My Bridesmaids!

Since I’m getting married three months from today and am having trouble containing my excitement at the moment, I thought I’d take an opportunity to introduce you to my bridesmaids.                

 Name: Savannah Wesley- Matron of honor

How we met: Our sorority in college

Notable friendship moments: Savannah and I didn’t hit it off right away, but our friendship solidified when we were both caught drinking underage on campus our junior year of college.  We had to complete 25 community services hours.  Being irresponsible together and paying the consequences is a sure fire way to form an inseparable bond!

Don’t let that first example give you the wrong impression though!  Savannah is one of the most mature and responsible people that I know.  She’s been one of the biggest sources of spiritual encouragement in my life and I wouldn’t have made it through the ups and downs of college (and post college) without her.  I had the opportunity to be her maid of honor a year ago, and I’m so excited that she will be standing up with me on my wedding day.

Interesting Facts: Savannah loves cows and things that are purple.  She recently had the most adorable baby boy named Jeremiah.

 Name: Whitney Perry

How we met: 6^th Grade at CCS

Notable friendship moments:  We have so many!  My favorites would include being mistaken for each other for half our lives (we’re pictured above dressed as the Olsen twins for Halloween one year), naming all the appliances in our freshman dorm room, and thousands of  inside jokes and random quirks(ie: Whitney has a special dance she made up that she performs whenever we eat pizza- it’s a must-see).  Also, Whitney and I got engaged the same night as I did- completely unplanned but kind of cool and ironic since we’ve been (as we say) “the same person” all our lives.

Interesting facts: Whitney prefers three-pronged forks to the standard four-prong.

Whitney is quite possibly the most reliable person I know.  If she says she’s going to be somewhere or do something you can count on her to get it done and go above and beyond. 

 Name: Alyssa Shumaker

 

How we met: Our sorority in college

Notable friendship moments: Alyssa and I lived together for a while in college and since we are both from Ohio, we have shared many long drives from Ohio to Tennessee.  Alyssa and I do this thing where I ask her to ask me a question.  Then she comes up with something really profound that she’s been thinking about lately and we discuss for long periods of time.  I call these questions “pillow talk questions” because I believe they originated when we shared a room and would talk while falling asleep. But the questions are not limited to the bedroom.  Car rides, phone calls and skype dates have provided additional avenues for these discussions.

Interesting facts: Alyssa has a reality TV obsession.  It’s ironic because she is counter-cultural in every other area of her life.  She has spent her life (as long as I’ve known her) advocating for AIDS research and funding, children who need sponsors, environmental something-or-other and recently has moved to Ethiopia to work for the peace corps for two years.  However, if you want to know what’s up with the Kardashians, she’s the one to ask.

 

 Name: Allison Simmons

 

How we met: Mrs. Smith’s 3^rd grade class

Notable friendship moments:Oh wow- I’m not even sure where to start.  We’ve gone from birth, to sharing smelly markers, to having a sweet 16 party together to being full-fledged grown-up friends. 

Interesting facts: Allison and I were born on the same day in the same hospital. We were likely just a few feet away from each other in our incubators, but didn’t meet til 8 years later.

Allison is probably the most honest person I know. If you want an actual answer to the “does this dress make me look fat?” or “Does my hair look bad” kind of questions, she’s your girl.

 Name: Alyssa Simmons

 

How we met: Random roommates at Lee University- both of our off-campus housing plans fell through last minute and we were placed in the same on-campus apartment junior year. It makes me so happy this happened, because if both of our original housing plans had gone through, we probably wouldn’t be friends today.

Notable friendship moments: Alyssa and I frequently enjoyed dressing from one another’s sides of the closet. Her wardrobe is more “hipster” if you will, and mine is a more on the preppy side.  We would switch clothing identities from time to time.  Also, in the months leading up to graduation Alyssa and I would have frequent meltdowns about life after graduation.  Luckily these were never on the same day, so we could each always rely on the other to cheer us up.

Interesting facts: Alyssa sings and plays guitar and once made up a silly song about all our college friends that made me cry. 

Alyssa is the most easy-going person in the entire world.  I’ve never seem her legitimately mad, or even very annoyed for that matter.  She lets everything roll off her back and refuses to let any stress in life affect her mood.  On a daily basis I remind myself to be more like her.

So there they are!  Some of my most favorite people in my life!  If it were socially appropriate I probably wouldn've had 7or 8 more bridesmaids in the mix.  I'm really lucky to have so many wonderful friends in my life.

By the way, do you like how 60% of my bridal party has either the first name Alyssa or the last name Simmons? WEIRD! None of them are related.