Amy gets married!

I am so lucky to have amazing friends who live all over the world. My closest friends include my roommate (who obviously lives quite close to me...just one door down!), my friends from summer camp Emily (who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada) and Amy (who lives in Scottsdale, AZ) and my best friend from college, Dustin (who lives in New Jersey). Last week I was able to travel out west to celebrate the wedding of Amy and her amazing fiance Bryce.

I was traveling by myself, but I really wanted to spend a day in Las Vegas, and since it is only 6 hours from Vegas to Salt Lake City (where the wedding was) I decided to just go for it. I arrived in Vegas on Tuesday around noon, rented a car and immediately headed to Cafe Rio and Target (two of my favorite places ever that we don't have back east!). I checked into my hotel (Excalibur) and started out on my 24 hours in Vegas! 

Truth be told, I didn't like Las Vegas one bit. The casino in my hotel was dingy and everyone was smoking inside (something that hasn't happened in Vermont since I was a toddler). My room was fine, but the whole place just felt dirty. I headed out to the pool to relax a bit, but it started raining and I had to head inside. Instead of being annoyed, I headed to the hotel gym (which was the best part of the hotel in my opinion!) and busted out a circuit. I felt so much better afterwards!

I had gotten tickets for a Las Vegas bus tour, so at 7:30 I headed down to the lobby and hopped on a open top bus. This redeemed Vegas a little - I got to see the sights without really having to see the people up close and personal. We saw the fountain show at the Bellagio, visited Freemont Street and saw the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. It ended up being a beautiful night and I liked seeing the sights.

the Freemont Street Experience - Bon Jovi themed!

On Wednesday I drove to Salt Lake City. It took about 6 and a half hours, but it was a beautiful drive. Wednesday night I helped Amy and her mom with some wedding preparation and just enjoyed catching up.

Wedding favor central!

On Thursday we added another camp friend named Beth to the group, and then finally Emily. We enjoyed some Utah sights, ate a lot of Cafe Rio and had fun dressing up for the wedding and spending time together. Beth, Emily and I shared a hotel room and as a few of the only non-Mormons to attend the wedding, we did our best to fit in. Not sure how well we succeed!

 Emily, Beth and me in our before shot.

and the after - headed to the temple!

We weren't allowed in the temple so we could see the actual sealing ceremony, but we happily waited outside for Amy and Bryce to emerge a married couple!

Bryce & Amy with Amy's family

After we watched the photos and said hi to everyone, we had a few hours before the reception. What do three non-LDS wedding attendees do? Go get margarita obviously!

me and Emily enjoying a delicious frozen margarita. Did you know that in Utah you have to have food on the table in order for them to serve alcohol? We had some delicious chips and salsa to follow the rules :-)

The reception was really beautiful - it was held at a small art gallery which was just perfect for the 60 or so guests that attended. Beth, Emily and I sat with a few of Amy's college friends and enjoyed chatting and a few songs of dancing. 

Emily, me, Amy, Bryce  Beth

The bottom picture is a camp throw back and our favorite song "Great Big Moose"

Emily, Beth and I helped Amy change out of her wedding dress which was a really special few moments - we were glad to have some time with her to share our love and best wishes. And make sure she felt prepared for the wedding night. What are friends for??

After Amy and Bryce left we helped clean up the venue, got some junk food and headed back to the hotel. We stayed up chatting for several hours, but ended up going to bed by midnight because I had a flight to catch the next morning. Both Emily and Beth made me promise that I would wake them up before I left, so we said our goodbyes in the pitch dark hotel room and I was one my way home! I had a wonderful trip and feel so lucky to have such amazing friends. We all joked that Beth and I need to get married (or have Emily renew her vows!) soon so we can all be together again! I'm nowhere close, but maybe someday we'll all reunite at my wedding. Time will tell!

Night before the wedding trip to Yogurtland!

(l-r) Amy's college/grad school friend Cassie, Amy's brother Ryan, Bryce, Amy, Amy's college friend Cassie, Beth, Amy's sister Hailey, me.