The Bridal Party: An Introduction

You all know what their dresses will look like (well sort of - you know as much as I do, they will be black). And you know they live all over the country. However, that's it. That is all you know about the lovely ladies who are so important to me that I couldn't imagine getting married without them by my side. These women are much more important to me than invitations or cake so here is a proper introduction (in order of life appearances).

First off we have my maid of honor and big sister (but she is actually littler), Kristina

Krissy and I in New York the night before Mr. P proposed, Krissy out and about, the 3 Pineapple kids - my sister is on the right

For the first 20 or so years of my life Krissy and I did not get along. She is two and a half years older than I am and we have a brother between us. You would think being this close in age would be great, but it wasn't. I used to be nick-named "the dentist" because I knocked out so many of Krissy's teeth. She used to make me ride the bus 2 hours to school even though she drove there every morning in a half an hour. Our sibling rivalry was like none other and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't picture us ever getting along.

Then something happened. We both ended up at the same university 1250 miles from "home." She invited me to hang out with her friends when I was still trying to make some of my own and I took her out to lunch using my meal plan. Suddenly I knew who this girl, whom I had lived with and fought with my whole life, was. She was a whole lot like me. Over the past few years we have grown even closer. We talk to each other everyday online - she lives in Manhattan. We give each other advice about design, friends, men, family -- just like sisters in movies do. She even made a movie for me last summer to tell me, for the first time ever, that she loved me.

This is Krissy line dancing around New York City. Needless to say, I cried when I got the DVD in the mail. She has that video up on youtube too, if you want to see just how shocked I was to receive this gift.

I am so happy to have Krissy back in my life and I couldn't imagine a better maid of honor.

Next up we have Kim:

Kim and I met in the fourth grade when it used to be cool to roll you shorts up, definitely Kim's favorite look at the time and she rocked it. Kim lived just a few blocks away and suffered though Mrs. Greenhill's class with me.

Kim had the most beautiful voice I had ever heard, and she still does. Once 6th grade rolled around we both applied to the school of the arts, Kim for vocal and I for fine art. We got in and from then on we were the bestest of friends. We used to sit together on the bus and sing commercial jingles. I even used to tape record her singing so I could play it back to all of my other friends and family. I have always been utterly amazed by that big voice coming out of little Kimmy. She will be performing at our ceremony and I am sure I will cry when I hear her start to sing. Kim is getting married next March and I couldn't be happier for her.

Next we have Lindsay:
I met Lindsay in elementary school soon after meeting Kim. My earliest memories of her are riding our bikes to school together. Lindsay also went to the school of the arts, she was the writer and debater of the bunch. Lindsay, Kim and I were attached at the hip. We were so close and saw each other so often that in high school that we had a falling out. Almost a year later I called Kim, hoping the three of us could patch things up. I missed us. We ended up going to see Ocean's 11 and never going another day apart. We worked together at a horrible restaurant after school and got into trouble together on the weekends.

Lindsay lives in West Palm and I miss her very much. The handful of times I have seen her in the last 6 years simply hasn't been enough.

Now onto Christy:
You may remember Christy from the post I wrote when I was over whelmed and she had sent me brownies. I remember her as the most fantastic part of my time at Carnegie Mellon. In fact, if I never use anything I learned from my 4 years and $10 million in student loans, the friendship would be worth it.

Christy and I spent 3 years within 100 yards of one another, everyday without speaking. We were 2 of the 15 communication designers at CMU. I was afraid of most of the girls because they gossiped, so I hung out with boys in the engineering school. I later became friends with some of her friends. One day, out of the blue, I asked her if she would like to go to my cousin's dairy farm with me. We were both in a photo class together and the dairy was my project. She said "sure" and the rest is history. We were like peas and carrots, Christy and I. We spent senior year of college going on adventures around western PA during our Friday's off (some of which included MR Boots, frownie brownies, BRENTwood, Ghost Riders and Spring Break WOOO!) For a solid 5 months we went line dancing at Saddle Ridge, at least twice - but usually three times a week. (I have over 1,600 photographs to prove it.)

When we weren't hanging out we would be talking online, avoiding our design work. The day Christy moved to Boston I gave her a book I made. I was a spiral bound copy of all our IM conversations from the past year. I assigned each of us a typeface and called out the best parts typographically. Half of the words are either "hahahahaha" or "omg I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe." I could go on and on about how Christy changed my life, but I don't want to bore you. Just think of the most amazing person you know and Christy is like that. (The best part, she is coming to Pittsburgh next week!)

And now the most recent, Katie
I first met Katie when she was my supervisor at Carnegie Mellon. She has a big personality and an even bigger heart. I used to tease her about how she went out all the time. Well, it turns out - she was going out with one of her best friends, Mr. Pineapple. Katie and Mr. P met when Katie was in grad school at IUP, a couple years before Mr. P replaced Katie as my boss.

I am so lucky to have Katie here in Pittsburgh to help me make paper roses and to help my sister with her bridal shower plans. We are also lucky she is here because we have someone to go to Pirate's games with (I think PNC park is Katie's home away from home). My biggest wedding planning mistake so far, according to Katie, is picking Penn State's homecoming weekend to get married. Sorry Katie (there will be a tv in the lounge). Go Nittany Lions?!