Scribbles

Last weekend, a group of friends attended Jeni’s wedding.  Taking place in Kansas City where her family lives, most of the guests were out-of-towners, and that meant more than the typical ceremony and reception, it was a whole weekend extravaganza for us.  While the people and friends made our entire weekend memorable and enjoyable, a lot of the credit goes to the star of festivities.

One of our original cast of Montmelian back in France, Jeni was like a sister, living in our chateau and an integral part of the second floor.  Not the annoying bratty type, but the cool one where you can talk, tease, and hang out with.  Fast forward two years into the real world, and we tend to forget how amazing and impressive these peers really are, even if it’s that girl down the hall who’s always running around in her sweats.  But in reality, outside the exclusive INSEAD bubble, Jeni brings her can-do attitude and international pedigree to all aspects of her life, from excelling in the competitive business world to being in touch with the world.  And not surprisingly, to her beautiful American-Indian-Catholic wedding.

The 3-days of events that were so meticulously executed impressed the heck out of me.  Our bride really shined throughout the weekend.  In her speech at the rehearsal dinner, thanking her family and guests, she sounded sincere, polished, and confident.  On the dance floor at the reception, she brought her party smile and dazzled everyone with her moves, including some fantastic Indian dancing moves.  I don’t doubt that in the minds of her single female friends, they were seriously challenged with their ability to eventually pull off their own weddings with such poise and joy.

But it wasn’t just being able to keep things on schedule or having a beautiful wedding cake, it was the manner it was executed.  Of course you can find help to handle logistics and what not, but the little touches showed a sense of love and care.  How else could one interpret the Jeni’s father shuttling us to the baseball game and to the airport afterwards?

I know that I’m not alone in feeling so proud and happy for Jeni and Shaun.  And I’m also unabashedly proud to claim to be a friend.