Happily This Christmas (Happily Inc #6) - Susan Mallery Page 0,74
as her computer. She dialed a number and they connected with Holly. The screen on the wall split, showing Holly on one half and the display from Renee’s computer on the other.
Joylyn waved at her friend. “Hi! I can’t believe we’re doing this. Are you excited?”
“I am.” Holly smiled. “Rex and I are so happy we’re going to have a real wedding.”
“You are,” Renee said with a laugh. “I’m Renee by the way. Nice to see you in person, Holly.”
“Nice to see you, too.”
“This is Wynn,” Joylyn said, pointing to her. “She’s my dad’s neighbor. She’s the one who suggested checking with Renee about putting on the wedding.”
Wynn waved. “Nice to meet you.”
“Now that everyone has met,” Renee said, opening her tablet, “let’s get busy with planning. Holly, are we still at fifty guests?”
“Yes. That number is firm. Joylyn is going to be my attendant. It’s more complicated for Rex.” Holly grinned. “He has five Marines who are going to be co–best men. So we’ll need room for them there.”
Joylyn looked at Wynn and Renee. “They all served together and they’re like brothers. Ben S, John, Ben Z, Peter and Will.”
“We will make that happen.” Renee typed on her tablet. “So let’s talk about the overall structure of the day. We have a large room that we can easily partition. We’ll use part of it for the ceremony and part for the reception. For the ceremony with fifty guests, we’ll do a center aisle, with say seven rows of ten chairs. I know that gives us more seating than you’ll need, but sometimes people like to leave a seat empty.”
She put a picture of chairs up on the screen. Large lanterns sat on the floor, along the aisle.
“We have these in our warehouse,” she said. “They’re about eighteen inches high, so substantial but they don’t get in the way. We also have flameless candles that go inside. The only cost is for new batteries.”
“They’re lovely,” Holly said.
“Good. Now I’m thinking we’ll do a cluster of deep red dahlias on the backs of the chairs along the aisle. Probably every other chair, so it’s not too busy. The florist will add ribbons and some greens to make them pretty.”
“I like the look,” Holly said, her tone hesitant, “but there’s a cost factor.”
Renee glanced at Wynn, then back at the screen. “Let me explain all my suggestions and we’ll talk money at the end. For now you can simply enjoy the show.”
Holly nodded. “Okay. Sure.”
Joylyn thought the slide with the lanterns and flowers was beautiful, but she was with Holly. No way could they afford that.
“We’ve reserved a local minister to perform the ceremony,” Renee said. “Now about your bouquet—what are you doing for a dress?”
“I don’t know,” Holly admitted. “I found a dress at David’s Bridal I really like. It’s on sale, but it’s still three hundred dollars. I think that money might be better spent on the wedding itself.”
“Do you have a picture?” Renee asked.
Holly reached to her left and came back with a printout of a strapless dress. The style was simple—fitted to the waist, then gently flaring out to the floor. Joylyn leaned closer to study the sweetheart neckline and the pleating at the bodice.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “You’ll look amazing in that.”
Holly smiled. “It’s taffeta and looks great on. I don’t need much in the way of alterations, but the cost...”
Renee typed on her tablet. “It’s lovely and very classic. I think a teardrop bouquet with cascading flowers would be best. Red roses.” She smiled. “They’ll look fantastic against the simplicity of the dress.”
Joylyn met Holly’s gaze on the screen. A bouquet like that was going to be expensive. Roses? Really? Maybe Renee didn’t understand Holly didn’t have a lot of money. But before she could figure out what to say, Renee had moved on to the reception.
“We’ll do rectangular tables forming a loose square,” she said, putting another picture on the screen. “More dahlias down the center with votives floating in glasses. The long-stemmed glasses will give height and interest, but won’t get in the way of conversation across the table.”
Holly nodded. “The centerpieces are beautiful.”
“For the dinner, I’ve spoken with the caterer. Are there any vegans?”
Holly smiled. “No. All our friends eat meat.”
“Good. We’ll have a vegetarian option, just in case. Risotto is always good. For the first course, given the time of year, we’re thinking soup. A butternut squash soup with an Asiago truffle mac and cheese muffin is very popular.”