New Year's Wedding Weekend: Part 1

Well, the final Fab Five wedding is in the books, y'all! (The Fab Five = my four best friends + me). Lauren and Caleb got hitched on a beautiful New Year's Day in St. Augustine, FL, and Kyle and I were SO honored to be a part of their special day. Before I get too ahead of myself though, let's rewind back to when the wedding festivities technically began, back in November.

After Ashley's baby shower, we took Lauren out for a little bachelorette party in downtown Athens. We dressed her up in her bachelorette paraphernalia and headed to the Classic City, where we started the evening off with some Sangria and tapas at Casa Mia. Athens was an especially fun place to be that night since it was the Saturday UGA beat Kentucky and won the SEC East!

Fast forward from there to December 30, Kyle and I were caravaning down to St. Augustine with Matt and Jenny, and we made it there in time to settle in to our hotel room and grab a quick lunch before Lauren's lingerie shower at 3. They had the lingerie shower at The Floridian in downtown St. Augustine between their lunch and dinner hours, when the restaurant was pretty much empty. It was the cutest little restaurant with very eclectic decor, I think my favorite part was the argyle-painted floor, which you can kinda see in the pictures below.

And no lingerie shower would be complete without a toilet-paper lingerie competition, which was quite hilarious. Lauren's team even went so far as to make her some toilet-paper handcuffs. Gotta have those! ;)

December 30 was also Lauren's 24th birthday, so at the end of the shower they surprised her with some birthday cupcakes. Yum!

The next day was New Year's Eve, of course, and we had a full schedule with the bridesmaids brunch and then the rehearsal dinner. A family friend of Caleb's hosted the brunch at Sara's Crepe Cafe, which was also in downtown St. Augustine. Unfortunately Jenny was feeling under the weather that morning so she couldn't come, so Megan and I were the only honorary bridesmaids at the brunch.

The host, Reina, had such sweet words of wisdom for Lauren about her and Caleb's marriage that would begin the next day. :)
After eating our fill of banana Nutella crepes, we went outside for a few pictures.
Me, Lauren, and Megan. I love how we coordinate with our different shades of purple!
The Bailie ladies! Lauren's sister, Johanna, Lauren, Lauren's Mom, Sallie, and Lauren's two sisters-in-law, Cynthia and Callie.

After the brunch we had time to kill before the rehearsal dinner, so what other choice is there besides throwing on your bathing suit and hitting the beach? None! It was an AMAZING 78 degrees that day and I just reveled in soaking up some much-needed sun. It made me keep thinking, man, I wish Kyle had accepted his offer to the University of St. Augustine for Physical Therapy School! But before I knew it, it was time to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, which was held at the beautiful Columbia Restaurant, also in downtown St. Augustine.

When we arrived, we found our table assignment, which was Novia, the Spanish word for bride. Very appropriate. :)
After a day of rest, Jenny was feeling well enough to come to the dinner (she's the one in the white sweater dress). We were still missing Ashley, who was not able to make the trek from Tennessee to Florida for the wedding being seven months pregnant. She was dearly, dearly missed!

After eating our feast of Filet Mignon and Seafood Paella, and giving some very tearful toasts, we lingered a little bit to get some couples photos (and a shot of the dudes!).
I love all the people in this photo so very much! From there we all went to the beach house Lauren's family rented for the week and rang in the new year with some bubbly and sparklers on the beach! It was the perfect beginning to the new year. :)

Up next, Lauren & Caleb's wedding day! I hope everyone has a great weekend!