Wedding Wednesday: Wedding Coordinator

I am pretty blessed to have some AMAZING people in my life. My friend Laurie is one of those I feel especially blessed about.

Laurie and I knew of each other for two years before we actually met. She was dating my best guy friend  Adam for years, and I think we were both always curious about the other. Adam would gush about her and tell me about all their fun (and often impromptu) trips to Hawaii, Mexico, and Germany. I am sure she was thinking "Who is this Jenni girl that Adam is always taking about and has all these random memories with?" I once sent him a birthday card and wrote "Love you!" on it and he had to try to explain to her that we were only friends. He was not happy with me about that :-) I had always thought of Adam as my long-lost big brother, the guy I'd go to for everything from break up advice to moving across the country. He was the best guy friend I could have ever asked for.

Unfortunately, Laurie and I met under sad circumstances. Many of you know that Adam passed away almost two years ago now from a traumatic brain injury. I still remember the day Laurie called me to tell me what happened. We had never spoken to each other on the phone before or met so I knew something was wrong when she called. Fast forward a few weeks, and Laurie and I met as I stood by Adam's bedside in a hospital, sobbing my eyes out for my friend. If Laurie had any doubt that Adam was one of my best friends and nothing more, it was solidified at that time (it probably helped my cause that I brought Michael along).

I spent the next 7 months talking to Laurie weekly via phone, email and texts. I was lucky that, despite that I lived in Chicago, I was able to visit Adam 10 times in the hospital over that time period and get to know Laurie better. What I discovered quickly was a wonderful woman who loved my best friend very much, and would do anything for him.  My parents visited several times as well, sometimes without me, and they loved Laurie too. It was clear to me why Adam loved her so much, and how he always told me we would get along. We built a wonderful friendship over that sad time period in our lives, and I thank Adam for bringing us together.

Since we moved, Laurie and I get together every month or so for lunch or a drink. In December, just before Michael proposed, she and I were talking about the future and she offered to be our "day-of" coordinator when we got married. I tucked that little nugget away and after Michael did propose, it was a no-brainer for us to ask Laurie to serve in that special role for us. Not only does she have the experience (she was the wedding coordinator for a local establishment for years) but she also means a lot to us, and we wanted her to have a special role in our wedding day.

I am looking forward to having Laurie handle all the wedding vendors, little emergencies, and other things that come up on our wedding day, and know that someone I completely trust will be handling them. And I know Adam will be looking down at us that day, with his big Adam-like grin on his face.

45 days! I cannot believe it!