Chapter 56
Allie:
Guess what guess what guess what
Meg:
New puppies?
Luna:
Sidney bought you a crown because you’re a fucking queen?
Isent over a photo of the red beryl and gold ring on my finger, held aloft next to my face where I had the biggest smile possible.
Meg:
CONGRATS!
Luna:
Get it, girl!
I phoned Meg first. A group call would be faster, but it seemed more appropriate to ask them individually. “So obviously I want you to be in the bridal party. Would you want to be my maid of honor?”
“I’d be honored,” Meg replied. “Pun intended.”
“Yay! I know it’s kind of soon, but I love him a lot and I got super tired of just waiting for time to pass so that it would seem like a more appropriate milestone.”
“When you know, you know,” said Meg. “That sounds like you asked him and not the other way around.”
“I did! Though he was planning to the same night, so I only beat him by a few hours.”
Meg chuckled. “That’s amazing! He took Luna and me ring shopping with him so we could weigh in.”
“Oh my god, really? When was this?”
“Not too long before I adopted Prince. It was very sweet. When do you need me to start maid of honor duties?”
“I love that he included you two! That’s even cuter than I expected. Also, not immediately on the duties. We still have to tell Sidney’s family, but we can start wedding planning relatively soon.”
I chatted with her for about half an hour, going over some of the vague plans I already had and listening to her suggestions before the doorbell startled me. “Meg, I’ll talk to you in a bit.”
“No problem. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I trotted over to answer the door and found Luna standing there with a bouquet of red gladiolus.
“Loons, what are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t celebrate your bonding because it freaked me out, but I trust you to know what you want if you’re getting engaged, and I want to be able to celebrate that.” She passed over the bouquet and pulled me into a hug.
“You’re way too sweet,” I said. “I was only a few minutes away from calling you to see if you wanted to be in the bridal party.”
“You want me to be in the bridal party?” Luna asked, looking like she was about to cry.
“Of course I do. You’re one of my favorite people on the planet. Why wouldn’t I want you in the bridal party?”
“I don’t know.” She dropped her head, looking sheepish. “I kind of figured you would pick someone who was more pro-wedding and pro-bonding.”
“Loons, if you don’t want to, that’s okay.”
“No, no, I absolutely want to be there for you. I never…expected. Regardless, thank you. I’d love to be in the bridal party. I’ll do anything you need. Just say the word and I’m on the job, anytime, night or day.”
I laughed and gave her a squeeze. “I don’t anticipate being that much work, but I appreciate the enthusiasm. I’m pretty sure Sidney is going to ask his brother and sister to be in the bridal party on his side, so once that’s all worked out, I guess everyone can meet. Oh my god, I can’t wait for you to meet all the Marinos. I think you’ll like them.”
“I hope so,” Luna said with a laugh. “Would be pretty damn awkward if I didn’t. But I’ll be good no matter what.”
“I believe you. I guess I should tell my mom. I got too excited and told you and Meg first.”
“I feel like that’s something a mother would want to know. She’s gonna be so excited.”
“Mama Marino too. Maybe I’ll assign them to each other and they can do whatever it is parents of the bride and groom do.”
“Sounds like the perfect evil plan to me.” Luna beamed. “I don’t have a lot of advice on wrangling moms, but if anyone can, it would be you.”
I squealed with happiness and crushed Luna to me so hard she squeaked. “I’m getting married!”
“Fuck yeah, you are. Where’s your husband-to-be?”
“He’s on the phone with his mom in the bedroom.”
Luna hugged me again. “I really am super happy for you. And I promise not to let any of my weirdness about marriage pop up during this process. You’re trusting me with a sacred duty and I’m going to be the best fucking bridesmaid you’ve ever seen.”
“I believe you.”
“I guess I should probably let you go. I’m sure you’re both eager to roll around on each other after a proposal. I just really wanted to make sure that you knew I supported you.”
“Loons, you are too fucking cute.”
And so were all of the Marinos when we went over the next evening to give them the news in person, though Sidney’s mom had inevitably spread the word as soon as she heard. I was excited to start planning now that we had confirmed our bridal party and would have some partners in crime for all the details.
Nicky and Luca were going to stand on Sidney’s side, and Meg and Luna would stand on mine. All the parents were super jazzed. I had assumed everyone would be excited, and it was a relief to know my estimation was accurate.
The next weekend, the whole bridal party got together so we could make a plan of attack with wedding organization. We could have hired an event planner, but my friends and in-laws had all offered their time and expertise, and I absolutely loved the idea of planning this event with all of them.
Luca nearly dropped the tea tray he was making when Luna walked into the door, his eyes gone wide and adoring as she skipped inside and hugged me. Meg followed more sedately after her.
“Luca, this is Meg and Luna. Girls, this is Luca.”
His cheeks flushed red as a beet when Luna waved hello to him. Nicky joined us and I made sure everyone was introduced before we convened in the living room with our drinks and snacks. Luca’s adoring gaze only left Luna when someone asked him a direct question.
“How many people are you thinking?” Luna asked.
“Maybe a couple hundred?” Sidney replied.
“Okay.” Luna took the laptop from Luca and added the information into our shared drive. “Luca, can you please go through the list of all the venues I found and remove any that won’t be able to accommodate that many people?”
“You bet.” Luca was way too cute, with his flushed cheeks and bright eyes. He’d been entranced by Luna from the moment she walked in the door, but I didn’t want to make either of them uncomfortable so I kept my amusement to myself for now.
Meg was researching florists, Luca and Luna were on venues, Sidney was checking out catering options, Nicky was looking at stationary companies for invitations, and I was trying to figure out a vague schedule for when everything would have to be booked, when we would send out save-the-dates and invitations, and when we would have the bridal shower. Ten million things were on my list, but it didn’t seem so overwhelming with five other people to help me manage it.
I knew we couldn’t plan it all in a single afternoon, but after a few hours we were actually able to knock out a decent amount of the initial list. We had narrowed things down, sent out inquiries to the various companies, and had at least some semblance of a plan to move forward.
“I’ll pick up all of the sample binders before our next meeting,” Luna said. “We have to pick your wedding colors and make sure that all of the companies can accommodate.”
“I had no idea this was so much work,” Luca added. “We’re absolutely sure we don’t want to hire anyone to help?”
“Don’t underestimate your sister’s organizational powers,” Nicky said with a laugh. “It seems like a lot, because it is, but we can definitely handle it. Plus, if we need to, there’s like a billion Marino cousins we can tap for different tasks.”
Sidney laughed. “You’re definitely right about that. No shortage of cousin power.”
“I think an August wedding is going to be beautiful,” Nicky said, smiling. “We have a whole year and a bit before the date you picked and we can definitely throw you the party of the century with that much time.”
I stared down at my beautiful ring and wiggled excitedly. “I really want to go wedding dress shopping but it’s probably too early.”
“Fuck too early.” Luna took my hand in hers. “We can do that whenever you want. You just say the word and I’ll book us an appointment at every bridal place in the city.”
“Twist my rubber arm, why don’t you. Okay, it’s not a rush but I’m happy to try stuff on whenever we can get that sorted.”
There were plenty of styles that I loved, but I was so ready for that moment when you put on the dress and burst into tears because of how perfect it was. The only thing I was more excited for would be seeing Sidney’s face when I walked down the aisle toward him, wearing it.