Bridesmaid #1.

Highlights:

• Signing the certificates and books for my oldest friend's wedding. That felt significant.
• Being reminded of heaven. This time, in the light of Piper's Joy Theory, how much everyone enjoys making a fuss of the B&G. It's not as fun without the fuss. That's why you organise weddings.
• I had a big bedroom all to myself.
• My shiny fingernails.
• Watching the photographers work. We were all relaxed and normal till they came, and then it was a bit "come over here and play with Cara's dress—laugh like it's fun". Weird, but interesting. Wonder how the photos turn out.
• The food at the reception was AMAZING. Gourmet spit roast with veggies, 5 stars. Delicious.
• The cafe I had breakfast in on Sunday morning with the other bridesmaid and the bride's brother was great. Outside the Square on Market Street. Had a quiet but trendy crowd, the sort of people who wear hats as accessories not necessities. Bacon and eggs on toast were $12 plus $2 per extra thing which I thought was a good way of charging. The bathroom had a basket of clean facewashers to dry your hands on, and you drop your damp one in a hamper to be washed and reused. So I'd go there again.

Lowlights.

• A couple of nights of bad sleep. I was a bit stressed and hyped, going straight from work deadlines to the wedding. Friday night, I fell asleep quickly and then woke up at 2am and buzzed for 2 hours. Saturday night I finally slept like a log.
• The weather on Saturday. It was cold. And wet. And muddy. And some of us were not dressed for that. I looked exactly like those dopey women at Randwick Races, goosebumps on my bare arms and heels sinking into the mud. All emergency supplies and flat footwear for the afternoon were locked in the wrong car. But we survived, had fun and brushed the mud off.

Final impressions:

• Weddings are important, not just marriage. When I rang my mum to vent to her, she shared the news that one of my cousins just got married and told his parents afterwards. That kind of robs people of something. But it's a funny story.
• Want to go back to Mudgee, it looked nice through the rain. Haven't had a holiday in a long time.