No one in the room laughed, and Martin waved her away. Guess it’s too early for jokes.
He began writing on the sketch pad in neat print. “All right, we’ve got the bride’s dress, venue, and invitations taken care of, correct?” he reiterated as he wrote.
“Correct,” Nancy said, smoothing her fingers over the red gemstones draped around her neck. The jewelry added sparkle to the white blazer and capri jeans she was wearing. She sat on the sofa with her arms crossed.
“Okay!” Martin continued scribbling. “We’ve got a lot to do and only four weeks left! Let’s brainstorm some ideas right now, and I’ll call some vendors this afternoon. What theme are you envisioning?”
Lexi leaned forward in her seat.
This was going to be fun. She had already thought long and hard about the vibe she wanted the wedding to have. “I’m thinking something like, ‘Rustic Romance,’ ” she announced, sweeping her hands through the air. “Lots of decorations with reclaimed wood and twinkle lights. The bridesmaids could wear flower crowns in their hair.…” Lexi smiled thinking back to when she was a little girl making crowns for her sisters and friends out of the white clover in their backyard. These would be much prettier, with actual flowers instead of weeds. “Oh! And I think it would be adorable if the bridesmaids carried adoptable puppies instead of bouquets. I saw that on Pinterest, and it was so sweet.”
Nancy squished her face in distaste. “Um… flower crowns are a little… how should I say—Bohemian.”
Lexi looked up in confusion. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I see the wedding theme as more jazzy elegance rather than rustic.”
“Oh yes,” Martin agreed definitively. “I mean, it needs to match that fabulous dress you bought, right?”
Lexi nodded.
He had a point. The dress was very sparkly. It might not pair well with the country chic décor she had been imagining. She hadn’t even thought about that when she purchased it.
Martin put his hands on his head like he was having a brilliant idea. “Let’s call it ‘Southern Glitz.’ ” He wrote the phrase in block letters on the giant paper and underlined it. “Here’s what I’m thinking: Forget the flower crowns and puppies. You and your bridesmaids will walk down holding white glitter parasols. It says ‘We’re classic but also modern and fun.’ ”
Lexi looked up with wide eyes. “Are you talking about those fancy little umbrellas?” All she could envision were those tacky things covered in sequins and feathers that krewe members bopped around with during Mardi Gras parades. Her heart started to race.
He snapped his skinny fingers. “Exactly!”
She sat back in the teal armchair. “Hmmm…”
“I love it!” Nancy said, scooting toward the edge of the sofa in excitement.
Should she say something? That she hated it? Seth’s words from the night before replayed in her mind. She didn’t want to become a bridezilla. She looked at Nancy, whose expression had completely changed. Her eyes were lighting up with excitement as Martin wrote on the easel. It still seemed a little cheesy, but if Nancy liked it, Lexi supposed she could, too. “Okay,” she finally said.
“And speaking of flowers,” Martin continued. “Let’s not just have boring centerpieces for the tables.” He looked up at the ceiling as if he were thinking. He snapped his fingers again. “Picture the most beautiful bouquets of flowers branching out of, wait for it, bird cages painted in shimmery gold.”
Lexi swallowed. “Bird cages?”
“Yeah,” he said confidently. “To celebrate the blooming of our love birds, obviously.” He pivoted on his right foot and ran back to the paper to write it down.
Lexi cringed, wondering if Nancy hated it as much as she did. Hopefully she’d be on her side. She looked over at Seth’s mom.
“Goodness, Martin,” Nancy said, shaking her head. “You’re… brilliant. I wish you would have been around for my wedding.”
Lexi’s eyes grew wide. She actually liked that idea?
Martin did a little spin in celebration of Nancy’s approval. “What are you thinking for music?”
Before Lexi could speak, Nancy chimed in. “Well, obviously a string quartet for the ceremony.”
Martin nodded his head and snapped his fingers. “Yes. And I’ve got the perfect ensemble to call for this.”
Lexi had always pictured her uncle playing the violin as she walked down the aisle. He was a prodigy and always fiddled at their family get-togethers. But it seemed the council had already spoken.
Martin turned back around and looked at Lexi. “And for the reception, what kind of music are you thinking?”
“I just want people to dance,” she said. “My friend had this amazing DJ who played all the popular songs. It was the best wedding I’d ever been to. Maybe we can try to book him?”
Nancy cleared her throat. “Don’t you think a band is so much classier, though?” She put her cup of tea down on the coffee table.
“I have to agree with your mother-in-law on this one,” Martin said, snapping the marker cap. “But a band can play all the fun dance songs—don’t you worry, pumpkin.” He tapped Lexi’s nose with the Sharpie. “I’ve got one in mind that does a truly incredible jazz version of Britney Spears’s ‘Baby One More Time.’ ”
Lexi sighed. If they had a DJ, Britney herself would be singing it. But she didn’t want to be difficult. “Okay.”
They continued brainstorming for the next couple of hours, and it seemed like everything Lexi wanted was shot down by Martin and Nancy.
When she floated the idea of having a craft beer station since Seth was into brewing his own with his buddies from veterinary school, Martin responded, “What about something a little more refined… like a whiskey bar?”
When she suggested lawn games for the cocktail party, Nancy implied it was “a little juvenile, don’t you think?”
And when she told Martin she wanted a chocolate fountain, he made a gagging face. “Those are so 2004!”
Feeling ashamed, Lexi sat back in her chair while they continued brainstorming. She had always prided herself on her sense of fashion and good taste. But now, she was starting to question her instincts. Were her suggestions really that bad?
“Don’t you worry your pretty little heart out,” Martin said, petting Lexi on the head, obviously sensing some tension. “We’re gonna take care of everything.”
Martin and Dixie began swarming the apartment, placing mood boards on the kitchen countertop, linen swatches on the glass coffee table, and calligraphy samples on the tufted chaise lounge. Lexi grabbed a bottle of Perrier from the fridge and stood in the corner, watching them in action. With his Bluetooth headset attached securely to his ear, he began making appointments with vendors and placing orders for the event.
“Rafael! It’s Martin!”
“Jaqueline! It’s Martin!”
“Whitney, darling! It’s Martin!”
Lexi watched the scene in awe. Her charming Airbnb had turned into a full-on wedding headquarters. There was Martin, sweet-talking the vendors, his assistant was crossing things off the wedding checklist left and right, Archie was peacefully sound asleep on the armchair despite all the commotion, and Nancy… Nancy was smiling.