confessions from Tara: Just Get Me to the Church on Time

So, my very dear friend, Melissa Parker got married last weekend. It was a lovely wedding, just what one might have hoped for.
I've known Melissa for 20 years, we met in college. Don't do the math, if you don't mind.
Anyway, so, yes, Melissa and I met in college, in the Costume Shop, actually. If you follow my blog at all, you probably know that I'm a costume/seamstress/designer by trade. I majored in Costume Design and so did Melissa. We had the luck and blessing to attend college during a time when our program was strong and demanding. Because of the demanding parts of it, there was a tendency to bond strongly with those with whom we were in school. And because of this, there is a core group of us that remain friends to this day. We all knew each other in college and then roomed with one another in various configurations at one time or another.
As part of my career history, if you will, I've done a lot of work in bridal, which means that when one of my close friends gets married, I make the dress. The amusing thing about being at the reception and the fact that there were many friends there meant that there were several women whose dresses I had made!
So, we went to the reception, at the lovely Joseph Smith Building and it was delightful. I sat at a table with the aforementioned college friends and what a great time. I sort of felt bad for Melissa for having to sit at the head table and miss out on the hilariousness that was us. Because it was pretty hilarious. I did get told to calm it down and threatened to be taken out a few times because I kept collapsing into giggles. Which were made more obnoxious by the fact that I am currently plagued by asthma. What that means is that I would laugh, snort and then stop coughing. I'm classy like that.
During the reception, Melissa decided to open up the mic for people to say nice things if they wanted. She came over to our table to let us know that there would be an open mic if we were interested. We stared at her incredulously and then Ruth voiced what we were all thinking, which was "are you sure you want to inform us of that? It could be dangerous." And it was.
A lot of people got up during the eating to say nice, lovely things about Melissa and David, and they were all true, because Melissa and David are quite lovely people. So, we got the bright idea that we could lighten the mood a little. And, to quote Stephanie "This could be the best wedding memory ever, or an epic fail." Well, it was us, so there was little chance of an epic fail.
So, Stephanie and I got up and went to the mic. And I started by saying how wonderful Melissa is (she is), and how much she deserved to be happy (she does) and how pleased I was that David made her so happy (he does). Then Stephanie took over the mic for a minute to say a few things and I gestured to the remaining members of our table to join us at the mic. They all came up, I found some music on my phone, Ruth found lyrics and we sang Chicago's "You're the Inspiration" with harmony and plenty of soul. We ended to a round of raucous applause and huge smiles and a big group hug with Melissa. Best wedding moment ever.
There is video. I will post it as soon as I get my little paws on it. Because, kids, I don't do things like that very often. I am not a performer, and neither are most of the rest of the girls who sang, that's why we're backstage. (To be sure, Stephanie is an actor and a theatre performance professor, but the rest of us aren't).
So, to say the least, we made a memory!!!!
It had been a long time since all of us had gotten together, so seeing all of those girls and having us all in one place at one time, was pretty epic. We decided that it has to happen much more often, and we are currently planning a Vegas trip, since that's about halfway between the LA peeps and those of us here in Happy Valley.
So, here's some pics. We rocked it.