Last Night of Freedom...Sort Of

The night before the wedding was all sorts of crazy.  Since our nail appointments ran late, I had to rush home afterward to meet Jeff.  I changed clothes and grabbed my overnight bag, and we were out the door before I could even register what was happening or say goodbye to the cat ('cause I'm crazy like that).

When we got to Jaymi's house it was already swarming with our families--Jeff's parents, sisters, and grandparents, and my...well, my everyone.  Because Jaymi is the only family I have in Southern California, everyone else had to travel to be here for the big day.  Grandparents, aunts and uncles, third cousins even...her house was absolutely full of our sometimes-crazy, always-awesome family.  Don't believe me?  Check out the evidence:

Jeff's mom, sister, dad, and grandparents

Jeff & me

My parents

My brother-in-law Mike and my Nana, with a whole crowd behind them

My grandpa, great-aunt, and grandma

About half of the group...the other half ducked out early.

Dinner was so much fun, but it was just a whirlwind of introductions, hysterical laughter, and old stories told for the zillionth time.  By the end of the night I was exhausted.  After the last guest had left and we had done our best to restore order to Jaymi's normally neat-and-tidy house, my parents, sister, and I left to spend the night at a hotel.  Jaymi was so sweet to stay with me so I wouldn't be alone the night before the wedding, even leaving her poor husband behind at home to finish cleaning up from the chaos my family inevitably creates wherever they go.

When we got to the hotel we were all worn out by the day's crazy schedule, so Jaymi and I said goodbye to our parents in the hotel lobby and headed up to our room.  What did our night-before festivities consist of, you might ask?  Well, we did amazingly fun things like ironing Jaymi's bridesmaid dress:

Doing our "beauty routines", which resulted in me temporarily looking like a swamp monster:

 And taking pictures of wedding rings because I was took excited to hold still:

Mostly, though, we just hung out:

(Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I blame the hotel room's bad "mood lighting".)

We read trashy celebrity magazines, and gossiped, and traded advice on everything from the best hair conditioner to the best recipe for chicken marsala (her recipe, hands-down).  It felt like we were in college again, and I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my last night as an unmarried girl.

Eventually, though, the fatigue from the hectic day set in.  Jaymi started nodding off.  I was so excited I thought I would never fall asleep but, surprisingly, as soon as the lights were out and my head was on the pillow I was out.  I slept better than I had in a long time, knowing that in just a few hours I would wake up to marry the love of my life.