Do you remember when I said I’d finished writing about my 2012 United States adventures? Well, it turns out that was a big fat lie and my nose has since grown several centimetres.

Image courtesy of Stephen Melvin

You see, I hadn’t yet written about the event that was the initial springboard for this overseas adventure of mine: my linguist soulsister Amber’s wedding to the wonderful Matt. When Amber first told me about her engagement and said she planned to invite me to the wedding, I don’t think she expected me to quit my job in Australia, apply for a two-year Canadian working visa, and then show up on her doorstep with my suitcase two days before the ceremony.

Be careful what you wish for, eh?

Amber has already extensively covered her gorgeous and unique wedding on her own blog (see here), so I’ll keep my gushing to a minimum and instead show you a little of the magic from my eyes. Here we go!

Image courtesy of Stephen Melvin

After a morning of hair appointments, juice drinking, make-up wizardry, and gasps of awe over the dress, Amber, Matt, and a collection of lucky friends spent the afternoon before the wedding taking official wedding photos.

I fully believe that every bride should receive a foot massage whilst drinking a delicious beverage before her wedding. Being a model is hard yakka, after all.

Image courtesy of Stephen Melvin

As the appointed marriage hour drew near, we ladyfolk accompanied Amber to the venue, soon vying for opportunities to get photos taken with our gorgeous bat-adorned queen.

Please ignore me in the above photo and instead cast your eyes upon:

1) One of the greatest photobombs of all time, courtesy of Emily behind me (love it!)
2) The fact that there is an honest-to-goodness ray of sunshine falling on Amber. She’s literally bathed in light (love it!)

Definitely check out Amber’s wedding ceremony post, because if I think too much about the written vows (which are a secret shared by we who attended), I’ll need to fix my mascara again. However, I will point out that Amber and Matt made and shared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to symbolise their union. It was awesome.

Do you want to know what else was awesome? The food. Oh my heavens, the food. All gluten-free and vegan, the menu comprised not only the best wedding food I’ve ever had, but the best group event food I’ve ever had.

The buffet included such delights as fresh fruit cups and kebabs with vanilla-mint syrup, raw Caesar salad with avocado dressing and Brazil nut parmesan, spaghetti with pesto, white beans, and broccoli, Indian chickpea curry with roasted cauliflower, roasted baby potatoes, and much hummus. Because that’s how food bloggers roll. Woot!

And then, of course, there was the wedding cake. Cake and a veritable mountain of cupcakes, all gluten-free, all vegan, all delicious. While most guests had to choose between the chocolate cupcakes with raspberry jam filling and mocha buttercream frosting and the vanilla-chocolate chip cupcakes with peanut butter filling and cookie dough buttercream frosting, I got to eat many of each over the course of my visit.

The rest of the night passed in a whirlwind of music, carrying my heels (glitter is pain, dahlinks), new friends, laughter, snatching moments with the bride and groom, steadfastly trying not to be in the path of the kale bouquet during the bouquet toss, and feeling utterly elated for the happiness of my shining Amber and the brilliant Matt.

Thank you, Amber and Matt, for allowing me to celebrate with you. I am grateful in so many, many ways.