Hanging out behind the club on the weekend
Acting stupid, getting drunk with my best friends
I couldn't wait for the summer and the Warped Tour

Never in a million years did I think planning a wedding would be so damn hard. I mean, it was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives, the day we declare our love to the world forever and always...again. Of course, no one but a tiny handful of people knew we were already technically married, so to some people including my well-meaning mother felt like this thing had to be the event of a century. You only get married once, after all.

Ha.

I just thanked the lord that we’d already made the plunge, knowing that I was already stressed out with planning such a grand occasion and trying hard to please both my mom and Jack’s mom at the same time. It was not an easy task, let me tell you. Both women had strong opinions and damn, did they want their opinions to be heard.

Now, I expected we’d have to make decisions. That’s kind of a given when planning any sort of party. But nothing prepared me for planning something as grand as a WEDDING, and considering we also had a lot on our plate professionally, what with us both releasing albums and preparing for another tour cycle before we’d have to do all this in separate parts of the world over the internet, it was crazy, to say the least. Jack and I had to decide on everything, from color themes to overall wedding themes to centerpieces to the wedding cake to what kind of silverware we wanted...it was endless and it sucked. It was like every time the wedding planner called a new decision had to be made right that second.

Oh. Did I not mention we now had a wedding planner?

My mom had insisted I get one, and by insisted I mean wouldn’t stop pestering me until I caved in and hired one. I knew she meant well. In her own words I’d “be so busy with the tour and simply wouldn’t have enough time to get everything arranged.” I think this was also partly her way of saying I’d been dragging my feet for far too long considering we’d been engaged for over half a year and hadn’t even figured out where we’d have the damn thing thanks to our respective families giving their appreciated, but otherwise unhelpful input.

In came Julia.

When it came to wedding planners, like the rest of all these big ass decisions I didn’t have time for thanks to a world wide tour to prepare for and everything, I really had no idea where to start looking. Or for that matter, what to look for when hiring the person to be in charge of getting things to run smoothly on the supposed most important day of my life.

Then, shortly before we were all set to depart on our respective tours, we were invited to Brendon and his fiancee of over two years, Sarah’s wedding. Though I’d only met him a few times in passing, he and Jack were relatively close so just like that, we found ourselves in the audience of one of pop punks biggest weddings.

With fame hungry paparazzi waiting by the front entrance hoping to take a pic of someone famous, it was safe to say I’d never been a part of such a high profile event before.
It was...strange, to say the least. Especially when said paparazzi actually got excited to snap a picture of me and Jack like we were Hollywood’s next power couple or something.

Surreal moments aside, it was after the beautiful outdoor ceremony that we got a one on one with the newly appointed Mr. and Mrs. Urie. We said our congratulations and of course thanked the couple for inviting us to such a special event. “We’re really honored to be here.” Jack told the happy couple, shaking Brendon’s hand while smiling widely at Sarah.

“It truly was a gorgeous wedding.” I added, sporting a soft grin of my own as I tried to stay casual. After all, I hardly knew the guy personally and only knew him from his over-the-top, larger-than-life personality on stage. I tried to keep a level head, remembering that this guy was friends with Jack, that even though he was one of the biggest, most talented musicians to ever emerge from the pop punk world, at the end of the day he was just like the rest of us. No need to ruin it by admitting to him that I used to geek out over his records when I was in high school and he might’ve also been my celebrity crush when I was sixteen.

Thank God, Brendon didn’t anything off and instead thanked us for coming. “I know it must be crazy busy for you guys right now with your own wedding to plan, but Sarah and I are so thankful you could set aside a day to spend some time with us.”

“Yeah, of course.” I nodded. “And believe me, you’re doing us a favor. Our wedding plans have been a bit sporadic so it’s nice to just take a break from all the crazy.”

Brendon’s thick eyebrows furrowed, taken aback by my honest response. He leaned a bit closer to Jack as he muttered, “Uh oh. Is everything okay with you guys?”

Jack quickly nodded, giving a small chuckle at Brendon’s out of place, but well meaning worry. “We’re great. Better than ever, right Sally?” He wrapped an arm around my waist and gave a light squeeze while the newlyweds looked upon us with unsure eyes.

“Seriously, we’re totally fine.” I assured them both before the rumors could begin. I bit my lip for a second, thinking about leaving it there, but before I could let the happy couple go on their merry way, I found myself blurting out, “We just kinda suck at planning a wedding, apparently. It doesn’t help that we’re going on tour in a few weeks as you know and with how our touring schedules are lining up, we have to get married in August if we want to tie the knot by the end of the year. Otherwise we have to wait until spring of 2014 and we really don’t want to do that since we’ve already been engaged for almost a year so we’ve been trying to decide on all of these tiny little details about our wedding in time for August but we can’t even pick where we’re getting married which is driving our families crazy which is driving me crazy and it’s kind turned into one big stressful mess.”

Sarah’s bright blue eyes widened, taken aback by my mini panic attack for a split second. Then, once my words seemed to digest, she smiled sympathetically towards me, quipping lightly, “Uh oh, someone’s gone on planning overload.”

I grimaced, instantly regretting my outburst. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to just spill all that on you. You didn’t need to know all of that--”

“Hey, it’s okay.” She shook her head as she chuckled lightly. “All brides-to-be have a freak out moment or two. It’s completely natural.”

I eyed her carefully. “...really?”

Her grin only grew. “Really.”

I swallowed, only feeling slightly better that I’d embarrassed myself like that.

Sarah’s light turquoise orbs continued to stare me down, unconvinced she could leave just yet. “Look...I’ve been there. Hell, you should’ve seen me a few weeks ago. I was on the verge of a breakdown because we decided to move up the wedding so we could get married before this big tour. I didn’t know where to start, since I was basically starting from scratch and couldn’t use anything I’d planned before. But then, I met Julia.”

“Julia?” I repeated, unsure how one woman could be such a miracle worker.

She nodded. “She is the best around, believe me. She helped find the venue, caterer, priest, everything under two weeks. Really, I couldn’t have done it without her. And if you guys are planning on getting married in the fall, then that should be a breeze for her, touring schedule and all.” She gestured towards Brandon, gently patting his tuxedo jacket’s inner pocket. He got the hint, grabbing a phone which I assumed was hers given that she didn’t have any pockets herself. She then typed a few things into the electronic device before smiling to herself. “There. I sent Jack a message on twitter with her contact info. She’s here somewhere and I’d introduce you, but we really should continue making our rounds.”

I nodded in understanding, immensely grateful for her help. Whether or not this Julia worked out for us the way she did for Brendon and Sarah, I still appreciated her efforts. “Sarah, you’re a lifesaver.”

She just smirked, pleased by her handiwork. “I know. You can thank me by inviting me and Bren to the wedding, got it?”

“Yeah, of course.” Jack laughed, responding before I could. “And congratulations again, you gorgeous people, you.”

Brendon winked in agreement of Jack’s statement, waving their goodbye as they left to go mingle with more of their wedding guests.

We let the party atmosphere elope us for a moment, smiling to ourselves as guests looked to be having the time of their lives. Then, Jack took out his phone, intent on whatever it was on his screen.

“What are you doing?” I asked, lifting my head slightly in an attempt at getting a better look at the screen.

“‘m texting that wedding planner.” He muttered softly, brows furrowed slightly as his attention was fixated on the glowing screen in front of him.

“That didn’t take you long.” I quipped, giving a small smirk as I did so.

“The sooner we get help with this wedding, the sooner we can breathe and not have a stressful as fuck summer, don’t you think?”

I took in his reply, noting he had a valid point. “Yeah...I just hope she’s not too good to be true.”

He shrugged as he wrapped up his message and placed his phone back in his pocket. “Hey, if she doesn’t work out then we can always hire Lisa to help out.”

I winced, not really wanting to resort to this option. “Okay, I love Lisa and she’s amazing at party planning, but it’s going to be awkward enough as it is having her in the wedding with Alex as your best man and all. If she were the wedding planner she’d have to interact with him even more than she would as one of my bridesmaids, and I really don’t want to put her through that.”

Jack’s shoulders dropped, his once brilliant idea crumbling before him. “Damn. I didn’t think of that.”

I shrugged, praying to god that we wouldn’t have to ask poor Lisa to do such a thing. “Let’s hope Julia’s fucking amazing so we don’t have to resort to that mess.”

“Ditto.”

~*~

Turns out, Julia was as amazing as Sarah claimed she was. She was maybe even a bit too good at her job, at times. She was on Jack and I like a hawk, making sure we set aside at least a half hour a day just to discuss whatever new wedding thing she had concocted for us. This was a bit challenging at times, juggling around not only showtimes but press, fan clubs, and general travel time. Somehow, we managed, but to say I wasn’t cranky at times would be an outright lie. After all, having to discuss whether I preferred boxed seashells, nautical lanterns or decorative driftwood as the centerpieces for our by-the-sea themed wedding at one in the morning after a killer show isn’t exactly going to put me in a giddy mood.

Grumpiness aside, Julia still managed to coax me and Jack into finally making some milestone decisions. One milestone that had yet to be reached though, and it was a biggie, was where we would have our wedding. Julia had given us plenty of ideas, from the obvious San Diego where we first met or Baltimore where we first fell in love, to less obvious choices like the Caribbean or the coast of Spain or some exotic place like that just for the ambiance alone. But nothing seemed right.

I was this close to saying fuck it and just pointing to a random place on a map, I was so at a loss where we could even host the wedding. And with deposits filling up the slots like flies, I knew we had find a place soon, otherwise we’d be stuck hosting in our backyard, which we didn’t even have unless you counted the glorious and surly romantic parking lot, which I sure as hell didn’t. We had nothing, not a clue where we’d go.

We’d only been touring a week or so, and each band was just starting to get into the swing of things and we’d really begun gelling with each other, hanging out before shows just jamming to our favorite tunes or just generally goofing off. We were currently in Virginia, and a handful of us decided to rock out to Tom Petty in the red room while others decided to be lame and go back to the bus and catch some z’s, AKA most of Panic!, Fall Out Boy and Landon, who at least had the excuse of feeling under the weather.

“This is hands down my favorite Tom Petty song.” Jo gushed, practically squealing as she grinned from ear to ear as the opening chords to Mary Jane’s Last Dance rang throughout the large dressing room. She was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall as she took in the music. “Do you guys hear that riff? That riff is why I started playing guitar.”

Josh, who I noticed once again seemed dangerously close to my feisty friend to be platonic, seemed genuinely intrigued by this new information. He scooted his body closer to Jo while I raised a brow from a far, quietly watching the two from my spot on the comfortable couch. “Really? That’s sick...” His lips curled up slightly as he watched Jo miming the guitar riff, bobbing her head as she got lost in the music. “I don’t think there was a specific song that got me into drumming. I just always gravitated towards it at a young age.”

Jo nodded, “It was your calling.” She told him matter of factly.

I swear, I saw his cheeks grow red in a blush and shyfully, he gave a nervous laugh before shaking his head. “I don’t know about that...I always just thought drummers looked super cool and it looked like a lot of fun to play, especially since you could hit it as hard as you wanted without getting into trouble.”

“That’s how I felt about the guitar when I was a kid.” Jo smiled, pausing for just a beat before adding. “The fun part, not the hitting part.”

Josh’s eyes perked up. “Oh yeah?”

“Are you kidding? The second I heard this,” She pointed up as if gesturing towards the music itself. “I was pulled in hook, line and sinker. It sounded like so much fun, figuring out the musical puzzle, to paint a picture or a feeling with just a melody...”

Her voice faded then as she pursed her lips, her dark brown eyes daringly meeting Josh’s in a look I knew too well. There was something there. A spark. And I had a feeling it was about to erupt brighter than either of them could imagine.

Tyler, who had chosen to give Josh his space next to his lady friend and instead just so happened to find a seat next to me, must’ve seen it too. He glanced over towards me and bobbed his head lightly at our two bandmates. “He should just kiss her already.” He muttered towards me, smirking.

“Right?” I felt my eyes widen at the obvious remark, grateful that the already loud music had been abruptly turned up even louder by Mark, who seemed to be really digging the southern rock beats if his head banging and toe tapping was anything to go by. Relaxing with the fact that Josh and Jo wouldn’t be able to hear us, I let my voice return to normal volume, though to be honest, they were so lost in their own conversation I doubted they’d hear a thing Tyler or I said, but the music still couldn’t hurt. “I’ve been trying to set them up for months. Granted, Josh is with Debbie bu--”

“He’s not with Debbie anymore.” Tyler cut me off as he corrected me. “They broke up just before we left for tour.”

“No way, seriously?” My jaw dropped, feeling like a teenager gossiping like this, but I didn’t really care. “Do you know why they broke up?”

Tyler scrunched up his nose, looking torn. “I don’t know...”

“I promise I won’t say anything to Jo.”

Tyler shook his head, not buying it. “But you’ll probably tell Jack and Jack can’t keep secrets so...”

I let my shoulders fall, desperate to finally get an answer. Jo had been going crazy for Josh for months, even going so far as going out with Lynn Gunn a few months back in hopes of getting over him, thoroughly confusing and probably arousing the guys in our band in the process at the thought of Jo being in an intimate relationship with another woman. Luckily for all our sanities though, that relationship didn’t last too long and by the time we began touring, Jo was back on the market. “Come on. Look, I won’t even tell Jack. I just need to know, did they break up because Josh finally realized there’s something going on with Jo?”

The strained glance I got in return made me see Tyler was torn, unsure whether he should be talking to me about such personal things that technically weren’t his to say. “Look, I can’t say, but what I can say is that I think that whatever it is that’s going on between those two is most definitely not just a friendship or a fling. I mean, Josh and I have had a lot of deep, personal discussions, but he’s never given me the googily eyes like he’s giving Jo right now...” He pointed loosely towards the two in question and sure enough, Josh was currently watching Jo with the goofiest, love struck grin.

“I sure hope not...” I chuckled.

“Eh, I’ll get over it.” He joked, joining in my laughter for a second or two before adding, “But I’ve gotta say, now I know how he must’ve felt when I first started dating Jenna. It’s kinda weird being a third wheel, isn’t it?”

“You could always invite Jenna on tour to even things out.” I suggested, understanding his awkward position. Without Jack by my side, being the odd one out was not the most pleasant feeling in the world.

He nodded. “She’ll stop by for a few of out midwest dates and I think she wants to join us for the whole leg of our next tour, whenever that may be. It’s just a bit tough working around our schedules sometimes.”

Oh, did I relate to that.

“You guys’ll make it work.” I assured him, patting his let in comfort. “If Jack and I can do it, you guys most certainly can.”

Tyler bobbed his head. “Yeah, I know we can. She’s amazing.”

“I know. I’ve only met her once and I already want to be best friends with her.” I smiled, remembering the warm and friendly impression Jenna Black hand imprinted on me.

Tyler’s lips crept up into a small, half smile and he opened his mouth to say something when my phone buzzed, indicating I had a message.

I silently turned on the screen to see I’d received a text from Julia.

From Julia: Don’t forget, Skype call after your shows at 12! Please be ready with your top three destinations for the wedding! Much love, Julia <3

She always ended her messages with the ‘much love’ bit, as if to soften the blow of her pushy request. I was pulling my hair, trying hard to think of places that would work for us without pissing off family members, and now that there was a time limit on the decision, my mind was even more blank than before.

“Aw, crap.” I cursed softly as I stared at Julia’s message with distaste. I loved all that she’d done with the wedding already, but giving me a time limit was not going to make the decision on the destination any easier.

“What’s wrong?” Tyler asked, his voice laced with concern.

I winced, discarding my phone as I met eyes with the singer. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just my wedding planner again.” Tyler nodded, recalling me mention the woman once or twice or twenty in the few days we’d been touring. After all, that’s all my head was the second we stepped off stage, but I couldn’t help it. It was a fuck ton of planning, after all. “This time she wants us to narrow down our options on the venue for the wedding, but I’m having a hard time committing to much of anything. It’s like if I pick Baltimore on the boardwalk, I’ll be pissing off my family since they’d have to spend extra money to travel, and if I pick San Diego, which would’ve really been my first choice considering that’s where we first met, I’d be pissing off Jack’s family. And I guess we could do a destination wedding but we’ve already traveled the world so much I don’t think either one of us would know where to start.”

The reserved man stared at me for a moment, taking my conundrum with serious thought instead of the usual crazy stare I got in return from my bandmates. I knew they meant well and I loved them, but they really should know by now that I was not exactly a sane person when stress was involved. “Well, I know I don’t know you well, but if it were me I’d go with my gut on this. I mean, I’m far from being in your position right now, but let’s just forget pissing off one or both of your families for a second. Where do you think is right to host your wedding?”

“San Diego, by the beach.” I blurted out, already picturing the beautiful nautical backdrop with the warm, orange sun just beginning to set over the horizon. “It’s my hometown, but it’s just so special to us. It’s where we first met, where I dreamed of someone sweeping me off my feet and in walks Jack and changes my life forever.”

“Then it should be San Diego.” Tyler nodded firmly, gesturing as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

“We could have the reception in the House of Blues where we met! I mean, we’d probably have to pull a buttload of strings and it’ll be expensive as hell, but who cares.” I laughed that it really could be that simple. I’d been batting away the idea for so long because of what other people wanted, figuring Jack and I had had our moment in Vegas, but in reality, we still deserved this. We still deserved a wedding that meant something to us, and what meant more than hosting a wedding in the city where we met? My eyes widened, idea after idea suddenly slamming into me like waves. “And we could probably have Mark Hoppus officiate the wedding if we ask nice enough since he’s from San Diego and he loves us both.”

“Now you’re talking.” Tyler chuckled at my sudden change of tone.

“You, Jenna and Josh are all totally invited by the way.” I quickly noted, realizing I had yet to officially send invites and considering how busy of a life all of our close friends lived, I should probably at least give them a heads up. “You basically just saved the wedding, after all.”

Tyler brushed off my statement, bashfully shaking his head as he protested, “Well, I don’t know about that...”

I just glared at him. “I’m serious. Do you know how long I’ve been hung up on this? This is a huge step for me to even put in a legitimate suggestion. Thank you, Tyler.”

He shyly smiled. “No problem.”

I returned his smile, genuinely grateful for Tyler’s conversation. But, still feeling like my brain was on fire with ideas, I was dying to talk to Jack and hopefully get him to get on board with a west coast wedding. Hell, at this point I’d even cover the cost to fly his family out. All I knew it my heart was screaming that my hometown was the right place to marry the man of my dreams...officially, anyway. “God, I can’t wait until midnight. I’m gonna call Jack and tell him I decided on a location.” I jumped up from my seat next to Tyler, phone already set to dial Jack’s number. I waved goodbye loosely in his direction. “Thanks again.”

I spun around happily, ignoring the animated sing along Jo and Mark were currently having of “Free Fallin”, air guitars and over the top singing included as I exited the room to get some privacy. I pressed the green call button next to Jack’s name, smiling as he picked up on the first ring. “Babe,” I told him. “I finally figured out where we should get married...”

Notes

I'm so sorry this updating has been sporadic. A lot has happened in my life this past month. I saw All Time Low again (front row!) which was of course amazing. I kinda sorta dated a guy that I really liked, but then it turned out he didn't feel the same way and thought we were better off as friends, so that really sucked. And I'm trying hard to find another job. So yeah. Life has been crazy.

Please leave a comment if you're still reading this. I miss the days when I actually had time to update once a week. :/

Oh and opening lyrics are from "The Rock Show" by Blink 182. Also, I totally mentioned Tom Petty in a small tribute to the man. He was such an influence for so many people, and he'll live on in his music for generations.