This last weekend (9.21-23.18) was my sweet friend Kendyl’s Bachelorette Party and let me just say there were a lot of photos taken and I am so excited to share them with you!
To be honest, I am the newest friend of this group – 2 of them are family (sister + sister-in-law) and 4 of them are friends from college – so these girls have been best friends for years, and then there’s me who has only known Kendyl for a year. I’ll be honest and say I expected to be on the outs but the other bridesmaids were so sweet and made me feel welcomed right away and by the end of the trip, we called each other friends 😊
We made a weekend trip to Mexico Beach in Florida happen because Kendyl absolutely loves the beach. It was a 5 hour drive from where I live but thankfully I was able to take a half day at work and carpool with the bride + some of her bridesmaids.
Our drive was full of talking about a variety of topics, a couple bathroom breaks at ghetto gas stations and we even witnessed a high-speed chase on the freeway (we saw at least 15 cop cars pass us. It was insane and we did eventually see the car in a ditch surrounded by police. We later read on the news website that the suspect was in custody and drugs / alcohol were involved).
When we arrived, two of the bridesmaids were already there and had set up the condo + ordered pizza. Hungry, we ate a couple slices and then went down to get our things. The remainder of the night was spent watching FRIENDS and playing games.
The next morning was a slow one, which this mama fully took advantage of. It started with some personal Bible reading and then we all decided to start getting ready to hit the beach.
We walked down to the beach (which wasn’t far because our condo was directly on the beach) and as they laid down their towels and sat down, I asked, “so is this all you do at the beach? Just sit there?” they looked at me perplexed and said, “yyyeesss…. Have you ever been to the beach before?” “Not really, this is only my 3rd time.” The girls giggled at my “cuteness / innocence” because I played with the sand, wanted to look for cool shells (which a couple of the bridesmaids joined me in) and built a sandcastle (with my hands because we didn’t have any kid buckets haha). They also taught me how to make a drip castle.
By mid-afternoon, it started pouring rain so everyone went back to the condo and took turns showering and hanging out before we got ready for the evening. “Hanging out” = college football, snacks and a nap for me and Kendyl.
At around 5:30pm, we started getting ready for our evening out…
…which totally included a photo shoot on the beach 😀
We listened to a lot of The Greatest Showman soundtrack, they taught me how to do “beach life,” we sang karaoke (I’ll stick with singing in my car alone, thank you 😜), ate good food, laughed a lot, talked even more, and celebrated a very special lady! Loved this weekend. Love these girls!
Our first stop was dinner at a classic beach restaurant. We confirmed some wedding plans (like when we needed to show up and where we were getting ready), reminisced about the day, and ate delicious food.
Kendyl expressed her thankfulness for her group of friends and that she loved how we all got along vs. bridesmaids who can’t stand each other. “You have some really good friends Kendyl!” her older sister, Kayla, affirmed. “I know,” Kendyl said with a smile. “Ugh, I need a hug!” and she looked at me and said, “Sarah! Can I have a hug?” giggling, I gladly agreed and gave my dear friend a tight hug!
We were out late celebrating the bride and got back to the condo exhausted and ready for bed – but not before one (or two 😝 ) last group photo was taken.
I got up early the next morning because I wanted to watch the sunrise by the ocean, but was disappointed when I found a group of clouds blocking my view from seeing such a glorious event. So I did my Bible reading for the morning and then decided to take a walk on the beach. I could totally get used to this everyday haha
I got up early to watch the sunrise, but was a little disappointed when it was hiding behind the clouds… so I took a walk on the beach instead and it was one of my favorite things about this trip. 🌊
I came back to most of the girls awake and talking about what needed to be done before we left. We decided to get a head start and packed and cleaned up pretty quickly.
We were loaded in the cars sooner than expected, so we grabbed some breakfast before we embarked on our long drive. Kendyl chose Waffle House, and again the girls were shocked I had only been here once before (fun fact:: my first time to Waffle House was the same morning I found out I was pregnant with Rylie).
After breakfast, we said “see you in 2 weeks” to a couple of the bridesmaids and the 5 of us piled into Kayla’s car and started the long trip back to Birmingham.
Overall, it was a great trip and Kendyl said multiple times how much she enjoyed it and the special memories she now has of the occasion.
I thanked Kendyl a few different times for allowing me to be apart of such a special time in her life, and after a such a great weekend celebrating her, making new friends and resting my soul, I’m sitting here back in my “normal life” knowing I picked a good human to be friends with! Haha 🙂