Weddind Weekend Extravaganza!

Grayson and I headed down, along with all of his family, to Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-uh-tish) this weekend to help his cousin Carrell celebrate her wedding. We had been looking forward to this weekend for some time and it turned out exactly like we had hoped ... full of fun, family memories!

The weekend started off with a Wedding Eve Dinner Party at a delicious restaurant on Church Street. Merci Beaucoup served up some delicious foods that we all enjoyed. Below is our attempt at a group picture of just a few of the family and friends who attended. Katie (on the left) will soon be entering our family when she and Andrew get married in a few months. We are so excited about their wedding as well.

Friday night was my birthday, which was super fun. It felt like a fancy dinner party that I was allowed to pretend was a major birthday bash just for me. It was actually really thoughtful because after all the toasts to the bride & groom, I had a room of about 150 guests sing Happy Birthday to me. I felt really special and honored, even though they didn't need to put any focus on me since this weekend was all about Brad & Carrell.

In fact, during the day Grayson came up to Ruston to eat lunch with me and my co-workers. I really appreciated him taking the time to come eat with us and get to know my work family a little bit better. I got to wear a pink sombrero and had the wait staff sing to me. I'm not sure which I appreciated more?
Below are Grayson, Justin, his girlfriend Kristina and me. We have really enjoyed hanging out with them lately and are already looking forward to our dinner date nights that the guys have planned for our near future. Justin and Kristina both go to Tech and each live very close to us which has made this new friendship that much more fun!

To say that Allen family weddings are fun would be an understatement. There are always so many people, delicious food and there is always always something fun going on. This weekend was no different. After the Wedding Eve dinner, we all decided to see what Natchitoches had to offer and found a quaint little pub within walking distance. There was a great jazz band that was playing and we all just enjoyed relaxing and listening to the music.

And now that everyone is 21 it makes it much easier to plan our outings. Here are only a few of the friends/family that came with us. This was a great way to kick-off the weekend.

The next morning was the bridesmaid's brunch. Again, the food was delicious and the day could not have been any more beautiful. We had clear, sunny skies with a perfect breeze which made shopping that much easier. We had a blast walking along First Street shopping for lots of neat finds. We made sure to take a break for some coffee and sun bathing too.

Me and Madalyn enjoying the beautiful day! Later that evening we all got dressed up and walked next door to the church. Everything about this weekend was so easy, we never had to get in our car once. Everything was literally in walking distance. Natchitoches is definitely a place I will go back to one day soon.

We were finally able to get a photo of the entire Allen Family. It was so nice having everyone together for the weekend. With people either in school, living far away or working, it's rare that we can all be together at the same time. We definitely made sure to have a blast while we were together.

Below is a picture of all of the cousins (minus 1) with Brad & Carrell. With 16 grandkids, taking this picture has become a tradition at each wedding. It's so fun to see all of the cousins together. After the wedding, we walked over to the Prudhomme House which is a beautiful, two-story historic home in Natchitoches. The band was amazing, with 2-3 costume changes during the evening. We danced the night away, ate delicious food again and had a blast with each other. We spent yesterday recuperating from staying up way later than our bedtime (for two nights in a row) and talking about all the fun that we had and how anxious we are to do this all over again in June. We are excited for Brad & Carrell as they begin their new lives together and are thankful for the wonderful party they hosted for everyone this weekend!

I couldn't have asked for a better wedding weekend than to celebrate with friends and family at Carrell & Brad's wedding. It will definitely be a birthday that I won't forget!