Last weekend our Maid of Honor, Nicole, got married! Yes, she still is our MAID of honor (Who wants to be a MATRON, even if it is out of honor?). Caitlin was Nicole's Maid of Honor, which was great for its own merits, but also allowed us to get some wedding practice under our belts before our wedding (I swear we took everything seriously, Nicole).
The wedding was a beautiful outdoor event of epic proportions. Lake Champlain and beautiful mountain vistas in the background, a mansion of a barn housing a vast spread for dinner as well as a dance hall and very energetic band, a courtyard filled with a fire pit for S'mores and a Ben and Jerry's cart, and of course Caitlin made a really great Maid of Honor speech (Your turn, Nicole. No pressure).
Along with the actual wedding, I also had a great time getting to know all of Nicole and Stephen's family, who had all at least heard of me as "Caitlin's fiancé". Within a very short time of meeting everyone, they all essentially treated me like a long-time member of the family. Resounding reactions from family were that "'Caitie' (old habits die hard) has good taste, which is to be expected because she makes very good life decisions". This experience really showed us that weddings are as much about "the love" as they are as having the resounding support of the couple's family and assumed family with them.