Saturday was my good friends Cameron and Leah’s wedding!

They both looked so amazing. I am going to do a full recap, but I want to wait until I have some more pictures (I am hoping to steal some from FBeezy).

In the meantime, I have a story for you.

I was a bridesmaid in the wedding, and my groomsman/partner-in-crime for the day was Woody, a good friend of Cam’s who I have definitely mentioned before.

I was really excited to be paired with Woody because he is tall and sturdy, and I am quite tall as well, so I wouldn’t have to worry about looking like a sasquatch in heels next to my groomsman. Or stumbling down the aisle.

Woody and I were talking after the ceremony about our entrance into the reception tent when the wedding party is announced, and obviously we wanted to do something funny and memorable. I suggested piggybacking, and Woody was immediately down and was all “I’ll totally piggyback you!”

But I said no. Not what I meant. I had something else in mind.

Woody was skeptical. He is 6’4″ and about 260lbs, so not exactly light or aerodynamic. He expressed his doubts, but I was firm. Yeah, it would be kind of funny if he piggybacked me in as we were being announced, but it would be WAY more funny if I piggybacked him. I was already picturing our grand entrance.

But we needed to make sure it was going to work. So we practiced.

And all was well! I was able to channel my inner ant and piggyback his heavy ass. We decided I would piggyback him for about 10 feet or so into the tent, and then he would jump off, walk in front of me, and throw my bouquet back to me. Easy-peasy! And catching the bouquet was honestly my biggest worry leading up to the piggybacking event. I thought it would be pretty embarrassing if I missed.

I wish that’s all that happened, let me tell ya.

The bridal party lined up in front of the entrance to the tent, and Woody and I waited our turn. The groom’s sister Jessica and friend Steve were called ahead of us, and Woody and I watched as they entered the tent and danced around. They were entertaining, for sure, but I knew our piggyback would trump them (sorry guys, just sayin’).

And then it was our turn. We walked together to the entrance of the tent, and when the DJ announced our names, I leaned over in front of Woody and prepared for him to gently ease himself onto my back. I had my game face on.

The eyes of 120 guests were on us. Woody jumped onto my back, and for about two seconds, all was well.

People cheered. I felt proud.

And then I am not exactly sure what happened.

The piggyback did not go exactly as planned, and that is an understatement and a half… We were on a bit of a slope, and I think that combined with excitement and adrenaline caused Woody to jump onto my back with a bit more force than I was expecting. The momentum caused me to lurch forward, so I stepped in my heels onto the uneven cobblestone in front of me.

I made it about two steps into the tent, and then I face-planted.

And Woody landed directly on top of me.

My right knee took the brunt of the fall, but I did still manage to smash my face off the cobblestones.

Woody was horrified. He immediately jumped off my back and helped me to my feet. I was bleeding profusely from my knee, and a little bit from my face. I think I was in shock, and my thoughts are fuzzy here, but I remember being disappointed that we had failed. I had not managed to piggyback him into the reception. And everyone was watching us.

So I immediately kicked off my heels, leaned over, and said:

But Woody wouldn’t. He stuck with our initial plan, and walked a few feet ahead of me so he could toss the bouquet back to me. He wound his arm back to get into proper throwing position.

But he didn’t see the server who was suddenly standing behind him, rushing to our attention to make sure I was okay, and…

He hit her with the bouquet square in the face.

And then he threw it to me. And I caught it! (that really would have been embarrassing if I missed, right?!)

Someone told me later that the server getting smashed in the face actually looked worse than my initial fall (I wasn’t really paying attention when it happened). Apparently she had a big welt on her forehead.

By this point, the guests were all dying laughing. I was even dying laughing, and could not stop for about half an hour.

Woody and I made our way to the head table, where a team of servers with a first aid kit immediately came over to fix me up.

I really scraped all the skin off my knee, and it took a while to stop bleeding…

But Woody and I did not let the incident stop us from having a good night!

(Please ignore the spilled drink on my dress. I had a bit of an accident while attempting to ease my pain.)

It was the best wedding entrance ever. We were practically famous!

And face-wise I was extremely lucky. I turned my face at the last second, so I only hit my cheek and my chin (which was a bit swollen). If I had hit my face straight on, I could have re-broken my nose, or possibly lost some teeth! I was also lucky that pictures were already done, and that those cuts were barely noticeable that night. Though by Monday it looked like I got punched in the face. Someone in my work building actually asked me if I did get punched in the face…

The incident was also videotaped from two different angles. The DJ somehow got it on his iPhone from the videographer immediately, and has already asked me if I am okay if it’s on YouTube. So if does end up there, I’ll obviously show you guys. It’s pretty hilarious.

So just a lesson for you ladies. Don’t attempt to piggyback anyone who is 6’4″, 260lbs. It may not work out…

Edit: Here’s the video! They didn’t quite catch the server getting hit in the face with the bouquet, but otherwise it’s better than I could have imagined.



Edit again: Here is the video on Ellen 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwVQ1c1buO0

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