Planning Forever After (Book 3, Lonstino & Greenwood Series)

Chapter 21 - Officiant

ABIGAIL

Most weddings happen with minor hiccups that guests barely notice. We deal with them gracefully and in a timely manner. This wedding must be cursed, and I had a bad feeling about it since the moment we started planning it. Thomas and I are tag teaming with Didier, because we foresaw it won't be easy.

I recently learned some yoga breathing patterns from Dennis and I've been trying my best to make use of that knowledge. We knew in advance that the families of the bride and groom don't get along. In the beginning, we didn't feel surprised about the fact since we have worked on other weddings and events where that's the case. The most recent being Dennis and Carter's engagement party. But a few hours ago, we were working on setting up the event when both mothers arrived to 'supervise' our work. It was fine since they stayed on opposite sides of the room and Thomas and I had agreed to be the point of contact for each of them. Didier was accommodating tables when the mother of the groom told him it wasn't a good idea because they were too close to the dancing area. Didier looked at me, begging for help with his eyes.

"Mrs. De Luccia, here is the space arrangement that Silvano and Lilah agreed to," I showed her the map with the floor plan with the table arrangements signed by the couple. "As you see, the tables are right where they should be. The space is limited and we have to make forty tables fit in it."

"Those two probably had their heads on the clouds with all the planning, and probably you obliged them to sign that paper without taking a good look at it," her arrogant tone made me want to slap her, but I simply breathed in and out.

Silvano and Lilah had these plans for a week, gave feedback on them, and sent us the signed copy.

"Aida, why don't you and your surgeries go elsewhere, and let the professionals do their job," Mrs. Jones said.

My mouth went dry from the anxiety and Didier stopped what he was doing, going into alert mode since this could get ugly.

"Don't make me want to rip those ridiculous extensions off your head."

At that moment, Thomas walked in and told them firmly that today was about Silvano and Lilah, and if they couldn't keep their personal issues under control that he was going to ban them from the wedding. They left the venue, each through a different door, and not even ten minutes passed when one guy from the waiting staff came running inside yelling that there was a fight outside.

We all left what we were doing and ran outside. Mrs. Jones and Mrs. De Luccia were on each other's faces, having a heated discussion. Mrs. Jones took off her dressy jacket and smacked it on the dirty floor of the parking lot, then pulled up the sleeves of her blouse before jumping on Mrs. De Luccia. Didier and Thomas got in between them and held them back while their faces were red, their makeup ruined, their hands were in fists at the sides of their bodies. Thomas told them to leave and only come back by the time the ceremony begins or he would call the police on them.

We returned to mount the rental tables and while going through the boxes, I counted fewer tablecloths than we need. If the couple had chosen white ones, it wouldn't have been a problem because we always have some spares in case we need to mount an extra table to accommodate last minute guests. But the bride insisted on lavender tablecloths to match her damned flowers. Thomas has been on the phone since the unfortunate discovery trying to get hold of the owner of the rental company without success.

"Thomas?" Marcos, our lighting vendor, calls my brother's attention. "There aren't enough power outlets in that wall. Do you mind if I place some extensions? I don't want to mess the decorations, so I can hide them behind the curtains."

Thomas gives Marcos the look he gets when his brain is working at a million miles per hour.

"I'm good with that. Did you bring extra equipment or just what was specified in the contract?" He asks with a hopeful face and I wonder what he has in mind.