"A noble and beautiful woman - your bride. " ~ Jane Eyre

Sunday afternoon was lovely; it was the kickoff to my best friend's wedding.

Since I am the "fourth sibling" in J.Sarah's clan, I attended a small gathering for the parents of J.Sarah and her fiance E. to meet for the first time at J. Sarah's parents' home. The siblings of both J.Sarah and E. were there, and that included moi. J. Sarah and I have been best friends for almost twenty years, and her parents have been my second set of parentals for a good ten years of the twenty.

The afternoon was a perfect gathering in the yard, complete with a Mediterranean style menu that J. Sarah's mom could only make: grilled lamb, hummus, babaganoush, tzatziki, tarmisilata, greek salad...the list goes on. Desserts were amazing, including J. Sarah's brother's "Baklava Cheesecake." He gave me the recipe, and no, I refuse to give it to anyone. I am convinced he could make a killing on these cheesecakes in communities like my Armenian community. I am going to give it a try in two days...hopefully I can make it as delicious as his was.

The best part of the gathering was the people. E's parents are awesome. It was nice to be with the families and toast the newly engaged couple.

J. Sarah and E. became engaged a little over a month ago, and since then J.Sarah has not been Bridezilla. I, however, have become Bridesmaidzilla, aka BMZ in J.Sarah's vernacular. The bet we have going is that she is going to be so sick of me talking about her wedding come the fall, that dinner will be on here somewhere en la cite du New York.

Last Monday J. Sarah came out to the Island and we spent the afternoon together. I BBQed chicken for us, grilled zucchini, made potato salad, and opened up a bottle of our favorite white wine, Channing Daughters Scuttlehole Chardonnay, which will be the white wine of the wedding next July.

We sat in my yard, glasses of wine in hand, and perused Martha Stewart Wedding magazines together, gathering ideas and discussing concepts and designs. Most of the conversation was about centerpieces, which excites me to no end since J.Sarah doesnt want a florist. She also told me she thinks I should wear green as her maid of honor. I love the color. Multiple styles shall be posted forthcoming; everyone gets to vote on the style!

She and I discussed the date for her non-traditional bridal shower that I am so very excited about. She didnt want a bridal shower at all, but I came up with an idea she liked. Instead of women coming with gifts, have them come with a dish and a recipe card to put in a Newlywed Cookbook for J. Sarah and E.! Of course I am going to give her the cake (or cupcakes) for that day. I won't have time to bake them myself, since I will be busy coordinating it, but I am sure she will love who made dessert.

Last month I posted that my dream job would be a wedding coordinator. Well, now here is my chance! I already plan on being the first one at the site of the wedding making sure that everything is in order. The numbers of each business involved will be on my cell phone, and I will wear that ear piece until the guests start to arrive just in case.

I plan on making friends with the caterer in advance so my bitchiness that day will be excused when I am irate that there is a cracker that is cracked. In my former days as an assistant director of events, I learned how to talk sternly through my smiling teeth, and to say please with a side of extra bitch in the sweetness. Yes, I will have a folder under my clipboard that has a checklist. The folder will have all contracts on me just in case I get any lip back so I can "throw paper" in the person's face. My best friend's wedding will run perfectly smooth, or this 'zilla is going to roar.

She is the best, and therefore her wedding has to be the best.

I just hope that J. Sarah has me and E.'s best man make the toast at the beginning of the reception, because once I make sure every last flower petal is in place, its time to hit a bottle of Scuttlehole Chardonnay and dance the night away in my green dress...