In April, my friend asked me to be her plus one at the wedding of one of her oldest friends. This was the first wedding either of us went to for one of our friends, and we both couldn’t believe it was happening. The wedding took place this past weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The ceremony was held at St. Anthony of Padua Church, and the reception was at The Willows at Historic Strasburg.

The ceremony started at 2 p.m. and lasted a bit over an hour. After it ended, there was still two hours until the reception, so Kelly and I went into town and found this local bar called Shot and Bottle. They had a few different craft beers on tap.

When we left the bar, we went to the venue. We got there early, and the ballroom was not ready yet. There was a restaurant attached called David & Steve’s Fireside Tavern, where the majority of the guests went after the ceremony. We waited there for the festivities to begin.

The food included mixed vegetables; asparagus, tomato and mozzarella salad; mashed potatoes; steak; and chicken — all very good. Instead of a cake, they had cupcakes stacked like a big wedding cake.

Overall, the wedding was a great time and now, after attending the first wedding of someone my age, I am excited for more.

— Andrew Melnick, intern