Page 35 of Save the Date
“Of course,” Gordon Trapnell said. “We can walk around and show you the layout after we chat. Libba has graciously given us the run of the place.”
“I forgot to ask Marie—how many guests?”
Patricia sighed deeply. “That’s been a matter of controversy. Brooke and her mother have some quaint notion about a small, intimate affair. But they totally overlook the fact that with Gordon’s and my extensive social and business contacts, not to mention the Strayhorns,’ we’re talking about three hundred people minimum—and that’s cutting the guest list right to the bone.”
“To the bone,” Gordon said, nodding agreement.
“And do you have a budget in mind?” Cara asked.
“Not really,” Patricia said. She gave Gordon a warm smile, then reached over and squeezed her husband’s hand. “How do you put a price tag on a father’s love for his only daughter?”
“Exactly,” Cara replied.
Really? This is about demonstrating love for Brooke? Not about showing your “extensive business and social contacts” just how much money you have to throw around on an overblown wedding your kid doesn’t even really want?
Cara tapped an icon marked “Centerpieces.” “Since it’s a July wedding, I thought we might stick to cooler colors, blues, greens, white, cream, maybe some lavenders and silvers.” She glanced from Brooke to Gordon. “Are those colors Brooke likes?”
Gordon glanced at his wife for guidance. Patricia rolled her eyes. “Brooke doesn’t really have much of a sense of color at all, bless her heart. Or style, for that matter. As far as I can tell, she wears navy blue or black suits to work, and she lives in running clothes on the weekend.”
“Oh.”
“Wethought, that is, Gordon and I thought, it might be exciting to do something really dramatic with the tables. We were at a wedding in Charleston last month, that was simplystunning.The designer had spent time in India, and he designed these amazing pierced brass vessels and low tables, with piles and piles of cushions and Oriental rugs, and there were no flowers at all, just flickering lights, and piles of exotic fruits, pomegranates and what have you, and the tablecloths were embroidered, with mirrors…”
“No flowers?” Cara said blankly.
Then what the hell am I doing here?
“But we wouldn’t want to copy that look, not exactly,” Patricia added hastily. “And anyway, that was just to give you an idea of the kind of emotions we’d like to elicit with our event.”
It’s a wedding, Cara thought.And it’s not actually your wedding. It’s Brooke’s and Harris’s.
“What we’re looking for, Cara, is something absolutely original,” Gordon said.
“Something that hasn’t been done in Savannah. None of those tired old post-deb looks you see all the time,” Patricia added. “And to be perfectly honest, Cara, we have looked at a presentation by another designer which was beyond amazing. So I guess what Gordon is asking from you, is to be amazing.”
Cara looked down at her iPad.Screw this. Be amazing? That’s your design mandate?
She willed herself to smile. “Would you like to look at some of my ideas now?”
Patricia scrolled rapidly through the photos and sketches Cara had assembled, and five minutes later, handed the iPad back.
“Interesting,” she said. “Lots of silver vases and such. Very traditional though, wouldn’t you say?”
“Well, yes. I assumed that since the wedding and reception were being held in a historic home, you’d want the flowers to fit in with the setting. But I’m not necessarily tied to any one look. We do lots of cutting-edge weddings. In fact, tomorrow, we’re doing the décor for a wedding in an old cotton warehouse down on River Street, and the bride requested an industrial, steampunk look, with some goth elements mixed in.”
“Goth?” Gordon looked to his wife for interpretation.
“Oh, you know, Gordie. Those kids who wander around with their faces made up with white powder and black-lined eyes and lips, like something out of a Halloween fright show.”
“People do that at weddings? Adults?” He shook his head. “Thank God Brooke was never into that sort of thing.”
Cara couldn’t help herself. There was no way these people were going to hire her, so why not have a little fun with them? “Instead of tablecloths, we’re topping the tables with long sheets of rusted corrugated tin, from old farmhouses. And we’re doing centerpieces with all black flowers, and animal skulls.”
Patricia’s pale eyes bugged out slightly. “Not… real animal skulls.”
“Oh sure,” Cara said cheerfully. “The groom is a big hunter, so he’s collected things over the years from his own kills and walks in the woods. I’ve managed to incorporate rattlesnake rattles in the bride’s bouquet, strung on strips of deer rawhide. Plus, I’ve been buying additional skulls and antlers online for months now.”
“Dear God,” Patricia said faintly. She looked a little ill.
