Claire Bidwell Smith

How cool is this? I was in a wedding this summer that is now featured in a magazine! I went to two back-to-back weddings in August. The first one was Greg’s best friend Tarek and his bride Kate in Madison, WI. I’ve written a lot about them. And the second wedding I went to was my dear friend Ashley Alexander’s wedding in Kalamazoo, MI. Ashley and her now-husband Mark (my web designer!) put a ton of personal effort into their wedding and it paid off in a thousand ways.

Check out this write-up of the wedding in Time Out Chicago this week. You can see me as a bridesmaid in one of the photos of the wedding party — I’m the tall brunette, second from right.

I actually didn’t know a ton of people at this wedding, aside from Ashley and Mark, but two of my best Chicago gals Jess & Emilie were also there. I love this photo of us taken that night on our picnic blanket at the reception. Although it had rained all day it ended up being one of those perfect, humid summer nights where crickets were singing and fireflies blinked in the trees at the edge of the field; one of those nights that will become easy to return to in my head for years to come.