Where we love weddings but hate hangovers

The photographers are putting up photos of the wedding! I’m excited and at the same time kind of mortified – I know they got some embarrassing shots of me dancing. Still – they did an amazing job, from what I saw at the wedding.

On to the last event – the after-party!
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The cast of characters! (I’ve taken Caroline, Amy and Erica off the list because they didn’t stick around for the after party).

BRIDAL PARTY
Jessica – the bride, whom I’ve known since 6th grade
Stephi – friend of the bride, my best friend
Annie – friend of the bride
Thuy – friend of the bride
Marianna – bridesmaid
Me (Hanna) – friend of the bride

The above girls and I have all known each other for at least 8 years; some of us have known each other for over 13.

Marisa – maid of honor; bride’s younger sister
Alexia – friend of the maid of honor

GROOM’S PARTY
Chris – the groom
Levi (aka D-Bag) – best man
Chase (aka Keebler) – groomsman
Greg (aka Gregasaurus) – friend of the groom
Creepy Nick – friend of the groom

The above guys are all frat brothers. That is a key fact – these guys are all frat boys.
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The original plan was to go to Club V20 in Long Beach – none of us had been there before, but Thuy really wanted to check it out. After I picked up the boys from the beach and returned to the hotel, the girls and I settled in for a quick nap and a change in attire. We had told the boys to meet us in the lobby at 9pm, since we needed to get to the club by 10pm in order to get in for free.

After changing into our party clothes, we got a phone call from Marianna asking us to help clear out the newlyweds’ bedroom, which Marianna and Marisa had been prepping. After dragging suitcases and shopping bags to our room, and after Marianna and Marisa elected to stay in their wedding clothes (Marisa didn’t have club wear with her), we trooped downstairs to the lobby, where we met Levi.

Levi and a couple of the girls went up to the guys’ room for some pre-gaming, while Annie, Stephi and I lingered in the lobby. We ran into the couple, who were getting some food and going to their room (they didn’t actually hang out with us either, since they had other things on their mind). The entire group came downstairs after a few minutes, at which point Levi informed us of a “minor” problem – Creepy Nick was only 20 years old (LOL – minor. Get it?).

Well none of us wanted to leave Nick by himself, so we looked up some 18+ clubs in the L.A. area. Most of the group went back to the hotel room, while a handful of us went to grab some grub – Steph, Annie, Levi, Chase, and myself, to be exact. What ensued was hilarity.

In Levi’s words, this is what happened when we rolled up to the drive-thru window:

Carl's Jr. Lady: hands us our food after dropping one cup
You: tries to hand her money for the food
Carl's Jr. Lady: waves hands frantically saying no no
You: "But we haven't paid for the food yet lady”
Carl's Jr. Lady: still waving her hands at us like a crack addict
Me: "Just go! Let’s get the hell outta here"

Basically – we got four combos for free. Best thing to happen to us all day long.
When we got back to the hotel, the rest of the party was well on its way to getting smashed. We all reached the conclusion that we’d rather hang out in the hotel rather than go out to a club, so that’s what we did. We all drank a little (even Annie took a sip of Levi’s hideously strong rum and coke) and some of us drank a LOT. At some point during the night, Chase became the Secret Shot Sergeant, Marianna shotgunned some beers with Nick, and Levi and Marisa also got exceedingly drunk.

We eventually had to move to our room, since Jeff and Whitney (a couple from Kansas that I hadn’t previously mentioned, since I never talked to them) needed to get some sleep. And back in our room, things only got crazier.

Marianna straddled and humped me at least three times. Chase fell onto a suitcase, then fell onto the floor trying to get off of it. Annie jumped on the bed, causing Greg to hit his head (let’s face it – he’s really tall). Nick tickled everybody. Marisa spooned. Stephi glomped. Levi and Alexia talked only with one another. At one point, Marianna, Annie, Marisa, and Chase were conducting Operations – Operation: Cookies; Operation: Break into a wedding party at the hotel; Operation: Booze. I LOL-ed (I was sober and they were ridiculous). At one point, Levi and Marisa got into an argument. And security eventually came to break the party up (of course I was the one to talk to them).

A group of them went to DelTaco, while Steph and I tried sleeping. A number of people trooped in and out of our room, though, and when Marianna and Marisa got back, we stayed up a little while longer to gossip with each other about the day’s events.

The next morning, we woke up rather reluctantly to get some breakfast. We thought it would be just the four of us dining with the couple, but when we got down to the lobby, all of the guys had made it downstairs. Some of them definitely looked worse for wear, but we all made it safely across the street to Denny’s. We rehashed some of the night’s events for the couple’s amusement as we ate.

After breakfast, Steph and I gathered our belongings and said good-bye to our roomies and to Chris and Jessica. We met Greg in the lobby – I’d offered him a ride to the airport – and made our way home. I took Greg to LAX, Stephi to Downey, and myself to San Diego.

Not long after I got home, I received a call from Levi inviting us down to the pool. Turns out we forgot to say good-bye to the rest of the boys. Whoops!

All in all, a fabulous wedding party!