Chapter 23 The Strategy
Chapter23 The Strategy
The Mother of the Bride The Mother of the Groom
As Alexa stormed up the front walk of Ming’s house the morning after the cancellation, Abigail looked out the window and knew
something was happening. Alexa looked like a woman on fire: fiercely determined and, honestly, smoking hot in an unexpected
white jumpsuit with a deep V neckline. She could really pull off almost any look with her height, Abigail admitted to herself,
regretting she hadn’t packed more resort wear and less navy blue. The knock on the front door pulled her back to the business
at hand, undoing the wedding. Isn’t that why Madison Meadows had arrived at ten on the dot, summoned by Alexa? They had a
wedding to unplan.
Abigail, coffee in hand, opened the front door, informing everyone in the house who might be interested, “Alexa has arrived!”
Quick greetings were exchanged by the assembled team, which included Ming, Sarah, and Madison.
“I’ve been up most of the night and I’ve made a decision,” Alexa announced. “We are not canceling the wedding. I don’t care what my daughter said on that call last night. Or the fact that she isn’t returning any of my texts right now. Yes, we need to give them the time and space to work this out. But we cancel nothing.”
Abigail could almost hear Alexa’s voice say, “Do you understand?” even though she didn’t actually say it. So did the wedding
coordinator, because the look on Madison Meadows’s face read one part terror and two parts “Amazing!”
Ming burst into a round of applause. “That is how you plan a wedding!”
The line made no sense, like the throwaway tagline on an action-movie poster, but Ming really sold it and it riled up the
team.
“I’m all in,” Abigail declared, a phrase she usually only used to indicate her dedication to neighborhood beautification projects.
“Go, MOB. Go, MOG,” Sarah singsonged while doing her best running man.
“Tell me what you need, Ms.Diamandis. I’m at your disposal. We’ll plan the wedding like it’s... actually going to be a
wedding,” Madison vowed, clearly picking the intentions of the woman paying her fee over the intentions of the bride.
In the last twelve hours, Madison had suffered professional whiplash, thanks to a sob-filled voicemail from Penny informing
her the wedding was off and an early morning email from Alexa telling her the ceremony was on. The email included information
about La Mariposa, the involvement of the Widows, and a carefully constructed to-do list to execute in the next thirty-six
hours. She immediately Google Earthed Toots’s house and knew her destiny. Once she saw the splendor and envisioned the wedding
as Alexa had described it, there was no way she was dropping this event from her portfolio. If it happened, she wanted to
be there for it.
“Here’s what I think,” Alexa said, beckoning the crew and pulling a medium-size whiteboard out of her bag. “We go full steam
ahead on the ceremony and reception at Toots’s house. Madison, you got the to-do list, what do you have for us?”
On cue, Madison fired up her tablet and started taking the assembled crowd through some visuals. “I’m executing the to-do list as instructed, Ms. Diamandis. Since today is Saturday, we’re going to check a lot off the list because Sunday in the summer in Montecito is rosé all day for wedding vendors. We got a little lucky because our floral designer had a Thursday night gig, so she’s open today. In one hour, we’ll meet with Flowers by Flora. She’s newish to the area, originally from Carmel, but she’s already done small events for a few local influencers and...” And here Madison lowered her voice and swiped her screen to reveal a fairylike redheaded creature clutching a wicker basket, standing next to Gwyneth. “You-know-who. A moonrise ceremony. Look at the depth of the shades of white in these arrangements. All the colors of the moon. Amazing!”
Abigail studied the image closely and nodded. The baskets were loose and natural but filled with style. “Stunning. Sophisticated.”
“Greek!” Alexa added. “I mean, like the wildflowers poking through the cracks in the ancient stones of Patmos.” They all thought
she might cry.
Madison put her hand to her heart. “I’m glad you feel that way about her. Because she feels that way about this wedding. When
I told her about the Merry Widows providing ‘found florals’ and ‘gathered greens,’ she said that kind of organic sourcing
made for a rich bouquet and a fantastic Instagram post. Plus, foraging is very of the moment. Also, she’d be honored to work
with such acclaimed local gardeners, who are part of such a beautiful community of crones.”
“‘Crones’ is a strong word,” Ming said sharply. “We prefer ‘wise women.’”
“Of course. Understood. Amazing. After our meeting with Flora, it’s cake time. Room for Cake, who promise to incorporate blue buttercream and a butterfly motif into the design of the display.” (The butterflies were Toots’s idea and the Widows agreed it would be charming.) “Cake meadows, no relation to me, Madison Meadows, are very popular now. I suggest a trio of flavors hidden amid the blooms and butterflies. One lemon olive oil, one chocolate, and one coconut.” Madison swiped to a photo of a tiered cake hidden among a three-dimensional floral wreath, so really the best of a wedding and the worst of a funeral in one concept. It was a no from Alexa, but Madison’s enthusiasm was so endearing, she didn’t want to shoot her down right away.
“I’m not so sure about the meadow concept. Penny didn’t want too many trends incorporated. But let’s keep an open mind and
taste that cake, shall we?” Alexa said in her warmest tone of the morning.
“Great. Finally, in the late afternoon, we’ll meet with Zina the caterer for some preliminary ideas and to establish a budget.
Her specialty is Greek and Mediterranean. She’s a personal friend of Penny’s so this could get tricky?” From the question
mark in her voice, it was clear that she didn’t want the bride to find out about the meeting with Zina.
Despite Abigail’s misgivings on ethnic food at the wedding, she wanted to be a team player. “We’ll tell Zina that we have
Penny’s best interests at heart and to keep the tasting on the down-low. We can order dinner to go from her to make our time
worthwhile. My treat. If that’s all right with you, Ming?” Abigail offered, and her host accepted.
“If we can nail all this down today, we can work on linens and rentals tomorrow,” Madison promised.
Alexa nodded. She liked this Madison, and she’d already decided to save her from a career planning weddings and offer her a job in the travel business, but not until January. “We proceed as if this is a blip in the planning. A minor blip! Madison says we have until the first of November to cancel before losing most of the deposits. And, if I pay for a cake for a wedding that never happens, I’ll eat it myself,” Alexa vowed. Again, the “Do you understand!” was implied.
Hearing Alexa use her imperious Anjelica Huston voice, Abigail knew exactly how she pulled off travel miracles for her clients.
It was like she was willing the couple to re-engage and keeping the plans in place was her secret weapon.