The Girl Palace takes to the road

Spa Pedi with Wimmy and Megan and Taylor=$32
Dinner at Zaxby's=$8
Riding in the car with the girl palace=anxiety, laughter, sarcasm and ridiculousness
Seeing Lulie Martin become Lulie Wallace with people I love=Priceless

The last 4 days have been a complete whirlwind/emotional roller coaster/complete and utter delight. That about sums it up for me. It started on Thursday. Megan, Wim and I headed to the nail place to get dolled up for the big day. It took a bit longer than expected and we grew weary and faint from lack of food, so we did what any normal people do before embarking on a road trip. We made haste and headed straight for Andolinis. It's our #1 fall back choice. We finished our glorious lunch and headed home to pack up bc we were supposed to leave at 1pm and it was now 2pm. I wasn't quite sure what to bring so I just put my entire wardrobe in my hanging bag and called it a day. Ask Megan. It's true. I packed everything I own. We loaded up Megan's space ship car and headed down the driveway. We pulled out, put it in drive and then almost wet our pants. The spaceship broke. literally right in front of the house. We eased her back up the driveway and loaded up Wimmy's car. Then we were on our way.

We started out a bit rocky (anxiety/silence/IDK) but we were soon on happy trails. Now that I think about it, I think it is the first time the 3 of us have been on a road trip with just the three. I love it. I have come to a brilliant conclusion. The 3 of us are completely different from each other. In a good way. We each have a completely different personality. I think it is why I love them so much. Meg and Wim-In case I never mentioned this before-I love you longtime. Ok so now back to the trip. We stopped at lovely Zaxby's for supper. Finally after 6 hours in the car we made it to the sprawling city of Columbus. We pulled up to the Martins house and immediately felt so good to be there. I LOVE THE MARTINS. Good people. We went inside and said our hellos. Then our goodbyes because Lulie was taking us to the river. Now I was thinking a little shanty by some water when imagining the river. WRONG. It was a glorious cottage on the river. I kid you not. It is exactly what I would want my house to be like. You can check out the pics below. It was truly beautiful. A little piece of heaven if you will. We sat around with our drinks of choice and chatted into the wee hours of the night. Could possibly be one of my favorite times with us four. (I could possibly be tearing up right now, and by possibly I mean I definitely am..) Then we went to our respective rooms, which were off the chain. We woke up and headed back to the Martins to change and get ready for the bridesmaid's lunch. All I can say about that is-Ham BIscuits. Awesome Ham Biscuits.

Let us move on to the rehearsal dinner. It was at the Big Eddy. It was glorious. The girl palace and Chris got to sit with some of Lulie's best friends whom I truly love. For example. Sally Varner. You are a rock star. Move to Charleston. We will take care of it. There is a spot for you in the Girl Palace....Anyways we ate delicious food, drank too many delicious drinks, watched a slideshow and then gave our toasts. Fun times. Then we headed out to the after party. This is where I had emotional overlaod. A good many of our dear friends from Charleston and other distant lands were at the party. Seriously I think my heart felt so good to see everyone. I only wish we had more time to hang out. So at about 1230 am Megan and I headed up to our room only to find that we couldn't get in. The batteries in our door lock died. We sat in the hall for about an hour in our dresses while the sweet security guard tried to break in. By the end our drinks had worn off and we became slightly frustrated. Didn't they know that Carol Hannah's dresses were in there?? And my jewels?....They threatened to put us in another room and we would have to sleep in our clothes. Aint Happenin... Finally the sweet man got us into our room at about 1 35 am. We instantaniously fell asleep once in the room. We woke up in the morning and headed to the out of town guest lunch. After that I headed out with Lulie's sweet friends. They truly are awesome. I love them. They took me to Smokey Pig. Columbus' hot spot.

We headed back to get ready for the next event. THE WEDDING!! I got there early. If you didn't know, I got to be the reader. Glorious position if you ask me. Less pressure, no dress and you get a microphone. It's a win-win. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. Lulie was stunning. I cried through the entire thing. I got to read scripture from Ephesians 3. I don't think I have ever been that nervous. Luckily I didn't bawl through it. After the wedding we headed to the reception.

This is where all the magic happened. It was at the River Mill. An awesome old building that has been renovated. Let's start with the food. Sweet potato fries, venison, tempura lobster galore, shrimp, tempura shrooms, risotto bar, asian spring rolls, goat cheese, asparagus, funnel cakes, creme brule, fried strawberries, truffles, 3 wedding cakes and cupcakes. It was amazing. I am leaving out others too. Then there was a photo booth. That needs no explanation. The the bar. Also no explanation needed. The dance floor. It was on like donkey kong..The band was awesome. We danced the entire time. This is what was so fun. Usually I don't like out of town weddings as much bc you don't know a lot of people and what not. Lulie's friends were awesome. (Carter, Molly, Carrie Beth, Erin...we love yall 100%) We fit right in. I danced until my feet were falling off. Me and Melinda tore up the dance floor. Then after many lobsters, drinks and dancing, Lulie and Harrison said farewell and the rest was history.

All in all it was an awesome weekend. One of the most exciting and sweet times ever. Lulie I am sad to see you leave the Girl Palace, but we are so excited you are staying in Charleston. To the Girl Palace-I love you. All. At the same time.

That being said, Betty Bridesmaid is on full force. She is also on the wagon for a while....So I will probably be less fun, but a girls got to do what a girls got to do. All in the name of bridesmaidenship....
Cheers to an awesome weekend with awesome people,
Betty Bridesmaid

(Megan worried about Carol Hannah's dress.....ha)