In which my sister gets married and I overuse enthusiastic adjectives out of love

As some of you know, my sister got married last month. It was one of a few HUGE events that took place in my life between turning 30 in April and moving to Geneva at the end of May. When it rains it pours, right? Fortunately, the wedding wasn't an unpleasant downpour at all. On the contrary, it was absolutely lovely, wonderful and loaded with memories to cherish and giggle over in the years to come.

Travis, my brother-in-law, proposed to my sister last April after driving me to Seattle to fly to LA. He had already garnered a number of gold stars from me for being willing to drive his then-girlfriend's sister to an airport over three hours away. When Janna told me that he proposed I was very happy for them both. You're probably thinking "And so you should be!" It's true, but being an older sister I have had occassion to give her boyfriends a hard time and they don't often pass the test. I may have scrutinized their every move and gesture, but it was always with my sister's best interest at heart. With Travis it was different. When I met him the first few times I didn't feel nervous or suspicious. It was a little weird for me to like one of my sister's boyfriends so quickly. And now he's my brother-in-law, so I guess he passed the Big Sister Test.

Back to the wedding. Since their engagement last year both Janna and Travis were in full-blown planning mode. Initially I think they were thinking small-ish wedding, but it soon ballooned to a guest list of nearly 200! As an observer of all this planning I decided that if I do ever end getting married it will be small. Like ten people, so if you get an invitation you had better bronze it 'cos it's likely one of a very few. One of my favourite aspects of their wedding were the invitations, which Travis designed. As part of the save-the-date card they sent out personalized magnets with the invitation theme and the appropriate info. I thought this was such a cute idea!

When the wedding finally rolled around Travis had designed all sorts of things built around the invitation design. There were paint cans emblazoned with the design and filled with off-white roses, name cards (with individual quotes about love on the back), take-home gift boxes and even the cake was decorated with the black, blue and white floral pattern. Janna, of course, ensured that the paper stock was of good quality (they're in the printing business). My favourite part of the take-home gift were the 1" buttons! I daresay I inspired the idea for these babies (actually, I believe I said "You have to have buttons!!!" because sometimes I'm pushy).

The wedding itself was lovely. I held it together during the short, but incredibly sweet, ceremony. Mostly because my sister made smart-ass asides during it as an effective way of distracting herself from the enormity of the situation. I teared up as she walked down the aisle, grabbing on to her best-man for support (they each had a best-man and a maid of honour). I also handed Travis a tissue after they said their vows---it was bright pink with white polka dots, so you know inconspicuous. We signed the register and that was that! Off to the party...after a few hundred photos outside the church. The church, by the way, was the same one that our parents were married in nearly 33 years ago. Cute!

The reception was a lot of fun. Pretty much all of the weddings that I've been to in the last couple of years have been on the small side. I was somewhat skeptical that a larger wedding would be able to achieve the same sense of intimacy that a small one can. However, my sister's wedding was so warm and intimate. It felt small despite the number of guests and I loved that aspect of it. It might have something to do with what a close-knit bunch we are.

Another highlight was that they decided to ban the "clink the glasses" routine where people clink and the couple kisses. Instead, if the guests wanted them to kiss they would have to get up as a table and sing a verse from a song. Not surprisingly, almost all the tables where our (very loud & boisterous) family members were seated got up and belted out the tunes. The biggest kiss came after "Hit Me Baby (One More Time). My sister is a Britney fan. My favourite performance was a solo effort from the 11 year old son of a close family friend. He sang "Afternoon Delight." Amazing.

I gave my Maid of Honour toast, which I thought went quite well. I brought a prop: a piece of toast. One of the books I read said that props during speeches are funny and who am I to argue.

I kept my composure for most of the wedding and reception. I'd say I'm more of a smiler than a crier, but when my sister and Dad did the Father of the Bride dance I completely lost it. Like, sobbing with my whole body. It wasn't even to a slow song! But it moved me completely and exposed me as the weepy sap that I occasionally can be.

After the dinner and cake we danced and danced and snuck up to our hotel room for shots of Fireball and glasses of cheap rosé and danced some more. The DJ was a bit of a dolt, in my opinion, but we had fun. It was a funny mix of 80s, Top 40 and country hits (Travis is from Alberta). Pretty hilarious. We ended the evening with a dance circle full of sways and off-key singing to "Don't Stop Believin'." Almost all of us took turns bustin' our craziest moves in the middle of that circle. An amazing way to end the night for sure.

Overall, I give this wedding a 10 out of 10 and not just because it was my sister's wedding and I love her the most.