This past weekend, my best friend from high school married her college sweetheart, and I was honored to be a bridesmaid. Between the champagne, tears and late-night "Electric Slide" on the reception dance floor, it was one exhausting, but memorable, weekend.

The Monday morning following the wedding, I sleepily shuffled into the office with damp hair and just enough blush on my cheeks to look alive. I sat down at my humble desk, took a jolting gulp of hot tea, and peeled back my eyelids before beginning my daily routine at the Blue House.

I don’t normally look down at my hands when I type, but one quick glance at my clacking fingernails had me shocked at what I saw. My French manicure that I paid to have done on Saturday morning before the wedding was already severely chipping — we’re talking barely any paint left on a couple of nails.

The sight reminded me of all the frustrating services I dealt with on that pre-wedding morning: A tanning salon that tried to short me a day of prepaid tanning; a hair stylist that rushed through my updo; and now this — a $25 manicure that chipped two days later.

The beautification process for a wedding is enough to make any bridesmaid pull her hair out, but the businesses she pays to help her get ready are supposed to make the big day a little less stressful. Looks like I’ve got a few Angie’s List reports to write — and an at-home French manicure touch-up kit to buy.