My best friend's wedding

[Lindsey]

This wedding is being really hard on my bank account! I am her maid of honor, which I was absolutely thrilled to accept. I love her to death and I love her fiance and I want her to have the best day ever
So it's all great... BUT she lives about 6 hours from me. I have driven there twice since last summer, and it is a VERY LONG drive! In 2 weeks I am going back to help her with wedding favors. Scott has volunteered to come with me so the drive won't be so lonely. Another bridesmaid and another mutual friend of ours will be there that weekend too, so Scott and I are getting a hotel room... another additional cost!
I just made a ton of phone calls last night inviting her family and her fiance's family to a bridal shower I am throwing for her in our hometown in May. Her whole family lives there and all of our friends can make it home, so it should all work out. It's only 2.5 hours from here so the drive isn't too bad! I'll have to make it home a couple weeks beforehand to put up posters downtown and set up donation envelopes in the stores. However, her fiance's family is also throwing a bridal shower for HIS side of the family. His sister told me about it on the phone last night, and she would really like all of the bridesmaids to be able to attend. It is happening 2 weeks before the one I'm giving her, and this one will be held in Edmonton - about a 6 or 7 hour drive from here.
We still need to plan her bachelorette party, which she has discussed with another bridesmaid already. She would also like that to be in Edmonton! So it's going to be another weekend of hotel rooms, clubbing, and shopping! And of course, the gas money and time to drive again to Edmonton and back home again in one weekend.
She also asked me what day I can be there before the wedding. Since I haven't been around to help her out with invitations or really anything else that I could be doing, I told her I will be there whenever she needs me. She is getting married on Saturday and asked me if I could be there on Wednesday night... that way we can have a relaxing day on Thursday to get our nails done and hang out before the chaos of Friday when all of her family arrives and making sure everything is set for the wedding on Saturday. I absolutely want to do that and be there for her and share that time with her, even though it's going to cost me an extra couple of nights in a hotel!
Unfortunately, out of all the bridesmaids, I live the furthest away by far! The others only live a couple of hours from Edmonton (and the bride only lives an hour from Edmonton). I feel so wonderful that she chose me to be her maid of honor, and I am thrilled that she is getting married to such a great guy, and I really can't wait for the wedding! But I feel guilty thinking about the stuff it's taking away from me... I am just now realizing that most of my money for my European vacation this fall is going into giving my best friend the best day of her life. I don't think I can afford to go to Europe. I don't even know if I'll have the vacation days left. On the other hand, she means the world to me and I want her to be happy!