My Best Friend's Wedding - The Sequel

Cristy always said she was going to have a beach wedding, and a few weeks ago, she made good on that promise and said “I Do” to Jon Simon on the shores of Southern California.

David and I were more than happy to escape cold, dreary London for sunny, warm Cali. I flew in early to spend a few days with Katie and Cristy at the St. Regis.

The three of us booked our flights to arrive in San Diego at the same time, and after picking up our rental car and miraculously fitting all the luggage (including Cristy’s gown) into the trunk, we had a quick lunch in Little Italy and then drove up Highway 1 to Monarch Beach.

We had a lot of fun experimenting with the 

new iPhone panorama camera at the hotel

The St. Regis was beautiful! Thank you, Katie, for using your hotel points to get us a great deal!

After checking in, we immediately went down to the pool, ordered some girly drinks, and soaked up the sun while catching up!

When we got back to our room, there was a sweet treat waiting for us…

The staff at the St. Regis was so nice! When we checked in, they asked if we were there for any special occasion, so we told them it was a short getaway for our birthdays and Cristy’s wedding. Katie’s birthday is the 7^th, mine is the 9^th, and Cristy’s is the 12^th so we always try to celebrate together. It’s amazing that living so far apart, we’re still able to do this. We’re already planning Hawaii 2014 for our 30^th birthday celebration! Can’t wait!  Let’s see if we can all hold off on the bebes until then… 

That night for dinner, we had more yummy surprises waiting for us! We ate at Motif overlooking the resort’s pool, golf course, and the ocean.  We had a cheese plate to start (which was weird for me since in Europe we usually have cheese for dessert), then I had the lobster risotto with truffle foam, Cristy had the salmon, and Katie had steak. My stomach was still stuffed from all of my fast-food adventures in Connecticut the weekend before, but I managed to eat about half of my risotto.

Then came the good part!

We were way too full to order dessert, but before we could object, our waiter brought us each our own bday treat, and a cake for Cristy’s wedding. 4 desserts total – not to mention the cake up in our room! 

Doesn’t this wedding dessert look like it has teeth?

The next morning we woke up ready for a day of pampering! We had lunch by the pool and then headed to the spa for massages.

I had never had a massage before that day. Shocking, I know. I had the Turkish bath massage, but that was an entirely different experience. Most of my girlfriends are obsessed and always berating me for being outta the loop, but now I’m hooked!

We popped open a bottle of champagne to enjoy with our mani/pedis.  

That afternoon we checked out and headed back down to San Diego to check into our Del Mar hotel closer to the wedding festivities. David arrived a few hours later with our friends Margarita and Marisa from Houston. I said hi to David and then bye, as it was time for Ladies Night at Lips!

Lips is a bar/restaurant run by a group of hilarious drag queens. I’d never been to a drag show before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was thrown right into it because they started the show off by asking who traveled the furthest to be there. I pretended not to hear, while Margarita, Marisa, and Katie started screaming, “London!” Another woman called out “New Jersey,” but the host heard my girlfriends and declared “London’s further, bitch!” before dragging me out of my seat and over to the bar for a free shot.

I don't know what's going on with her/his makeup in this pic...

Then they did birthday celebrations, so Katie and I were gifted a cupcake to share with our table before being pulled back onstage to dance around with the "California Gurls." Then we had to introduce ourselves.

Parental Advisory Warning: This video contains some bad language...

P.S. Katie and I look TINY compared to the queens

I swore I wasn’t going onstage again after that, but after dinner we played Bitchy Bingo and guess who won? So I got back up there to claim my free T-shirt.

I thought I was done for the night, but after the show and dinner and bingo, our whole table got one last pic with our waiter? waitress? I don’t know… What I do know is it was a ton of fun. Thanks Margarita and Marisa for planning girl's night out!

The next day we toned things down a little, and David and I had breakfast with Barbara, Jeremy, and Kassandra before heading to Escondido to visit my grandparents. We hadn't seen my dad’s parents since we took a Spring Break road trip to CA and Vegas when we were juniors in college. It’d been way too long!

Grandpa and Grandma looked great and the house was bright and beautiful, just like we remembered. We chatted at home for a while before they treated us to a belated birthday lunch at the Beach House, our favorite restaurant on the water.  

That night we had the rehearsal dinner back at the Hilton.

Bridesmaids

Margarita, me, Marisa, and Katie

After dinner, we hung out with Cristy before wishing her a great night’s sleep on her last evening as a single lady. She slept great and came into our adjoining room the next morning bright-eyed and ready to go!

I love that sign outside the door!  Such a nice way to say 'leave us alone!'

Dave and David went on a 5-mile run with the groom and some other friends while the girls were spoiled next door with more massages, mimosas, hair, and makeup.

These are the cutest bridesmaid gifts - 

Tom's that say "Do Small Things with Great Love"

Cristy and her Mom getting ready

The guys came back a little while later with giant breakfast burritos from Roberto’s. I couldn't turn down the hash brown burrito, but when it was time to get in my bridesmaid dress, I definitely had a burrito baby. Good thing the dresses were black! Cristy was sweet enough to let us each pick out our own, as long as they were black. Each girl’s personality definitely showed through her choice in dress!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was perfect and the location was stunning in a park overlooking the beach.

The most adorable ushers ever!

The most adorable husband ever!

The Texans

And the reception was… well it was really, really fun. I had a little too much fun. Actually, way too much fun.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking…

Cheese!  

I didn’t realize that ridiculous block of cheddar would take over the shot!

Why is David a rasta again?  And where did Dave go in the second shot?

Cristy was a little scared during the Hora...

Jon was much more comfortable up there.

Katie's maid of honor speech

The Dave's and Jon

Instead of a cake, there were a gazillion cupcakes to choose from.  

And then later they brought out mini creme brulees.  Yum!

This was the first Pinterest wedding I've been to and it was awesome! Where was Pinterest when I was getting married? Cristy took all of the photos for the table numbers herself - she's a great photographer.

Whose foot is this?  And why am I holding it?

Margarita and me "resting" at the bar…

And then we got our second wind and got back out there!  David and I danced “gangnam style.” He was the horse, and I was the rider. Cristy and Jon said their photographer has a great shot of us galloping around the dance floor. I’m not sure I want to see that… And why do Margarita and I look so angry dancing (especially me)??

We even got the bartenders out on the dance floor!

We survived!  

Katie and me soaking our sore feet in the tub back at the hotel. 

Dave asleep with the mac ‘n cheese… Cristy and Jon did a midnight snack at the reception, and there was a ton of leftover mac ‘n cheese. Katie couldn't let it go to waste, so brought it back with us, and then David wanted an “artsy” photo.

Miraculously, the next day at the zoo we actually felt pretty good!

Marisa the panda, Margarita the lion, and me the giraffe

Cristy and Jon invited everyone from the wedding to the San Diego Zoo on Saturday after brunch. There were so many people there, that Cristy borrowed my animal-print umbrella so no one would get lost. 

Just like a real tour guide!

Watching a panda eat its bamboo lunch

Congrats again, Cristy and Jon! Thanks for making us a part of your wedding. We are so happy for you two!