Last week was a matrimonial one, to say the least. Two of my friends got engaged (not to each other) and one (who we’ll call A) got married. I sobbed loudly while A exchanged her vows, hoping I wasn’t embarrassing my boyfriend to the point of discomfort, but to my great fortune, every other woman in the room was in a similar state. The couple whose nuptials we were witnessing had spent six years together, and many of us had seen their relationship evolve and grow, through smooth sailing and stormy. But that day, even guests who did not know A&D’s (her now-hubby) story were getting choked up and shedding the occasional tear of joy.

Wedding fever supposedly strikes every summer, but for whatever reason, this is the first year I’ve noticed it. My summer commenced with my best friend M’s marriage in New Jersey on Memorial Day weekend. I’m attending J’s bachelorette party this weekend, and after Labor Day, my band will play at J’s wedding here in Chicago. The following day I’ll be attending a “Bridal Beauty Day” with JF, and the following weekend, I’ll be trying on bridesmaid dresses for K’s wedding (May 2008). And I’ve already committed to contributing the ceremony music for JF’s wedding in October 2008.

Bridal showers, bachelorette parties, engagement parties, rehearsal dinners, weddings. Not to mention shopping for gifts, dresses, shoes to match the dresses, cards to go with the gifts; the creamy, sauce-covered, fried, frosted foods that’ll go straight to your hips; and the hotel rooms, flights, and four-hour drives that’ll clean you out for months. 

But when you sit in the pew or stand next to the alter at an actual wedding and watch love literally happening before your eyes, like we did at A&D’s ceremony, you forget all the exhausting work that goes into simply attending a wedding… until it’s your turn.