Singing in The Avenue means that my friend and co-singer, Tiffany, and I are at weddings almost every Saturday night…working. When Tiffany asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding to Rick Smith Jr, I was so excited to get the chance to be a part of a wedding from the other side of the stage. I’ve been in weddings before, but I never got to truly be a part of the process because every one was out of state from where I was living: My brother’s wedding in Iowa, two childhood friends’ weddings in Wisconsin where I grew up, and another friend’s wedding in Indiana where I attended high school.
So I had a blast on “girl day,” aka the Bachelorette party, where we treated ourselves and Tiffany to glorious facials and outdoor cabana massages at Spa West in Westlake. It was 90 degrees, but with the oil on your skin and a light breeze, combined with light music and birds chirping, it was all I could do to keep from laughing at the wonderfulness of it all. Heaven. We topped the day off with swimming, sun, dinner, and dancing in a sweaty down town club, where all the boys straddled between jealousy that someone had snagged the beautiful Tiffany and relief that they were still single themselves.
The wedding shower, put on by Tiffany’s family, was as pretty as many of the weddings we’ve performed at! I cleaned off my plate, a delicious dinner at Crowne Plaza Independence. Then the other bridesmaids and I ran around fetching presents and cleaning up wrapping paper as we came to the realization that being a bridesmaid comes with honor as well as duties!
I love my strapless, form-fitting fuschia bridesmaid dress from Caché; I will be wearing it at many other weddings that book The Avenue! Finally, a bridesmaid dress that really will get more wears. I also love Tiffany’s theme of Watermellon. Pink & green are so fun, bright and summery!
Tiffany and I were singing together at Pickwick & Frolic, pre-Avenue, the night she met Rick there seven years ago. I’ll never forget her face lighting up as she said, “he’s cute!” I’m so grateful to share in this experience with them!
The wedding is this Saturday, at St. Basil the Great in Brecksville and the Hilton Fairlawn. Seeing as how Tiffany and Rick are so well connected in the entertainment industry, word has it it will be quite the event, and of course, The Orchestra will be playing.