You know what they say-always a bridesmaid, never a bride. For many years, I was neither. You see, there was a wedding drought in my family. No one was getting married or even seemed remotely close to it. There weren’t even invitations to weddings of distant relatives that I wouldn’t want to attend. The calligraphy laced, crème-colored envelopes just didn’t seem make it to my house. There wasn’t a bouquet toss or wedding cake in sight, never mind a bridesmaid’s gown.

And then the moment finally came when I was seventeen. My cousin was getting married and I would finally be welcomed into the ‘maid club. But the membership was cancelled before I could even explore its perks when the wedding was called off a week after we were fitted for our gowns (and they were cute, too!). However, when I was 21 my friend Scott took pity on me and brought me as his date to his cousin’s wedding so I could at least say I had finally been to one.

I bought a fuchsia dress, got my hair highlighted, and was ready to go. And I finally discovered what I had been missing. Regardless of only knowing a handful of people there, I had a blast. I ate, mingled, did the electric slide, got misty-eyed when the bride danced with her dad, and even won the center-piece on our table. What’s not to love about a big party where everyone is happy? Does it get any better than that? As I learned a few years later, it does. When you’re a bridesmaid, of course.

When I complained to people about my lack of bridesmaid experience, I was usually greeted with some serious eye rolling and negative comments like, “It’s just as well, you’re saving money” and “consider yourself lucky.” And so many times I heard, “Just you wait. Once one of your friends gets married, it won’t stop for a couple of years and you’ll wonder why you thought you were missing out.”

Well, they were right…and wrong. It did start. It seems like every time the phone rings these days, and I expect to hear about some horrible emergency, I instead learn that another girlfriend/family member/guy friend is engaged. With two weddings behind me and two in the works, I’ll have been a bridesmaid four times in a year and a half. So, they were right about it all happening at once. But they were wrong about my reaction. I can say proudly that I truly, utterly, sincerely love being a bridesmaid. And I do not have a single hideous dress hiding in the back of my closet to date.

It seemed like people were warning me, kind of like the saying “when it rains, it pours.” Well, I hope the forecast calls for continuous down-pours because being a bridesmaid is a blast. You just need to go into your bridesmaid duties recognizing something that many women seem to forget these days: being a bridesmaid isn’t a punishment! It’s a fun honor and you’ve been asked because someone loves you and can’t imagine this day that she’ll remember for the rest of her life without you there in a special role. Knowing that you’re considered so significant to someone is moving and on top of that, it’s just fun.

The way I see it, bridesmaids are the VIP’s of weddings. Think about it – you get pampered before the event, you ride with the star (aka the bride) in the limo, you eat first, you drink for free, you make a grand entrance and you’re in all the pictures. Guests look to you to get the party started. The bridal party members are the rock stars of the wedding. And you don’t have the same pressure on your shoulders as the bride so you can really let loose and have fun. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that? That’s why I get a little anxious when a close friend gets engaged and I think I might be asked to be a bridesmaid but am not 100 percent sure. She may want a small bridal party or just a maid of honor, etc. And while I want her to do what will make her happy, I am hoping that she’ll pop the question.

One of my best friends, Sarah, got engaged last month and called me at 9:02 a.m. The conversation went something like this.

Her: “Hey, are you at work?”

Me: “No. I’m home sick” (turning down the volume on Regis and Kelly)

Her: “I have some news.”