“HOLLY, THE FLOWERS were just delivered.” Jayne enters her bedroom in full hair and makeup, wearing a silk robe. She offered up her apartment for the night before the wedding, and I gladly accepted, getting dropped off straight from the airport and setting up camp at her place. My large gown hanging in the corner takes up half of her small room.
“Delivered? Here? I had arranged for them to be delivered directly to Romeo’s.” I put down the lip gloss I’m midway through applying and go off to the kitchen to investigate.
Beautiful boxes are piled up on Jayne’s counters and table. I lift a lid and see brilliant red roses with white stephanotis accents. I pull the bouquet from the box and admire it in awe. It’s a work of art. Full, blooming roses, prettier than anything I’ve ever seen. My dream bouquet.
“Those are not from Costco.” Jayne states the obvious.
“No, they’re not.” I lift the lid on the other boxes, revealing bouquet after bouquet of gorgeous flowers for the rest of the bridal party. “Where did these come from?”
“Here. They’re from Sweet William’s Florist, and there’s a note.” Jayne discovers a little card in one of the boxes and hands it to me.
Dear Holly,
It’s not a Fireball fountain, but every beautiful bride deserves beautiful flowers.
Love, Jeremy
My hand trembles, and I start to weep at the incredibly thoughtful gift.
“They’re from Jeremy,” I tell Jayne, wiping away black tears from the thick coat of mascara on my lashes.
“Ah, you’re ruining your makeup. Cry about it tomorrow.” She rushes at me with a box of tissues and starts blotting my face furiously. There’s a knock at the door. “Come in,” Jayne yells, still blotting away.
“She’s crying already? This is Ashley all over again.” Robin enters with Michelle all dressed up in her flower girl dress, tight little curls gathered on top of her head.
“Aunt Ashley cried at her wedding?” Michelle gasps.
“They were tears of joy.” Robin smiles at her daughter, then leans in my direction and whispers, “Mixed in with some pregnancy hormones.”
I’m glad for the excuse to laugh. I take the tissue from Jayne and dab the corners of my eyes one last time. Another knock on the door, and my mother, sister, and niece come barreling in. My mother is wearing a long blue gown. I nod toward Robin.
“I’m on it,” she says, already typing in her phone.
Mrs. Daniels, I mean Grace, had chosen a pink gown and a lavender gown—just in case. She had asked to be notified once my mother had confirmed her gown choice, which we all knew wouldn’t be until the actual day of the wedding.
“Where are Ashley and the girls?” my mother asks, fastening her surprisingly tasteful pearl earrings.
“They’re meeting us there. She thought it would be too much to have all the girls running around here, and she offered to go to Romeo’s early to make sure everything was set up properly and ready to go.”
There’s another knock at the door, and my mother jumps in front of Jayne to answer it. “That’s probably him.” I assume she means my dad, but when she opens the door a man I don’t recognize, in black pants and a white shirt, walks in holding a camera. “Come in, come in. The bride is right over here.” The man is ushered toward me. “Holly, this is Jamie Sublett. He’s going to be the photographer.”
“Oh my God!” I clutch my chest. I can’t believe it. I figured we would rely on phones for all the photos, but an actual photographer…. I’m blown away. “Thank you.” I hug my mother, and Jamie snaps his first photo. “This is such an amazing surprise.”
“And there’s a few more to come.” She pats my back, letting me know hug time is over. “Are you ready to get dressed? Look at the time.”
I glance at the clock on the microwave. Time is flying by. We all gather in Jayne’s cramped bedroom, and I disrobe to my white bustier that is helping to cinch in my waist. I blush, looking down, almost having forgotten that I had chosen thigh highs over a more traditional pair of pantyhose, but no one seems to really notice or is too shocked as they help me to step into the voluminous gown. Jayne zips me up and pulls my hair back to attach the veil.
“Rou rook ruckin rorgeous,” she says with a bobby pin between her lips. I’m thankful for the somewhat censorship the bobby pin offers in front of my nieces.
The photographer snaps a few pictures as Jayne carefully makes some last-minute touches to my face and poses my mother to adjust my veil. My very pregnant sister and my niece, Amanda, and I pose until once again there is a knock at the door. I’m encouraged to answer it and swing the door open to my very distinguished-looking father, beaming with pride as he takes me in.
“You look simply stunning,” he says with a raspy crack to his voice that tugs at my heart. “Are you ready to go get married?”
“Yes.” I tap my cheeks lightly to chase away any tears trying to resurface, and link my arm through my dad’s where he escorts me downstairs and out front to a waiting white Rolls Royce.
“I thought we’d arrive in style,” he says, sweeping his arm toward the door being held open by a chauffeur. “I thought I could go for one last ride with my little girl before Matthew whisks away his new wife after the wedding is over.”
Jayne is already behind me with a tissue in hand. I grab it from her and use it to block the tears from escaping. My father assists me into the car and takes his seat beside me. The door closes and a burst of butterflies take off in my stomach. It almost feels as if my excitement is what propels the luxury car forward.
Here we go. This is it.
I can’t wait to say I do… again!
HOLLY AND I spin on the dance floor in the center of the tables. She’s breathtaking. I’ve struggled to breathe all day long around her. She floated down the makeshift aisle toward me like a vision. And now, we are officially husband and wife.
Glasses clink and we kiss.
Kent arranged for a DJ, but for our first dance, he’s singing the wedding song we selected. His voice hits the notes and booms, adding even more emotion to a room that is already overflowing with it.
I look around and know every face in the room. They all watch us with genuine love and happiness. We made the right choice. This small, elegant wedding is everything we needed and more. Thanks to Kent, our ceremony went off without a hitch. We recited our vows, laughed as I fumbled with the ring, and ended the ceremony with a kiss as electric as the one on the beach.
The song ends, and Holly and I take a seat at a table for two next to a beautiful three-tier cake that I learned was gifted along with the flowers by Jeremy. Patrick stands up and clears his throat, commanding attention for his speech.
“It’s been a very emotional day, and thanks to Jeremy, even the cake is in tiers.” Patrick tugs on his collar. “Please laugh because that’s the only joke you’re getting in this speech.” A low grumble of laughter follows. “Holly, you are stunning, and Matthew is incredibly lucky, as are we, to have you become part of our family. We love you and welcome you to the prairie.” He pauses, and I look at Holly, who just shakes her head with a grin. Yeah, I may have mentioned her Little House on the Prairie comments to him. Patrick continues, “I’m going to tell you all a secret, although, in this family we don’t do secrets all that well, so I guess it should come as no surprise when I tell you that Matthew is the favorite. Everyone’s favorite. He is the favorite son, the favorite brother, the favorite brother-in-law, the favorite uncle, and deservedly so. I don’t know a greater, more caring man than my brother Matty. He’s smart, loyal, dedicated, and after me, the most handsome man in the family.” Chuckles come from the crowd. “Why are you laughing? I told you, you were only getting one joke. That was serious.” Another round of chuckles follows. “We all hoped that Matthew would find a woman who was as amazing and as wonderful as he is. And today we raise our glasses because our favorite guy has found that woman. His perfect match, a woman who has transformed our favorite guy into our favorite couple.” He raises his glass. “Cheers, to Matthew and Holly!”
“Cheers!” the room roars, and the champagne is sipped. Patrick grasps my hand and pulls me in for a hug, then leans over to place a kiss on my wife’s tearstained cheek.
The rest of the night speeds by. Food is served and taken away before I’ve even had one bite. We cut the cake and go for it, smashing the slices into each other’s faces. Holly laughs and poses for a fantastic picture with white frosting coating her long lashes. I spend most of the night with my cheek pressed to hers dancing. I’m sad that our honeymoon is over, but overjoyed by the life that’s beginning.
The final song is played, and after a night filled with emotion and love, not to mention lots of wine, all the guests huddle together in a swaying embrace to finish off this amazing day. After the final note, Holly and I are guided toward the doorway, where we are bombarded with love-filled hugs and well wishes one after the other. My mom is last and hugs me so tight, she almost cracks my ribs.
“I’m so happy for you,” she says through tears. It’s emotional, but I’m sure I’d feel way more sad if we weren’t going right back to her house to live tomorrow night.
The room is finally empty, all except for the DJ packing away his gear and the busboys who have started cleaning up. Holly goes back to the table to grab her bouquet. The car her parents surprised us with is waiting out front to take us to our hotel room in Philly for the night.
“Today was perfect. I wish it didn’t have to end.”
Holly and I hold hands as we enter the restaurant part of Romeo’s, where we had pizza the first night we met. The cheesy aroma from prepared pies on display hits me, and my stomach churns.
“Are you hungry?” I ask.
“Starved. I think I had two bites of food all day.”
“Me too.”
The table we sat at that very first night we met is available, and I sweep a hand toward the empty booth. Her face lights up and she lifts and squishes herself into the tight little bench seat, white tulle and lace surrounding her. She opens her mouth to say something.
“Extra cheese, extra mushrooms,” I say for her and wink. I know. I place the order and return to our booth, where we’ve attracted a lot of attention. I guess it’s not every day you see a decked-out bride and groom eating pizza.
“This booth has seen a lot of stuff with us.” She pats the table gingerly, like it’s a living thing. “Our first night together, our second. It saw me coming here looking for you when I realized I had screwed everything up.”
“It saw me here looking for you, too.” Memories of our angst-filled beginning flood back to me.
“I wonder what else it will see. Kids?” There’s a look of terror and delight on her face at the same time.
“One day,” I say, and we both gaze around the room, thoughts of what the future holds twirling in our minds. So much lies ahead.
The slices get set down in front of us, and Holly takes a bite of pizza, grease shining on her perfect lips. I want to kiss her. No, I need to. I jump up from my seat and although I’d love to say I swoop her up in one fluid motion for that kiss… that does not happen. Remember, this is us we’re talking about here. It takes several attempts and a busted button to remove her many layers from the booth, but when I finally do, I pull her into my arms and the kiss is epic.
The. Kiss. Is.
EPIC!