Melanie J. Pellowski - My Dearest Bridesmaid: A Heartfelt Keepsake from the Bride in Your Life

Please note that this book was originally intended as a print edition. There are "fill in the blanks" or spots to include photographs that you won't be able to fill in on your e-reader. Use them as a guide or template for recording your own special moments on a separate medium.

Copyright 2018 by Melanie J. Pellowski

Illustrations copyright 2018 by Melanie J. Pellowski

Photographs copyright 2018 by Gary Flom Photography

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Jenny Zemanek

Cover illustration by iStock photo

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-2684-0

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2685-7

To the Pellowski and LaPlaca families for helping me down the aisle.
To my parents especially, for guiding me long before that and ever after, and to Nick,
for making a fairy tale wedding the introduction to the rest of our love story as husband and wife.

Something old,

Something new,

Something borrowed,

Something blue,

And a silver sixpence in her shoe

This old English rhyme with curious origins is still respected today as most brides abide by the well-known tradition with a smile and a certainty. After all, the items listed in this classic wedding saying are the go-to good luck itinerary for the bride on her big day. Its kind of a slogan and definitely a superstition. Once a bride tackles each piece of the poem and sets out on her wedding day with bridesmaid bodyguards and some bubbly to boot, her heart will be full of gratitude. Let this book guide you through these next few months and remind you in the years to comeyou are appreciated, bridesmaid. You are loved and saluted for all you have done to earn this role. Your loyalty and friendship has been a priceless gift, and your involvement now is even more proof of your status as the ultimate friend.

This isnt some lame group of childhood rejects thrown together with little thought. You and the other bridesmaids are the brides dream team, and you each have an important role to play on the field. Bridesmaids serve as great reminders of whats truly important. The history that true friends share should offer evidence (hopefully not in online photos) that its okay if everything doesnt always go as planned. Every time you feel frustrated or misunderstood, try to keep in mind why you even decided to sign up for this nonsense. Maybe there are some rules to manning this bridesmaid ship, but arent the best memories made when friends find innocent ways to stretch the rule book? Keep this process fun and keep it right for you and the bride. So long as the bride has the best of intentions, she should follow her heart. After all, thats what got her here. You should know, bridesmaid, thats what got you here, too. Let the unique past you share with the bride be your compass to navigating your every move going forward.

You are my truest friend, most loyal sister, and perhaps even oldest partner in crime. Not old in age, but in wisdom and connection, in the most vibrant way possible. You know me. You speak only of my proudest moments while harboring my most embarrassing times. Thats why I hold our friendship dear, after countless good times and bad ones that became better because you were there. Remember that one awful time I did that one terrible thing and wanted to leave the country for fear of embarrassment? You know the one I mean. You would have taken a spontaneous road trip with me, across the bottom of the ocean, if you thought it would have brightened my spirits.

We drank them instead. Thanks for only speaking of that memory out loud to share a laugh with me, once I was ready to finally laugh about it. Thanks for also never sharing those questionable actions with my future husband. You make my good side shine, a testament of a true girlfriend.

Lets celebrate it together, again, because Im a lucky girl thats finally on her way down the aisle. Not the candy aisle, or the ice cream aisle, or the liquor aisle as per usual. Im talking about a most important path that leads to a happy ending, and I need you there. You should know why, but if you dont, let these words of our friendship serve as a reminder. After all, our times together have been all sorts of happy, sad, funny, sometimes dangerous and stupid but always entertaining and memorable. Maybe some of those times left us grounded as kids. Now, I need you to keep me grounded as I suit up in a dress we have all dreamt about wearing. This also means laughing with me when I inevitably drip red wine down the front of the pristine thing once my big day is finally here. Sprinkle some club soda on it, like our mothers would always say, always with a sparkle in their smiles.

As women, we have all worn sparkly tiaras at one point or another in our single lives. We all hold countless sweet sixteen memories as proof. Now, I have an ever important, everlasting sparkle on the band of a special finger. I dont mean the middle one that gets me into trouble when Im angry. I mean the one next to that one. Its the one with a promise banded by love. Once a lonely ring finger, its now covered with a symbol of perpetual love and happiness. That gem is a precious accent of protection. It is the armor we once lied about having so that unwanted creeps would leave us alone. Its a little light that says, This little girls heart is taken. She has found her prince. Which, in token, has left me with a royal feeling of wanting to share my love with my court. And so, I have knighted you with a task granted to only the noblest of the noble in my own crazy little world, you know, the one where I will have enough money to one day afford a castle with a moat.

We have taken that adjective by storm in the past, have we not? Knowing everything you have done for me, and everything we have been through together, I am delighted, though not surprised of course, that you have agreed to enlist yourself to stand beside me on my latest journey. You are a warrior, but a fashionable one, except for that one outfit you wore to that one party. I still have that picture in a box for safekeeping, dont you worry. After everything else I have asked you to help me with before, Im not worried this time. This next adventure should be a piece of cake.