There were eight months left, and still so much to do! The couples decided to have separate wedding cakes. Clover and Clarence decided on a four-tier cake with a top piece of two doves with beaks touching within a heart. Sam and Matt also decided on a four-tier cake, with small statues resembling them as the top piece. Alex and Pete went with a three-tier cake, with slightly larger tiers than the others. They topped off their cake with two swinging silver bells in an arbor chapel.
The couples decided to use the same invitations, seeing it was the same wedding! The invitation was written in gold lettering, with turtledoves in the lower right hand corner. The store needed four months of lead-time to make it happen.
They would all use the same limousines, assuming they could find one big enough! It took a couple of months of looking to find a company that could fill the bill, but with about four months left it looked like they had it made. All preps were done!
But they weren't, of course! Their mothers had to remind the gals about their flowers. How could they forget those? Would they be real or silk? What type of flowers?
The girls shared their ideas after work one day.
"I'm going to opt for real flowers! And I'm going to get a bouquet of red and white roses to represent our love for one another, with babies breath!" announced Sam.
"I'm going with real flowers, too," said Clover, "but I'm going to use a bouquet of spring flowers, symbolizing our new life together! How about you, Alex?"
"Right now, I'm leaning toward silk flowers – a combination of roses and spring flowers, because I want to keep the bouquet as an heirloom!" Alex responded.
"Well, Alex, I plan to get my bouquet encased in acrylic, so I can keep it too!" commented Sam.
"You know, Sammie? That's a great idea! I'll opt for real flowers, too, and do the same thing!" gushed Alex.
"I hadn't thought about the acrylic angle, but I'm going to do that too!" commented Clover.
"What about the Maid of Honor and bridesmaids flowers?"
"How about a bouquet of summer flowers?" suggested Sam.
"I like that idea! The flowers should really look great, and because they are real, the church should fill with their pleasant aroma!" happily added Alex.
So saying the, gals put in their flower order. Again, they were just in time. It might take a few months to get some of the flowers, so they really couldn't have waited any longer.
The guys had the responsibility to get the photographer, and they opted to get one for each couple. That way, each photographer can concentrate on one couple, for pictures. They looked around for a bit, before deciding on the photographers about five months in advance, and they were lucky! All three photographers had cancellations for that day, and could therefore do the job. They really needed to give the photographers ten to twelve months lead time, under normal circumstances!
With three months left, there were only two things left to do – arrange the bridal party pre-wedding dinner for the Friday before the wedding, and to register at some stores, so invitees could buy gifts for the new couples, without fear of duplicating!
The guys' parents decided to have an informal backyard barbeque at the home of Pete's parents. They'd have steaks, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob!
As for registering at the stores, that was a comedy, to say the least! The gals and guys decided to go at different times, so they wouldn't get in each others' way. They were all going to register at Macy's, Saks, and Neiman-Marcus.
The stores have a good way to develop the wish list – they provide the couple with a UPC code reading wand. All the couple has to do is wand an item, and it goes on the list!
Matt and Sam were looking over different items, with Matt holding the wand.
"We could use one of these," said Sam, as she pointed to a toaster oven. Matt dutifully wanded the item, but he also wanded another item Sammie wasn't aware of. This went on for about 45 minutes, when, the couple was presented with their registration gift wish list.
"What's this?" asked Sam, as she pointed to a tent.
"Oh, I thought we could use that on vacations!" responded Matt.
"And this?" as she pointed to a picnic table.
"Well, I thought we could use that…." Matt began.
"Give me that wand!" responded Sam as she took the wand away from Matt. Sam ended up deleting two sets of skis, a canoe, two bowling balls and other assorted things Matt had wanded.
"We're supposed to be getting things to help us set up our household! We can get the leisure stuff ourselves!" Sam lectured Matt. Matt sheepishly glanced at his shoes.
The next day, Sam was telling Clover and Alex about her experience, during break.
"….and he even wanded two bowling balls!" Sam said, in exasperation.
"What did you do, Sammie?" asked Alex.
"I took the wand away from him, and deleted all that stuff!"
"You know, a cousin of mine warned me about allowing the groom to use the wand! I'll make sure Clarence doesn't get a hold of it, when we go tonight!" Clover stated.
"I'm with you, Clover! I'll make sure I control the wand, when Pete and I go tomorrow!" Alex added.
"You'll be happy you did, gals!" responded Sam.
At first, both Clarence and Pete were a bit surprised by Clover and Alex keeping the wand away from them, but then they remembered a conversation they had with Matt, and had to smile. Obviously, the word got out!
