Always a flower girl...

Growing up, I was a professional flower girl. Or at least I thought I was. 

I was bit by the wedding bug at only 2 1/2 when I was a flower girl in my cousin Kristen's wedding. Even as a toddler, I loved to party. I wasn't supposed to go to the reception, my parents had planned on dropping me off with a babysitter soon after the church. They tried to get me to go to sleep first by driving around, but I was not having it. I knew there was a party about to happen and I sure as heck wasn't going to miss it! They ended up canceling the babysitter and had to bring me along to the reception. And you can bet your behind I was leading the "New York, New York" kickline at 2 a.m. My mom likes to say I put the grown ups to bed that night.

From then on, if there was a wedding, I wanted to be a part of it! If I heard that someone was getting married, I asked if they needed a flowergirl! Even if I didn't know them.

When I was 5 I got to be in two weddings!

I was in my cousin Lauren's wedding and I actually still have some very vivid memories of it! I remember dancing to the Spin Doctors (It was 1993 after all) and watching my dress twirl. I had a band-aid on my chin because I had split it open a few weeks earlier (for the second time, mind you) and I remember my mom got me to cut my ratty, long hair by telling me that Lauren said I couldn't be in the wedding unless I did. I wonder if Lauren and Mike knew back then that one day I would ask to move into their guestroom in return for my services as flower girl...

A few months later my cousin Ed married Grace! I remember being so confused that we didn't have to get on a plane for this wedding. Before this, all the weddings were in Houston and Pittsburgh, but Grace was from Long Island so we got to stay close to home for this one!

For my cousin Lynn's wedding, I graduated to junior bridesmaid. I was all of 7 years old after all. This time I actually had a bouquet instead of a basket, which was a HUGE deal to me. My sister Jeanine was the flower girl and you can bet I passed on my infinite wisdom to her.

When my cousin and godmother Susie married her husband, Bill, I was a junior bridesmaid again. I was 8 but my partner, Bill's nephew, was 13. Being super awkward, I got shy when it came time to dance with him and started crying. Lauren had to fill in for me (I am still eternally grateful). Susie and Bill just had their 15 year anniversary this past September!

When I was 13, I was a full-fledged bridesmaid in my cousin Bill and Lynnann's wedding. I was the only bridesmaid with braces! Since this wedding, I was the next cousin on my mom's side in line to get married. Next March, the Hald clan will finally have another wedding to go to!

Thank you to my cousins for all of these photos and for the practice (now that it's my turn, I feel incredibly prepared)! They flooded my Facebook wall a few days after Derek and I got engaged :)