We were all up bright and early the next morning, around 7. Of course, this was earlier for me than for the rest of them, as I was the only one who wasn't already on Eastern time. To me, it felt like 6 (not that 7 wasn't pretty darned early after the late night). However, the hotel's continental breakfast helped wake me up. Donuts and danish can do wonders.

After we were all gussied up, we divided into two cars and drove in to downtown Harrisburg to the lovely old church. I really do love old church buildings. Modern churches don't look anywhere near as fine. In the church, we met some of the girls who hadn't been at the hotel the night before. There were more smiles and hugs.

The ceremony was both beautiful and brief. The groom was grinning from ear to ear and the bride was absolutely radiant. In a nice touch, there were two ministers performing the ceremony. The ministers from both the bride's and the groom's home churches shared the duties.

After the ceremony, we gathered outside the church to blow bubbles at the happy couple as the left the building. Fun and soapy.

Then we all headed out to Mechanicsburg for the brunch reception. It was held in a large tent on the grounds of a golf course. The day was mild and the colors were coming into the trees, making for a captivating setting. The food was absolutely scrumptious, though I got carded when I asked for a glass of wine at the bar! No one else got carded, as far as I could see. Not only did I have to go get my driver's license (glad I though to bring it) but he then quizzed me on the dates. What is it with me and getting carded at weddings? That is twice now. Everyone tells me that I should be flattered, but I find it more annoying than flattering. At 28, I much prefer it when people can tell that I am the age I claim to be.

There was a three-piece band playing cover tunes. Not a stellar group, but certainly serviceable. Our table sang along with a number of the tunes they played.

When the time came for the bride to throw the bouquet (there was no garter toss) I was the only single girl in the whole place to stand up. Eventually, the bandleader cajoled the rest of the table into joining me (though we were still the only ones). The others crowded around behind me, as though the bouquet was a grenade and I was a human shield. That didn't last long, as they were herded out into a reluctant semi-circle, and the most reluctant one of all was pulled up front. They didn't spin the bride around the way I've usually seen it done, and I think she was sort of aiming for Miss Reluctant. However, Miss R. dodged out of the way when the bouquet came flying, and everone else stepped back. It landed with a thud and an explosion of rose petals on the floor in front of me. When it was clear that no one else was going to go for it, I scooped it up. I can't really claim to have "caught" the bouquet, but I got to take it home. It is an elegant combination of read roses, some sort ofsolid ready berries (almost like rosehips, but not) and something that looks like mistletoe, though I'm not sure what it is.

The wedding cake was one of the most delicious that I've ever had. There were three layers, with white frosting. The bottom layer was chocolate with peanut butter filling, the middle was lemon with lemon filling, and the top was vanilla with vanilla filling. Very delectable.

As the reception wound down, we posed for group pictures with the group and the bride. Then we drifted back to the hotel to rest up over the afternoon.