And it was. In spite of my doubts about the bright multi-colored flowers, it was beautiful. In spite of my gaining weight, instead of losing; in spite of the dadgum deer; and in spite of Fred's meager budget, it was beautiful.
We got off to an early start on The Big Day. Fred had his usual sausage and biscuits and Diet Coke before we left, but I had intended to stop along the way and get something for Miss Jane and me. Forgot all about it. Forgot to eat. Can you believe it? My usual answer to stress is to grab the first edible whatever I see and shove it into my mouth as quickly as possible, followed by more edible whatevers being shoved into my mouth as quickly as possible. But I guess this time, the combination of stress and NO TIME TO THINK ABOUT EDIBLE WHATEVERS just washed away my need for excess calories.
We loaded my car and Fred's truck to the max. "Why are we gonna hafta take the truck?" Fred complained. I rolled my eyes and said, "Fred, LOOK at all this stuff!" I pointed to piles of chafing dishes, fuel, dinner and dessert plates, napkin rolls and cocktail napkins, favors and disposable cameras, framed photos, tablecloths, vases, white light strands, serving dishes and utensils, cold drinks and cups, boxes of champagne flutes, and all those flowers in huge buckets of water. "And we've still got all that food upstairs that's gotta go, too. There's no way it's gonna fit into my car!" He huffed and puffed and complained about every item that he placed in his truckbed. "You're gonna hafta come over here and tell me what goes!" he commanded. "EVERYTHING on the ping-pong table goes," I called from the back of my car, where I was loading buckets of flowers. "What about this?" I didn't look up. "Did it come from the ping-pong table?" I asked. It had. "EVERYTHING from the ping-pong table," I told him again. "What about this?" he asked a moment later. "EVERYTHING FROM THE PING-PONG TABLE," I said through clenched teeth. And, incredibly, a moment later, he asked yet again, "What about this?" I narrowed my eyes, took a deep breath, looked straight at him, and said very calmly, "Yes. It goes."
Sometimes I amaze myself.
We picked up the cheese tray, shrimp rings, and cole slaw from Walmart's deli. "Be careful with this lid," the lady at the counter told us, as she placed the tray in the bottom of the buggy. "It doesn't really fit this large tray very well." I reminded Fred of her words when he took the tray from me and tried to put it in the backseat of his truck. "I've got it," he said irritably. The tray went one way, the lid went the other way, and I picked grapes and little chunks of Colby and cheddar out of the floorboard of Fred's Toyota pickup for several minutes.
Miss Jane was designated cheese tray holder for the remainder of the journey.
Ariel and Eric had the music blaring and the tables already set up when we arrived at the Cumberland Room. We unloaded both our vehicles and Jane and I went into the kitchen, where I had only a moment to regret that I would not be fully utilizing this fabulous cooking facility. "What an idiot!" I was to remind myself later that night. By the time all the chairs had been set out, and Fred had hooked up the microphone and repeated his necessary, but annoying, "test, test, check one, check two, test, test, check, check, debit card, check," (Oh, what a clever man I married,) Belle and her husband had arrived with the cake.
This was the moment of truth. The moment when we would see the polka-dotted, striped, swirled purple cake, and see if all two hundred-some-odd dollars of it had survived the fifty-plus mile drive, up the steep ridge.
I held my breath as Ariel lifted the lid. It had survived! And it was darling! "OH!" we females said in unison, while Fred made a face and declared it quite the ugliest cake he'd ever seen. No one paid him any attention.
Miss Jane and I went back into the kitchen and put together huge bowls of tossed salad. Romaine lettuce, a little iceberg, and several different varieties of field greens, with grape tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, purple cabbage, and freshly sliced strawberries.
We got the rolls together and set them out to rise on one end of the long stainless steel island. Ariel and Belle joined us after a while, and we put together the floral centerpieces. I hadn't worried myself over the zinnias; they were pretty, and I liked the idea of them for table arrangements; but those huge sunflowers...I must admit, I'd had my doubts. I was wrong, though. They looked great, and the tables and vases were large enough to accommodate their size.
When the kitchen work was finally done, Miss Jane and I ventured out into the ballroom. What an amazing site awaited us! The huge, cavernous room had been completely transformed. The white linen tablecloths hung to the floor on the seven round tables, set in a circle around the stone dance floor. Wide black satin ribbons ran the length of the tables and fell halfway to the floor on opposite sides. Each table had a vase of flowers, votive candles, a white disposable camera, and nine place settings: the clear plates, embossed with purple bride and groom, little tulle packs of personalized M&Ms, tied with lilac ribbon, and cutlery,
folded inside black napkins and tied with silver-edged lilac ribbon. Even the plain black chairs seemed less utilitarian and somehow almost elegant now, perfectly coordinated with the ribbons and napkins. The banquet-styled head table was similarly dressed, but with empty vases, which would later hold the bride's and matron of honor's bouquets. White lights glowed softly from beneath the tablecloths around the buffet and cake tables. The men needed just a bit of assistance with the chafing dishes on the buffet tables; just a bit. After all, our men were learned in music, martial arts, and truck driving. They couldn't be expected to know how to assemble a chafing dish. But they didn't miss it by much.The cake! As cute as it had been fresh out of the box, it was even more darling now. Ariel and Belle had placed the bride and groom cats on top and decorated the entire creation with bright silk flowers. This had been another area of much concern for me, and again, I had worried needlessly. It was adorable.
I do a lot of needless worrying.
I got to work on the gift tables. Ariel and Eric had set two tables in an "L," and had hung them with white tablecloths. Now I grabbed four empty boxes, set them upside down on the tables, and draped the two remaining tablecloths over the whole shebang. "What are you DOING?" Fred asked curiously. "I'm building plateaus," I told him. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doin'." I removed bubble wrapped framed photos from boxes and set them here and there among the folds and drapes of the tablecloths, surrounding the large sepia engagement photo I'd had done for Ariel and Eric at Hobby Lobby, as a wedding gift. I rearranged only a few of them, then curled wide purple and lilac ribbons in and out among them. It looked great. Even Fred complimented my creation.
We were done. I gave a list of instructions to Belle's husband, the Beast, who would hustle back immediately following the ceremony, in order to light candles, receive the catering order, and set out last minute items. I hesitate to refer to him as the Beast, as he is anything BUT beastly. Dear man, I don't know how we would have gotten through the day without him.
Ariel gave the light switch a slow turn, until she was satisfied with the diffused light in the room. I snapped a few pictures, gave everything a last approving glance, and we locked up. I had hoped we'd been done here by noon, and when we got in the car, I noted the time: 12:01. Right on schedule. Good thing, because we still had lots to do at home.
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