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Taking a deep breath, I laid it all out, “I want to get married sooner rather than later and Avy hasn’t got the time to set anything up. I want to take the stress away from her and do it for her, but I can’t do it by myself.”
Opening the notebook, I’d laid on the table with my list of everything that needed to be done, “So far this is what I’ve organised. I have the date and I’ve booked the vicar. I’ve booked and arranged delivery of a massive marquee, and chairs and tables, the same company also has heaters so we won’t be cold as the date I’ve picked is in the middle of February so as long as it doesn’t snow or storm, we should be okay.”
“I’ve checked with Reaper about what I would like to do as I wanted to check that it would be okay to have the wedding at the clubhouse.”
“I’ve also spoken to Johnny about doing the food so that Maggie doesn’t have to anything and can enjoy herself without worrying about feeding everyone.”
“Johnny will also provide the disco for the evening. Drinks we can serve from the bar at the clubhouse. Is there anything I’ve forgotten when it comes to the comfort of our guests?”
The silence from the three of them was deafening, so deafening that it grabbed my attention, and I lifted my head from my notes to find them all staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths.
Snapping her mouth closed, Kate was the first to recover, “Well, okay then. First, I want to say thank you. Thank you for looking out for my girl and putting her first. You’re right, she doesn’t have enough time and don’t think I haven’t noticed everything you do to ease her responsibilities. You have most of it sorted so what do you need from us and what date did you choose?”
Smiling at Kate, I replied, “I chose the sixteenth of February, which is my birthday.” Shrugging my shoulders, I continued a little sheepishly, “I know, but that way I figure I’ll never forget our anniversary.”
Noni is the first to let out a snort of laughter, followed by Maggie and Kate, and I can’t help but grin at them.
Once they had themselves under control, wiping tears from their eyes at my reasoning.
“Okay,” Maggie states, “I can’t think of anything else you’ll need other than tablecloths, decorations, and flowers. Unless the company supplying the marquee have the tablecloths. Lay it out for us, what else do you need? We only have just short of three weeks to get everything in place.”
Looking back at my list I reply, “The marquee company can supply white tablecloths which I’ve ordered, but I wasn’t sure on what colours to get for the table runners and chair covers, I’m hoping you will know. I also wasn’t sure on what flowers for the bouquets and for the tables because I don’t really know what Avy would like. I know her favourite colour but wasn’t sure if she’d want that for her wedding.”
“I figured you ladies would know best on what to get. We also need dresses for Noni, Bren, and Ellie. And Avy will need adress, but I’m not sure how to go about getting her one without giving the surprise away or how to get her to the wedding.”
“I’m impressed,” Noni smirks at me, “once this is over, you could make a second career out of event planning.”
“F…” I caught myself before letting out an F-bomb as there was a family with children next to us. “Nope, this sh…I mean, stuff is stressful.”
Noni giggled at my attempts at not swearing while getting my point across, while Maggie and Kate just shook their heads at me with a smile.
“So, ladies, what do you think? Can we do this?” I queried.
The three of them look at each other before nodding.
“Yeah, we can do this,” Noni confirms. “Ask the marquee company if they have purple table runners and seat covers as that’s Avy’s favourite colour and if not that, then a dark pink. Once you know that, we’ll be able to arrange bouquets and dresses.”
“If you let me know as soon as you hear back, I’ll sort the flowers, bouquets, and decorations.” Maggie declares, “I know what Avy will like.”
Kate and Noni nod in agreement and I mark the flowers off my list and add Maggie’s name next to them.
“Noni and I can sort the dresses for all of them. Avy has a certain style and I know we’ll find a dress that she’ll love. We’ll have to get Abby involved for the girl’s dresses though. As to how to get her there, I think a spa break starting on Friday and back Saturday in time for the wedding. We can take the dresses and everything with us and get ready at the hotel, hair, make-up the lot,” Kate declares with a determined glint in her eye. Turning back to me, she says, “You’ll have to make sure her managers areaware of what’s happening so that they can cover the pub, or this will never work.”
I nod in agreement, “I will. I have a meeting with them tomorrow morning while Avy is with Molly at the brewery trying out a new beer.”
“Just one other thing,” Maggie states, looking at Kate, “only you and Noni go on the spa break. I’ll stay here and help set up the marquee, flowers, and tables. That way it’s less stressful for Hawk. It’s his day too and you want to be able to enjoy it and not worry about decorating or table placements. Saying that, do you have a guest list?”
“There’s no-one from my side as my parents have passed on, but this is the list I’ve made of who I think should be invited. You can go through it and let me know. I need to get the invites out within the next few days though.”
“Let me see,” Kate grabs the list from me and scans down it before passing to Maggie, who does the same thing and then onto Noni, who has a quick look before giving it back to me with a nod.
“Looks like everyone who should be invited has been,” Noni comments.
“Fantastic,” Kate whoops excitedly, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me. “I’m so excited! My baby is getting married. And she picked herself a great man. I’m so relieved that Kane and Avy chose well. I was worried that I’d not like my kids’ spouses, but they have chosen well.”
Returning her hug, I pushed away the feeling of sadness that my parents weren’t around to see me get married. It didn’t last long with Noni and Maggie joining me in the hug. Not sure what we must have looked like to the customers hugging in the middle of the café like we were, but I found I didn’t care. The hug settledsomething in me that I hadn’t realised I was missing. The love of family.
CHAPTER 4
