3 days of non-stop fun!

One of my best-friends from high school got married this weekend!

We met playing soccer. I transferred to Marian High School one-week before freshman year so I missed quite a few of the pre-season soccer practices. One of the first days, I tripped and fell over a string that was lining the field. I popped up and laughed and for whatever reason Kelly decided in that moment we would be friends! We were inseparable! Her family has always treated me like a second daughter and I know Kelly and I will always be friends!

Her rehearsal was at Sunny Italy in South Bend, IN. It is a small old-school Italian restaurant and they served chicken cacciatore, baked chicken, sausage and peppers, homemade ravioli, spaghetti, and green beans. The wine was flowing like water and there was a lot of love for Kelly and her fiance, Justin, packed into one small, intimate room!

 

On Friday, all of the girls got ready at her parent’s house. Her mom has a solid group of best friends that she has been friends with for years. Mrs. Seidl delivered fruit, bagels, and muffins to us girls and Mrs. Walz baked us an egg casserole!

Mrs. Hickey and Mrs. Walz

 

Kelly (the bride) and Mrs. HickeyIronically, the girl who normally does my hair was one of the three girls doing our wedding hair! I had no idea until I saw her walk in. She is the best and I was so excited to see her cute face walk through the door! The other two girls, Anna and Martina, are super sweet, fun to be around, and do a great job.

Tracy and I

Anna and Kelly

Martina and Lexy

Melissa (Kelly’s sister-in-law)

Bethza Professional Makeup Artist Studio came to us for our makeup! It was so nice having everything done at their house! Bethza and her mom, Maria, did a great job! They have a studio downtown Elkhart where they do makeup, facials, eye lash extensions, and skin treatments. Maria did my makeup and she made me feel comfortable, had a bubbly personality, and gave me room to tell her if I wanted anything changed once she was done.

Lindsay and Maria

Bethza has a sweet personality too! She did Kelly’s makeup and Kel looked absolutely beautiful!!!

Kelly and Bethza

I am definitely going to be visiting Bethza soon–a facial is calling my name!

Aimee and Michelle

Allison and Amanda

Myself, Kelly, and Aimee

The wedding was at St. Matt’s in South Bend. This church brought back a lot of good memories. I spent quite a few Sundays with the Hickey family in that church!

The picture below cracks me up. By the look on her face, you would think the dress was too tight but it really fit her perfectly and she looked amazing.

After the ceremony, we took a party bus to Notre Dame for pictures.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Johnson…

The reception was at Century Center and it was so fun! Justin is a WWF/Hulk Hogan fan and Kelly and Justin walked down the staircase with some Hulk gear on–it was pretty comical and it suited them perfectly. Everyone thought the show was over but Justin’s best-man came out for his speech dressed from head-to-toe in a Hulk Hogan outfit. He ran through the reception area with arena music on and then gave his speech. Props for originality!

The Hickeys know how to celebrate and have a good time. Blammo, a local band, played. They had everyone out on that dance floor until 12 a.m. Luckily, for my own sake, Cody and I made a game-time decision to head home after the reception instead of going out–it could have gotten ugly!

Kelly’s wedding was just the start to a fabulous weekend. We attended Cockopalooza, a fundraiser for cancer, and then went over to my brother Paul’s house to celebrate his birthday! More pictures to come of these two events later in the week!