An Inspired Bride: Bridesmaid and...bros-maid?

Tax season is over, I'm alive and have rejoined society. And I'm also happy to report...

My wedding party is officially complete!

Boom.

When I was thinking about who to ask to stand up for me on my wedding day, I really gave it some thought because it was important to me that each person was standing up there for a specific reason. Sure, it would have been very easy to choose my four closest girlfriends, but to me, these positions at the head table are a little more symbolic. What have been the biggest things in my life that have shaped me into the person I am today? I believe that in order to find the person that you’re going to marry, you have to first find yourself. So I wanted to honor the people who have been beside me while I figured that out, and eventually became the person who turned out to be “the one” for Eric.

So apparently, you have to go through your “drunk girl in a cowboy hat” phase before you can get married...

Tara is my oldest friend, and we have been engaging in shenanigans since the 7^th grade, so that one is a no-brainer. She was by my side all through my awkward junior high years and by the time we got to high school we were inseparable. No, literally inseparable. When she moved out of Transcona and into a different school division before grade 11, getting through the last of high school without my bestie was not an option. So off to Miles Mac I went, spending 45 minutes on the bus every morning instead of attending TCI which was a 4 minute walk from my house. It turned out to be one of the best years of our lives, which included forming our all-girl singing group “XPression”. Man we were so cool.

When I finished high school, I took a 4 year break before I went back to post secondary. I was only 15 when I finished grade 12, I couldn’t get into any university or college programs because I was too young, and what was supposed to be a short hiatus turned into a long one. I worked full time at the Wal-Mart Photo Lab (with Tara...of course) turned 18 and started partying and having fun. It was all very PG, of course....it was at this time that boy bands like Backstreet Boys and NSync were reaching the height of their popularity, and I was no different than any other obsessed fangirl out there. So we went to endless concerts screaming and wooing and danced at the bar until the wee hours of the morning and it was around this time in my late teens and early 20’s that Melissa and I started to become really good friends, and have stayed friends since! Good times with that girl....gooooooood times.

Ladies, I have found your dresses!

You can already read all about Tara and Melissa being my bridesmaids here – so without further adieu here are my other two peeps!

Anyone who knows me knows that dance is a huge part of my life. I started my career in the basement of a church in Longlac, Ontario and my first ever recital piece was to “Like A Prayer” by Madonna – I wore a white bodysuit and angel wings and the first part of the dance was 16 plies in ballet first position under a black light – this was cool in the late 80s okay? I don’t have a problem saying it – I totally sucked when I first started. I started at DBSD when we moved to Winnipeg and I was 9, and compared to the 9 year olds I teach now, it’s preeeeeetty embarrassing. But I gradually got to a point where I wasn’t terrible, moved into a variety of disciplines and eventually became a teacher. Now I’m way past the point of wearing spandex unitards (thankfully) and right into teaching and choreographing some pretty boss dancers. I was given my very first class in 1999 when I was 15, and in it was an adorable little 4 year old named Jessica. She was very shy and quiet (which is shocking if you know her now) and had a natural talent for dance that I could see right away, even all the way back then. Jessica has been with me my entire teaching career, from my first routine when I put her out on stage in the sparkly silver bodysuit and tutu and she tapped to “Do You Believe In Magic?” and countless routines since. She’s been in every single one of my favorites: Car Wash, Kansas City, Dancin’ Fool, O Fortuna, Technologic, Soul Surfing, Money, Night At The Savoy, Rhythm of the Pridelands, Funhouse, Moses Supposes, Crapshooter’s Dance, Garden of Eden, Without You, Money again at the World Championships, Trapped, Military....the list goes on! I’ve been able to put some seriously facemelting rhythms in this girl’s solos, and while we might have a few minor freakouts in rehearsal (“I don’t think I can DOOOOO that again!!!!”) she always nails it. Dance has definitely shaped me into the person that I am today, and Jessica is the perfect representation of all of the work that I have put in over the years and all the great memories that I have of my teaching career. She is like the little sister I never had, so I’m glad she agreed to stand up for me at my wedding. Awe. Okay I’m done being mushy now!

I taught her that you aren't gangster unless you wear one pant leg up.

At the World Tap Championships on Team Canada! My first time as a choreographer at Worlds with one of my favorite routines ever.

Oh, the things I have made this girl wear....

I think she is in there somewhere but I legit can't tell. Someone help me out.

One of my favorite pics of Jessica, in Night at the Savoy.

And now she's one of my cheerleaders! Which makes me want to dress them in turtlenecks instead of halter tops.

The other road that has led me to where I am today is my education. After I was done my 4 year hiatus I went back to school to get a business degree. I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do, but I figured Business Administration at Red River would be a good start. It was there that I met my good buddy Graeme. College was a blast, and then went off to the Asper School, got our accounting majors, went through the CA program, and even articled at the same CA firm for a while. Grambo is one of my BFFs, and he’s been there with me through most of my 7 years of actually becoming a CA and 5 years of being one. This might come as a shock to some, but I was a little....high strung....about school. This guy calmed me down from more exam freakouts than I care to admit, and even supported me when I faked being sick to get out a Quantitative Methods final that I felt I wasn’t going to get an A+ on and helped me study for the supp so that I did get an A+. I have to admit I was a little nervous asking Graeme to be in my wedding party, because it is pretty unconventional and I didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable or like people were going to be looking at him weird or anything. But in true Graeme fashion, he was all for it! And then he called himself a “bros-maid”, which made me laugh!