Chapter 33 The Mothers’ Tea
Chapter33 The Mothers’ Tea
The Mother of the Bride
Amid an elaborate tea service in a paneled room at the Nottingham Forest clubhouse filled with flowers, women, and women dressed
in flowers, Alexa finished her walk around the tables to say hello to all the guests. Abigail circled in the opposite direction,
stopping to introduce herself to a Montecito-heavy crowd, pointing out her daughter, Sarah, her aunt and three cousins who
had made the trip from Simsbury, and her dear friend Bernadette. She received a warm welcome from all, including the Merry
Widows. Penny weaved in and out, giving hugs and kisses to the mothers of her high school friends, the shop owners and business
associates of Alexa’s, and the other local luminaries who had no place else to be the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
The social choreography of all wedding events was complex and exhausting, exacerbated by high heels and shapewear. But the
three women performed their roles with enthusiasm and grace.
The Merry Widows had insisted they be allowed to host a mothers’ tea for Alexa and Abigail. Months ago, when the subject came up, Alexa protested that they were already doing so much for the wedding they didn’t need to host another event. But they refused to back down. “We all host so many charity events for people we barely know or hardly like,” Mitsy had said that day. “Let us do something for people we truly enjoy.”
Mitsy explained further, “It’s not a shower. There are no gifts, no games. People come, they chat, they nibble, they meet
Abigail, and then they leave. We’d like Penny to make an appearance if she has time, of course, but this tea is for you and
Abigail. A chance to relax before the hustle-bustle. It also means one less day of activities you have to schedule for out-of-town
guests. The women can come to the tea and the men can play golf or bridge here at the club.” She made it all sound so sensible
that Alexa couldn’t say no.
Ming, who loved any opportunity for cucumber sandwiches and mini cheesecakes, jumped in. “We’ll invite the Montecito crowd
who aren’t coming to the wedding. If they’re not going to Hawaii or Palm Springs for the holidays, they’ll be so glad to get
an invitation to go out during what is normally a dead week that they’ll forget you excluded them from the main event. Now
that your family is coming from Greece, your sisters-in-law and your nieces are invited, and Abigail’s friend Bernadette,
her family, and those two who did all the flowers at the museum. What were their names again?”
“Lucinda and Martha,” Mitsy said, as if proper New England names were her specialty. “I loved talking to them at the Greek
restaurant. We’ve stayed in touch. They’re staying with me. They’re on the flower team for the wedding. They’ve been drying
hydrangeas since September.”
The months between that conversation and the actual events had been a blur for Alexa. As soon as Penny and Chase reconfirmed their wedding, the planning had been nonstop. But the first order of business was to get Penny to agree to limit the stress that had caused her to melt down in the first place by tightening the guest list, whittling down the bells and whistles, and putting aside the anxiety of what she should do versus what she wanted to do. Alexa was con vinced that with a smaller, simpler wedding, Penny would thrive as a bride, just as she had seen her do in the office. Alexa suggested they each sit at their own big conference table with a calendar and a whiteboard to work out the entire plan, like their days together at Odyssey Vacations. Penny agreed, and the two connected over videoconference to hammer out the details.
But what Penny didn’t know was that Alexa had already solved the size and demographic problems. It had hit Alexa like a bolt
of lightning: Go with what you know. “Penny, I understand you feel like you must reciprocate all those invitations from your
twenties. You were in so many weddings with all those showers and hen parties and bridesmaids’ dresses. Now you never even
see most of those couples. You said yourself that you don’t want your wedding to be a bunch of college friends partying. So,
I have an idea on how to keep the wedding guest list small and intimate but include people from college and work in another
capacity should they wish to join you. Here’s my pitch: Invite them on your honeymoon.”
“That sounds romantic,” Penny deadpanned.
“It’s called a buddymoon and, according to Aunt B’s website, it’s all the rage. She’s not for it, but I am.” Alexa went on
to explain her idea of putting together a reasonably priced package to Greece for twenty or so friends of the couple so that
they could share in the honeymoon but be left out of all wedding-related activities. “No showers, no gifts, no expensive destination
wedding at the holidays. Instead, invite them to spend five days on Patmos with you and Chase. All vacation, no drama, very
reasonable cost. We can block out the whole hotel for five days so it’s like your own private villa but you’re not in charge
of anything, and everybody gets their own room. The family will host a party with food, music, dancing—but easy, easy. Imagine
one long table in the stone courtyard filled with your friends and family on the island, a view of the sea, white lights.
A celebration but not a wedding! Pure fun. Simple but lively. I’ve talked to your uncles and they would love to do this for
you. As a gift.”
“Is this in exchange for me inviting them to our wedding?” Penny wagered with warmth in her voice.
“That’s not how families work, Penny. You know that. But, yes, you should have some Diamandis family at your wedding. You’d
regret not sharing your day with them. Not all the cousins, of course, but the core group,” Alexa responded smoothly, having
thought out this entire presentation for this specific exchange. “After the Patmos party, you and Chase can slip off to someplace
private for your real honeymoon. For your friends who want to stay longer, Odyssey can put together five days on another island,
something sexy like Santorini, if they want to opt in. We are in the travel business, after all. With our connections and
your uncles’ hotels and restaurants, it’s cheaper for your friends to go to Greece than to come to Montecito. They get a holiday
and you get to include them in your new life as a couple.”
What Alexa didn’t say was that it was cheaper for her, too. Even with the generous help of the Widows, the wedding was still
going to cost a small fortune. Redirecting the college friends and others to Greece and keeping the numbers in Montecito smaller
and more manageable on every front was a win for Alexa, too.
Penny looked at her mother with a mixture of admiration and relief. “Mom, this is a brilliant idea. You’re a genius. And yes.
Yes! This is the solution! Who wouldn’t rather go to Greece on vacation instead of sitting through another wedding? I’ll be
a hero bride! But first, I have to talk to Chase.”
“Yes, absolutely. Chase should be on board. High season would be very expensive. Are you okay with June or September for your
honeymoon?”
“June is perfect. Before the campaign gets overwhelming. Late June if we can so it’s a bit warmer.”
“And don’t worry, you’ll have the top team at Odyssey working on this. And the best trip leaders.”
“You mean you?”
“Oh, no. I’m too old for your crowd. I couldn’t keep up with the day drinking and the disco nights. Plus, I’m considering cutting back on work,” Alexa said, thinking of last night with Timmo and hoping she wasn’t blushing. “I tried to lure Madison away from the wedding business. But she’s committed to commitment, I guess. But she has another sorority sister who she thinks would be a great trip leader. I’ll get her up to speed, send her on a few low-stress trips before June.”
“I think this could be a giant travel trend, Mom. Maybe this is our new business avenue. Think about it. The Odyssey Wedding!”
“Or the Wedding Odyssey.” Alexa felt a surge of parental pride. She had solved a major issue for her adult child without making
it obvious she was solving a major issue. And the way Penny said “our new business avenue.” Did that mean they might be a
team again? Alexa hoped so. She would wait until after the buddymoon to ask her about work. But from that moment on, the wedding
planning was smooth sailing.
Now, at the mothers’ tea, surrounded by the women in her life who had gotten her up, gotten her going, and gotten her through
all those years as an only parent, a business owner, and an outsider in an insider’s town, Alexa felt at peace.
So far, everything had gone to plan. Her family was ensconced in Roxanne’s beach cottage, already treating it like their own real estate by hosting an impromptu dinner last night. Abigail’s family and guests were taking up every available room at La Mariposa. Simon, Hazel, and the twins had arrived from England before Christmas and swore they might never leave, nestled in a rental house near the beach but with its own heated pool. Simon and the boys spent hours on the beach, kicking the soccer ball or flying kites. Hazel, with the help of a list from Mitsy, mapped out all the shops and restaurants that the local royals were said to frequent in hopes of a sighting to impress her friend in Ledbury. No luck yet, but in the meantime, she had acquired an entirely new wardrobe of beachy separates and flowing dresses. At the tea, Hazel was wearing some sort of floral maxi dress that made her look ten years younger and like she was on vacation in Mallorca. Alexa even spotted her and Simon in a steamy embrace as they parted ways earlier—she for the tea, he for the tee. There was some magic in the Montecito breeze.
The rest of the guests were arriving tomorrow and would be scattered throughout Montecito, Santa Barbara, and Summerland in
hotels and rentals. Setup would begin at the wedding venue in the morning. The rehearsal dinner would be for family only.
The after-party, for “the young people,” would be at a brew pub with an outdoor firepit and sponsored by Lloyd in lieu of
a bachelor party because a congressional candidate couldn’t risk one wild night in today’s political climate. Ricky had secured
a fleet of cars and vans to move the wedding guests around from event to event without clogging up the streets of Montecito,
which frowned upon parked cars in private neighborhoods. And all the details of the wedding day timeline had been approved
and committed to an Excel spreadsheet by Madison Meadows, from morning coffee to hair and makeup to the walk down the aisle
to the first dance. The brunch on the morning after would be hosted by the Diamandis clan at the beach house and feature the
breakfast burritos that Penny requested. It would all be perfect.
For now, Alexa’s only job was to sip tea and relax. Penny had arrived to say hello before heading out to get her nails done
with some high school friends. She floated around the room in another white dress from a seemingly endless supply of white
dresses. “Retail therapy at sample sales,” she had explained to her mother as she unpacked her suitcases back at their condo,
the two of them living together again for the last few weeks.
Alexa was so proud she could have watched her daughter all day, but the drop-in was short and sweet. It seemed mainly to say hello to Toots and thank her again for her generosity, a fitting gesture. Now, it was back to being the MOB and engaging with the MOG and each other’s people. The guests at her table were already involved in lively conversations. The Greek cousins settled in seamlessly, comfortably conversing in English. Iris was fascinated by Hazel Fox’s apple orchards, and Chloe was chatting with two of Alexa’s most trusted employees about a new hot spot in Athens. Mitsy caught up with her former daughter-in-law Helen, who had driven up from Pasadena with her newish husband Patrick, an archaeologist. Frannie and Roxanne recounted the details of Operation Butterfly to Charlene, the mother of one of Penny’s high school friends. Toots and Ming had their heads together about some new scheme that might involve Sarah and Lloyd. There was laughter and love bubbling up throughout the room.
She caught Abigail’s eye and they shared a smile and a wave. They both knew that this was the kickoff event of a nonstop three
days. Damn the weather report. A little rain was a good omen, wasn’t it?