place on my heart! I love you and Mrs. Mojito dearly and am so grateful both of you were there to celebrate our special day with us. Love you so!
p.s. So glad everyone loved the bridesmaid dresses! Thank you to all of you above for your sweet words too
it looks like y’all had a fabulous time!!! wish i was brave enough to color my hair like MM. She looks so rockstar.
i am obsessed with that blue dress you wore for the rehearsal dinner! That color looks so great on you and it’s such a good cut!
Sorry that I am just now commenting! It was soooo GREAT to meet you and MM!! I had such a great time getting to chat with you girls! I hope we get to meet up again!
I’m getting these bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. Can you tell me if you got the full or A-line skirt because I like the way that your skirts look.
Thanks