The Bunce Wedding

Well, it finally happened. I passed Sam's number and/or myspace info. along to Pat back in 2007. But the timing wasn't right. Then they rekindled their romance in 2010 at our wedding. Again, that timing thing. And then finally in 2012 they gave it a real shot and this past weekend made it official by inviting every single person they knew to celebrate their love.

I took off work Friday. I got a manicure (saved money by doing my own toes) by a woman who was really upset I did not have children. Well, continue to be upset because I will continue to not have children. Thankfully my orange nails still ended up looking fabulous. I also had to run some errands which included stopping by the mall to try and find earrings. I headed over to New Smyrna that afternoon. It was a long rainy drive where I enjoyed many of my old CDs. Yes a compact disc. They are still a thing people! I had no idea how back in the woods the venue was. I was so thankful for GPS because I would have probably pulled into the driveway of The Texas Florida Chainsaw Massacre man who is probably the cousin of the Texas one. Equally crazy states. Anyway, I found the venue!

After I had a mini tour of the place and dropped off my bags in the bride's guest house we went to dinner somewhere down A1A. JP's? JB's? I can't remember. But the place was packed! We had to wait for maybe 20 min. and unfortunately the service was not great once we were seated. At all. But Martha and I both got the shrimp and they were delish! So there was that.

We stopped by CVS for some odds and ends and then headed back to the venue to work on bouquets & center pieces. Sam and her mom had bought a ton of flowers from Trader Joe's and it was our job to arrange them in the venue's kitchen. Sam first created her bouquet and then all of the bridesmaid's bouquets. We used whatever was left for the centerpieces. Sam has been collecting random vases and glass bottles for who knows how long so it was nice she finally got to put them to use. They were all relatively small so they looked really great grouped together in twos and threes.

Once we were done with the flowers we headed back to the guest house to end the night with a game of Cards Against Humanity. There was 5 of us total and we were all spread out. Two of us slept in single cots (cot AND peach buddies!), Martha was on the couch, and Sam was in the bed. It somehow worked although I barely got any sleep. The cot itself was actually pretty comfortable but I was freezing all night and the TV kept me up. Oh well. Who needs sleep anyway?! Ha!

We all were awake by 7AM and took turns showering while Sam and Martha grabbed breakfast for everyone at Dunkin Donuts. I spent part of the morning sewing the date into Sam's dress in blue thread. Oh the pressure! But I was honored to contribute something meaningful! I think it turned out pretty cool and even if it hadn't at least it was 10 layers deep. Ha! Martha and I went back to the kitchen and made all the boutonnieres for the guys. We had a good little assembly line going and I may be biased but they turned out pretty damn good. I spent the rest of the morning wandering around the property taking photos of the progress and helping Sam wherever she needed me to. While I helped her hang photos of her and Pat, she spilled her coffee all over the floor. NO DRINKS ON THE DANCE FLOOR.

By lunch time we were all taking turns in the hair chair. I went last because mine was the easiest and took the shortest amount of time. I knew I wanted braids but beyond that I was pretty open. Tab's creation was perfect. I loved having an up-do and it had a hint of my own wedding hair to it so it was kind of a nice flashback. We took a break and ate Chick-fil-a for lunch. It was the last relaxed part of the day before everyone started arriving. Before the chaos. 

The guys also had their own little guest house/Bungalow right next door. Although I liked calling it the Buncalow. See what I did there? The guys didn't even arrive until 3 so we used it as an extra restroom until then. 

A lot of people started arriving around 3PM. Both Sam and Pat's family joined us in getting ready. And also Rhiannon & Rey (photographers) and the videographer were in the mix of it all too. There was no getting into the restroom with that many people so I just stripped down and put my dress on in front of everyone. Whatevs! Ha! And thankfully Sam's sweet sister-in-law offered to help zip me up which was so nice of her. I had already thrown on some mascara and lipstick (the only makeup I ever wear), so once the dress and shoes were on, I was ready to go. 

Before we all knew it we were lining up inside the barn. I was first to go out because Sam changed the order of the girls last minute based on dress color - mint, peach, etc. The barn doors opened and I looked up to see a crowd of people which is when I immediately thought you better not fucking fall Ashley. Because you know, I like to call myself by name when talking to myself in my head. But wedges and brick pavers could have potentially been a nightmare situation. Thankfully I made it down the aisle without any mishaps. The ceremony and vows were really lovely, however, a train AND a helicopter interrupted everything right in the middle. I mean, all you can do is laugh. And the way Dustin put it was, they both had every opportunity to run away and they stuck it out anyway. My favorite part of the ceremony was when Pat looked over to Dustin for the rings and Dustin gave him a I-dont-have-the-rings-confused-look. No one told Dustin that the rings were actually in the "book" he was holding. I hope the videographer keeps the audio of that because it was just too funny.

After the ceremony we all walked back into the barn. They shut the doors so everyone could go to "cocktail hour" without seeing us (why it matters I have no idea). Dustin of course cracked me up when he said "This is like when they locked all the zombies up in the barn on The Walking Dead". Yep.

We walked around for over an hour taking photos. Once we were done I went to put my vans on because my shoes were killing my feet. How I walked around the Consol Energy Center at Blair & Nicole's wedding exactly a year prior in those suckers yet couldn't make it a couple hours on a much smaller property is beyond me. Apparently you aren't allowed to change shoes before being introduced (another tradition I don't get) so I had to change back into my damn wedges. We watched Sam and Pat have their first dance and then it was off to eat dinner. I got pretty much one of everything. I even got a scoop full of mac-n-cheese which I was later told was for "kids only". Ooops. I was too hungry to read signs. Plus, there's no way those kids could finish that giant bowl by themselves. 

Dustin gave his speech after the cake cutting. It was by far the best best man speech ever although I am bias. It's at the end of the wedding video I made which you can watch at the end of this post if you are curious. Now it was Dustin's turn to change into something more comfortable. I have seen him wear two suits in our 10 year relationship and both times were within the last year. He's not a suit guy at all which I totally get. I rather him be comfortable than fancy. I've got to say I really liked his jacket over his Pens shirt look 10x better than any suit. So much cooler! And so much more him.

We mingled with some guests - people we knew, people we didn't. Not once did we dance. We just don't. Not in public anyway. We hit up the Photo Booth with Nicole and then the cupcake table. We helped Pat gather his things and put them into the Porsche they were being loaned for a couple days. The best part was when Pat couldn't figure out how to close the trunk (which is actually in the front of the car). Dustin tried to help but he also couldn't figure it out. I just stood there video taping and laughing. 

As the night came to an end the dance floor held fewer and fewer people. Dustin and I hung out with Rhiannon and Rey for awhile laughing at all kinds of things before we were told to go outside for a sparkler send off. The sparklers were practically as tall as I was and kind of scary. But also fun in a dangerous kind of way. Afterwards as everyone was saying their goodbyes Dustin and I stood talking to Pat's mom. She reminisced about their high school days and how they'd lug their instruments back and forth from house to house. It's always interesting to hear the same stories told from a different perspective. He told her how he and Pat first met which was apparently a story she had never heard. Oh how time goes by. And look where we've all ended up! We're not only still a part of each other's lives but now we're woven together even more. 

This was part of the speech I never gave...

I've obviously been friends with Pat and Sam during their single days, and I've been around during their wild dating days, but I can honestly say I've never seen either of them as happy and 100% themselves as when they are together. 

It's straight out of a fairytale or at least a romantic comedy with a happy ending that one of my best friends married my husband's best friend. And it has been our honor to not only be the ones who helped introduce the two of you but to be apart of your lives, your engagement, and your future as you two have been for us.