Going out with a bang.

My friends, our hectic wedding season has come to an end. As has our insane triple consecutive weekend madness [Kansas City wedding, marathon, St. Louis wedding]. I'm tired, and still sick, and overwhelmed by laundry piles towering over my head, and yet....a little sad that the craziness is over.

But enough of that, let's get to the pictures, shall we?

We drove down to St. Louis on Friday afternoon and made it just in time for the rehearsal dinner. Can I just say that I miss The Hill so bad I could cry? For those non-St. Louisans, The Hill is basically an Italian restaurant mecca. Charlie Gittos did not disappoint as they served us a fabulous three course meal complete with Tiramisu. Mmmmmm, Tiramisu. How I love thee.

So here we are with Andy and Laura, the bride and groom. [Background story: Laura and I are sorority sisters and Nate and Andy are fraternity brothers. You shall see shortly that Gamma Phi Betas love to marry Pi Kappa Alphas. It's an epidemic, actually]:

We convinced Hannah and Michael to meet us after the dinner, and we picked Bar Louie--a fine establishment in the Central West End that used to be M.P. O'Riley's---a bar that stole our money and our time in the 'good old days'. Ah, how St. Louis brings back the memories. Even though we are old married hags now, Hannah and I can still party like rock stars [although we pay heavily for it the next day]:

Caleb and Ashleigh attended the chaos just days after returning from their honeymoon...in St. Lucia. And yes, I did see their pictures and almost vomited out of envy. Do you see how happy and rested they look? Ugh.

I should also mention that the other two lovelies in this picture are Liz and Nick--both of whom are recently engaged. Not to each other but you guessed it: she's a Gamma Phi marrying a Pike and he's a Pike marrying another Gamma Phi. And of course, Caleb is a Pike and Ashleigh was a Gamma Phi at KU. I know, it's really sickening.

Another Pike with his Gamma Phi:

Charlie is really unhappy about this picture but I am quite fond of it, myself. Yep--he's a Pike, too, but not married. Any Gamma Phis out there interested??
So Friday night concluded with Nate and I sitting on the Hannah and Michael's new back patio, chatting the night away just like old times. They are always the best hosts when we come for a visit, and of course this weekend didn't disappoint.

Saturday came and it was time for the wedding. Nate was an usher yet again [his new found talent?] and I couldn't stop drooling over the Cathedral Basilica. I mean, I've seen St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome [the Pope's playground] but I can honestly say that the Basilica is almost as stunning.

It was a beautiful ceremony, although I spent most of the time staring at the insanely ornate walls. Yay to Andy and Laura!!

Then came a four hour break before the reception, so we did what any intelligent folks our age would do....and sat outside at a bar patio. This is Llewellyns pub in the Central West End, where the adult grilled cheese and Bloody Marys rival the best in the world. I know, that is a bold statement but seriously. Lindsey and Kim met us wedding goers and we talked up a storm.
I even forced Lindsey to let me take this picture of her new ROCK. I am utterly obsessed with it and it's glory, but all she can see in this pic are her knuckles. Puh-leez. Nobody is looking at your knuckles when you have this bling, my dear:)

Then it was time for the reception at none other than the Chase Park Plaza's Starlight room. One word for you: WOW. Here are some of the boys on top of the rooftop deck overlooking all of St. Louis:


And part of our crew trying to make the most of this fabulous sunset:

And because I didn't do a good job with pictures of the bride and groom at the last wedding, I made myself look like a fool and snapped this shot right after the pro photographer got his shot. I even yelled, "For the blog!" and I think they both smiled even bigger:)

My new favorite picture of us:

Then the sunset became even more ridiculous, so a few of my sorority sisters and I snapped even more pictures. Aren't the bridesmaid dresses so pretty? Love that stone color.
After one of the nicest dinners known to mankind, it was time to hit the dance floor. Wouldn't you know it but a bunch of Gamma Phis decided to get their pictures taken together:
And although this one is a little blurry, it sums us up nicely:

Here I am with some of the dudes [minus my hubby?]. Caleb called me a princess after this shot and that made me angry....and if you click on the picture you will see what my angry eyes look like.

Creepy as heck, right? All of my pictures from the rest of the night gave everyone red eyes, so when I tried to fix it on Iphoto they turned out horribly....creepy, beady, black eyes. I hate it and it makes me want a new camera. Does that make me a princess? I thought my lust over a Canon XTi was a thing of the past, but apparently not:)

Here we are with the first set of newlyweds.

And this, my friends, is the groom. These glasses were left behind by a guest and therefore Andy thought he should don them for the rest of the night. I could not stop laughing. And Andy could not stop sweating:)

Forcing my usher to take yet another picture mid-dance. Did I mention that I love my new LBD from J.Crew on Ebay? Because the built in pockets were perfect for toting around my camera all night [hence the many pictures].

And finally, the new Mr. and Mrs.....of course, the glasses are still holding it down along with white boy gang signs. Ah, I love our friends.

After the reception we made it down to Cafe Eau for more madness. I hit the wall and forced Michael to take me home, but Hannah and Nate were hard core and stayed out until 6:30 a.m. No joke, they are insane and apparently Pops still rules. If you've never frequented this one-of-a-kind East Side establishment you are missing out, my friends. It's worth the trip to East St. Louis by itself....and yes, I missed it. I am so ashamed. There was a Journey cover band, enough said.

So that's that: the third and final wedding of the year. I'm a little mad at myself for neglecting pictures of the amazing centerpieces and the fabulous dessert bar...but a girl can only take so many pictures in one night. Now if I had a nice digital SLR then maybe I could have covered it all...