Okay one more chapter then it's the wedding. That's the chapter I've been waiting for. I love writing weddings, especially ones pertaining to Damon and Elena. Enjoy this chapter, it's more or less a filler chapter.
"Do I have to go? I don't really have to go. I'm sure there are tons of potential wedding dresses here in Richmond." I asked as Damon and Mady drove me to the airport. It was the day I was heading to New York to spend the weekend hanging out with Caroline, getting stuff going for the wedding. The most important part of this trip was the wedding dress. The wedding was sneaking up on us quicker than I ever imagined it would and I was caught between being panicked because nothing was done and excitement.
"Yes you have to go. Caroline would castrate me if you didn't show up." He told me and I laughed.
"Wouldn't want that." I said solemnly.
"No we sure wouldn't. Especially if you still want that sibling for Mady after the wedding." He reminded me and I laughed.
"Alright, fine I'll go." I responded with a sigh.
"Good girl. Besides you need to tell me what my irritating younger brother is up to." He reminded me again and I nodded.
"Very true. Can you remind Cami to send me her dress size for when we look at bridesmaids dresses?" I asked him when he parked outside the airport.
"I'll get her to text it to you tonight. I assume she agreed to be in the wedding party?" He asked and I nodded excitedly.
"She sure did. She told me she's never been a part of a wedding party before and she's super excited." I recalled.
"That's good. Now get out of here. You have a plane to catch. I'll see you Monday." He said leaning across the car for a kiss.
"Bye mommy." Mady said and I got out of the car to into the backseat to give her a kiss.
"Bye baby girl." I said before grabbing my bag and watching Damon drive away. When he was gone I walked into the airport and checked in. Once I found my terminal I waited until it was time to board.
When I landed in New York I quickly fled the plane. I was stuck with the most irritating seat mate the world has ever seen. She was a crazy cat lady and she spent the entire flight telling me every single personality trait, medical condition, name and species of cat she had. When the plane landed she had told me about nine of them. I officially knew more about this woman's cats than anyone ever should. At the luggage carousel I grabbed my bag and ran off. I didn't want her to catch up with me, I just wanted to be free of her and back with Caroline.
I heard her before I saw her. A shrill call of my name stopped me and I turned just in time for Caroline to launch herself towards me and wrap her arms around me. I hugged her back tightly until she released me.
"Come. We have much to do." She said and I laughed. She most likely had every second of my day planned out.
"No dress shopping until I get Cami's measurements." I told her and she stopped.
"What's a Cami?" She asked me and I laughed.
"Cami is my new friend and Klaus's girlfriend." I told her.
"Klaus has a new girlfriend?" Caroline asked and there was something strange in her voice.
"You have a new boyfriend too. You've both moved on and that's great. Mady loves Cami." I told her.
"What's she like? Do you think he's pretending she's me?" She asked and I rolled my eyes.
"She's completely nothing like you. Cami is easy-going and low maintenance." I said and Caroline narrowed her eyes.
"I could be low maintenance if I chose to be." She said and I laughed.
"No you couldn't. You are not a low maintenance kind of girl." I told her and she shrugged in agreement.
"So this girl is good?" She asked and I nodded.
"She's so good that she's been named one of my bridesmaids." I told her and she shrugged in response.
"That's it for Klaus talk this weekend. I wish he was still pining over me but hey, it doesn't always work in a girls favour. We need to talk about my guy." She told me and I looked at her. She didn't say anything for a long while until we were tucked into a cab.
"So your boyfriend?" I asked.
"He's meeting us for lunch. But I will warn you now… I'm dating Stefan." She told me and I laughed.
"I so should have seen that one coming." I said shaking my head.
"Why? I never thought Stefan could ever be my type, but we just connect. It's pretty great." She told me with a smile.
"How did that thing all start?" I asked her.
"We were both alone here in New York so we started hanging out. Hanging out became friends and friends became more." She told me and I nodded.
"I'm happy for you Care." I said taking her hand.
"I'm happy too. There was no way I was going stag to your wedding. Especially not if Klaus isn't. " She laughed.
The next day when Caroline and I were back in a cab heading to the fifth dress appointment she had booked for me. I was started to get worried I wouldn't find anything. I had tried on almost twenty dresses and none of them were right. The closest one I found was well over my budget and I refused to go over.
"I'm pretty sure we'll find something here." She said and I sighed. We hadn't even began to look for bridesmaids dresses yet. When we walked into the last appointment Caroline immediately gasped.
"What?" I asked.
"Those are so our bridesmaids dresses." She said pointing to some peachy-pink floor-length dresses. They were simple and I thought Caroline was right.
"I think you're right." I told her happy that something was going to get accomplished. Rebekah looked at them and agreed. I was happy that I had Bex here because she would keep Caroline reined in. Marian, the lady who was assisting us came by and Caroline immediately told her that we wanted those dresses. Caroline gave the assistant her measurements, along with Bonnie's and Cami's. Rebekah gave her hers and the assistant wrote them all down.
"Now which of you is the bride?" She asked and I raised my hand.
"That would be me." I said with a chuckle.
"Well, what are you looking for in your dress?" She asked.
"It's an outdoor wedding in my parents' backyard so I don't want over the top. Lace would be nice, I've always loved lace." I told her and she nodded.
"Well come on back with me, I'll get you settled into a room" She told me and I followed her while Rebekah and Caroline found a place to sit. I had only undressed and put a white robe on before she came back armed with five dresses. She showed me all of them and she convinced me to put a frothy dress on first. It was simple in a way, it was strapless but it fell into a massive ball gown. I couldn't deny that it was pretty but I knew immediately it wasn't me. Caroline and Rebekah agreed with me and I went back in to change into the second one. The second and third weren't bad but they weren't the dress. I would know when I was wearing the dress. The fourth one with the lacy ruffled skirt I really liked and so did Caroline but Rebekah told me it was a bit much. After listening to her say that I knew it was true. It didn't suit my backyard wedding. The skirt was just too busy.
"I know it's feeling disconcerting, not being able to find the dream dress that makes all your fantasies come true dear, but I feel that it's in this store." She told me pulling the final dress off the hanger. She knew exactly how I felt. I wasn't sure I wanted to torture myself anymore. When I slipped the fifth one on me I closed my eyes. There were no mirrors in the change rooms. They didn't want you seeing it until you were out on the floor. I wasn't entirely sure of the reasoning but right now I was thankful. This way Caroline and Rebekah would see it first and tell me if it was a disaster.
"Good or bad?" I asked. This dress was a bit tighter at the top but flowed out gracefully. It felt really nice but I didn't know how it looked. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"That is absolutely beautiful. We should have tried this one first." She told me and I took a deep breath. It was one thing for her to like it, it was a completely different thing for Caroline and Rebekah to agree on it. She led me out and I stepped onto the platform. The assistant was practically required to make me feel better. It was in her job description to tell me I look beautiful.
"So?" I asked hopefully. I was met with a completely slack-jawed Caroline and a Rebekah who was trying to keep from crying.
"That is your dress." Caroline enunciated slowly. The assistant brought out a mirror and showed me and I almost immediately started bawling. This was the dress.
"This is my dress." I said to them.
"Can I help you with anything else? Do you need a veil? Or jewelry?" She asked.
"I think I'd like a veil. Jewelry I've got covered. But I also need a flower girl dress." I told her.
"Of course. How old is the flower girl?" She asked.
"She'll be two at the wedding." I told her and she smiled.
"There are so many perfect ones. Just make sure you get it a bit big and when it comes closer to the time of the wedding you get it altered so it fits well. Children grow so quick." She warned me as she led me to the veils. In the end I just chose a simple one that would just slide into my hair whether it was up or down. I was planning on having it down but that could change at any point before the wedding.
It didn't take me very long to find the perfect dress for Madalyn. It was pure white and lace like mine. It was sleeveless and the straps over her shoulders were lace. The rest of the dress was the same material as mine was under the lace. If it wasn't for the straps it would be the same dress as mine. It was perfect for my little princess. It wasn't floor length which was good for a two year old, I didn't want her tripping over it as she walked down the aisle. It would fall to just below her knees.
"This is perfect." I said to Marian.
"Very pretty. If I were you'd I pair it with a flowered headband. Does the flower girl have lots of hair or no?" She asked.
"Mady has my hair, just in her dads colour. Hair is definitely not a problem." I told her with a chuckle.
"Perfect. You are going to have an absolutely beautiful flower girl. I'll put this order in right now. Would you like it sent here or elsewhere?" She asked.
"I'd like it sent to Richmond." I told her writing down my address on the form.
"Of course. Thank you. I hope you have a great day and a wonderful wedding." She said as Caroline, Rebekah and I left the store. I felt so much lighter now that I had my dress. The biggest part was done.
"So I really like Rebekah's plan for the wedding." I told Caroline as Rebekah and I sat with her waiting for Stefan to return with Chinese food.
"Of course you do. I'm just trying to make it a romantic affair." She sighed.
"I want it to be pretty and fun. You know as well as I do that I'm partial to wildflowers." I reminded her and she sighed again.
"I know that. So we're going bright and flowery?" She clarified and I nodded my head.
"Bright and flowery. Like springtime flowery." I told her hoping she understood what I was requesting.
"Well the wedding is at your parents' house and your mom's yard is always filled to the brim with flowers. My idea would have looked funny." She decided and I smiled. She did understand, it was brilliant. Stefan walked in a few minutes later and grabbed some plates from Caroline's cupboard. She had the world's smallest kitchen, it made me desperately miss mine. But I guess that's what you get when you're living in the dorms. We all dished out our food and talked while we ate. I wanted to spend as much time with Caroline as I could before I flew home tomorrow.
"So wedding favours? How do we want to work that?" I asked her curiously. There was no way I had time to do them all.
"Well there is you and four bridesmaids. How many people are we expecting for the wedding?" She asked.
"Pretty much all of Mystic Falls and some of the people we've met in Richmond. Plus all of my family and all of Damon's. His grandparents are even flying in from Italy." I said with a smile.
"So lots of people then. When is everyone supposed to have their confirmations in?" She asked.
"Next week. But as it stands Damon's family alone if over seventy people. Mine is about fifty. My mom and dad invited everyone." I said and Caroline nodded.
"So three hundred give or take?" She asked.
"We can start with that many." I said thinking it was a pretty good place to start. Weddings in smaller towns where everyone knew everyone always caused big weddings. Everyone wanted to be there to watch 's daughter get married. They all knew me somehow, either they babysat me or I babysat their kids. Or my dad treated and became friends with them. Or they were on one of the many committees my mom was on. There were going to be a ton of people there and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wanted everyone to see me commit myself in every way possible to Damon.
"So why don't we divide it by 5 and do that many. Are you still planning on the little bags of mixed wildflower seeds with the small picture of you, Damon and Mady from the engagement shoot?" She asked and I nodded. It was my mom's idea and I loved it. The bags of seeds were already done, we just had to frame all the little pictures.
"Sounds good." I said to her as I shovelled Chinese food into my mouth. I ate much faster than I used to because I always had Mady to deal with.
"It sucks that Bonnie couldn't come with weekend." Caroline said softly.
"I know but she had a huge project due and she had to finish it." I told them.
"I know. I hope she likes her bridesmaid dress. Now she doesn't have a say." Caroline shrugged.
"I'm sure she'll like it. She'll just be happy I'm not one of those mean brides who dresses her bridesmaids in ugly dresses." I laughed.
"I would no longer be your friend if you did that." Caroline warned me and I laughed again. I missed her endlessly and would give anything if she would move to Richmond for school. But I would never suggest it because this was her dream school.
"So what time is your flight tomorrow?" Stefan asked me.
"Eight-thirty in the morning." I told him and he nodded.
"In that case maybe we should get some sleep. You have to be at the airport really early." He suggested and I knew he was right.
"Yes that's a brilliant idea. I need my beauty sleep if I'm going to be leaving my bed at stupid o'clock in the morning." Caroline sighed.
"I don't. I'll be bright eyed and bushy tailed in anticipation of seeing Damon and Mady." I told her and she rolled her eyes. She got up and walked to her bedroom after accepting a kiss from Stefan and he left promising to be back bright and early tomorrow morning to drive me to the airport. He had a car, Caroline didn't. She didn't like driving in New York and only drove when she absolutely had to. I didn't blame her, traffic in this place was stupid. Once everyone was gone, I curled up on Caroline's couch and closed my eyes. Tomorrow couldn't come quick enough. As much as I loved having some Elena time, I missed Mady and Damon more.