Four states in three days, and that ain’t bad.

The saying goes, “what happens in Evansville, Indiana, STAYS in Evansville, Indiana,” and this is especially true when you are attending a wedding and reception in a casino.

Yes, this past Friday, Jazzy A, Foxy Sunshine and I took a road trip down south to attend the much-anticipated nuptials of college friends Allison and Mathew (spelled with only one T, a lesson I learned the hard way after I had already addressed their card in black ink).

In our down time, Foxy, Jazzy and I crossed the bridge into neighboring Kentucky in hopes of hitting up the county fair (this means that in the course of three days, I was in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, AND Kentucky. 4 states in 3 days! Now THAT’S living!). Unfortunately, the fair was an evening thing, so the girls and stopped for lunch (corndogs!!) at a Sonic Drive-In burger joint before heading home to get ready for the wedding.

As you might imagine, the nuptials were lovely. With a 7:30PM start time, this was to be an evening ceremony. The church was illuminated by candlelight with the last bits of light from the setting sun streaming through richly-colored stained glass windows. The bride wore an elegant champagne-colored gown and long flowing veil, the groom was dapper in his black tuxedo, and the wedding party looked wonderful in tuxedos and floor-length, chocolate-colored dresses.

After the ceremony, the newlyweds marched out of the church to songs from the original Starwars trilogy, a choice that surprised me until I glanced over and noticed an audience member had donned a Chewbacca mask. This, I later learned, was a tribute to the groom.

Next it was onto the Aztar Casino for drinks, dancing and warm appetizers.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend! I got to spend time with some of my dearest friends, and I was able to attend a really fun wedding, with lots of personal touches (see: Chewbacca mask).

The one down side was the total of 16 hours I spent in the car, because, as I can assure you, road trips are not my favorite thing. Here are some photos from the 12-hour portion of our drive that we spent in the winding, and ever-varied landscapes of Indiana:

Congratulations again to Allison and Mathew! And as I signed in your official wedding guest book, "May your lives together be filled with happy endings, and may you always live by a Super Target." Also, thanks again to Jazzy and Foxy for an unforgettable weekend of fun-can't wait to see you in Milwaukee in the upcoming weeks!