I moved to Zurich! But I won’t tell you about that yet (I don’t know how to describe it yet, myself – still processing). But before I moved to Zurich, I went to three weddings this fall. Whoa.
I have hit the age (27) when all of a sudden weddings are EVERYWHERE. Already this year, I had missed a boatload: my friends Sean and Sarah in Vermont; my friends Courtney and Warren in Colorado. Also this fall was my friends Andrea and Brian, but it was at the same time as one of the other weddings. My college friend Sarah also got married this summer.
Out of the three weddings, I was a bridesmaid in two. I was excited, but I also approached the first wedding with trepidation. I wasn’t really sure what all of this is about.
But as it turns out, weddings are just about friends. And I had a phenomenal, wonderful time hanging out with my middle school friends when one of them, Thomas, got married to Becca. Photos from Becca’s uncle Mark:
Becca and Thomas were so generous with their time – we spent a lot of happy hours together, along with some friends we hadn’t seen in a very long time. The top photo from this post is me and Harker, the best man, hanging out with Thomas and remembering things from years ago, when Thomas and Becca first started dating. The whole weekend was also an amazing opportunity to catch up with Eric, Lily, and Geoff, among others, who I hadn’t seen in years. They are all doing amazing things, from designing toys to building their own houses and protecting Lake Champlain. We turned out okay, we kids.
Then, a brief break, and on to wedding number two: my friends Lauren and Daniel. We went to Maine and did the whole deal at a YMCA Camp on a lake. Photos from Tori Lee Jackson Photography:
The other great things about Lauren’s wedding is that it was almost entirely do-it-yourself. We set up the tables and chairs, made the rehearsal dinner food, made the bouquets. That last part was tough for me, as I have no previous flower-arranging experience and little artistic talent.
Lauren was a teammate of mine at Craftsbury when we were ski racing. Longtime readers of this blog probably remember her, in fact. Her husband, Daniel, is great – and I remember when Lauren told me about him for the very first time, back when we were in Craftsbury. I’m so happy to see them together and it was such a joy to be part of their weekend. Again, they were so generous with their time, and with their idea of the camp: it meant that everyone could stay there for the weekend, there was plenty of space for the kids to play (and adults, too). There were campfires at night and horseshoes during the day; some guests took canoes out on the lake. A photo from Nina Murray, another bridesmaid, of us ladies hanging out and getting ready:
Finally: on to Houston! My cousin Harrison got married. He’s the first Little of our generation to get married, so it’s a pretty big deal (I have not yet succumbed to the pressure… and also I failed as the oldest cousin). And it was a joy to have the whole family together for a happy reason, unlike a funeral.
I also really enjoyed Houston. There were plenty of beautiful parks and outdoor areas to explore, and my aunt and uncle have a really beautiful little place in a nice neighborhood. We spent a lot of time sitting out on their back patio overlooking their pool.
I spent most of my time palling around with my cousins Jess and Emily. It was Emily’s 21st birthday the night of the wedding. We’ll leave it at that.
This is not Emily, it’s Jess:
And then, that was it. I flew home and soon moved to Zurich.
One thing that I’m really happy about is that these weddings gave me an opportunity to catch up with friends and family from all the different spheres of my life. I’m going to be away for a long time: I got to have a nice goodbye tour.
And while I don’t plan on getting married anytime soon (despite my cousins’ request that I do get married, and have the wedding in Zurich, so they all have an excuse to go to Switzerland), it’s cool to see my friends and cousins settling down. I’m looking forward to that day myself – sans wedding. In fact, three years in Zurich counts as settling down, to me.
on my way: make it someday. 