Preparations for the big day!

Taylor and Ridge spent a wonderful weekend at the hotel. Throughout Saturday, they stayed in their suite and ordered room service. In the afternoon, they enjoyed the hot tub. Sunday, they took advantage of the hotel's many offerings. They played tennis and spent the rest of the day in the Spa/Wellness Resort and went for a swim in the large pool. There weren't many guests there, so they had the pool almost to themselves. On Monday morning, it was hard for them to say goodbye, even though they were looking forward to the next few days. After all, they had a wedding to plan. They drove home first, where they both changed for work.

It wasn't until Taylor was in the elevator at her office that it occurred to her, she and Ridge hadn't discussed whether their engagement should remain a secret or not. She decided not to mention anything on her own. Maybe someone would notice the ring and would ask her. But at the conference in the afternoon with all her colleagues, she couldn't keep the news to herself any longer. As everyone was talking about what they had done over the weekend, Taylor finally blurted her engagement out and proudly presented her engagement ring. All of her colleagues stepped up to her, congratulated her and admired the jewelry.

Ridge, on the other hand, hadn't worried much about keeping their engagement a secret. When he entered the boutique and everyone was getting ready for work, he proudly announced the happy news. Rosa was off work that day and didn't get to hear it. All his employees congratulated him warmly and were excited for him. They all felt he had made an excellent choice with Taylor.

In the evening, when he came home, Taylor immediately rushed up to him. At the same time, they started talking.

"I have something to confess to you!" / "I have something to tell you!" They freezed and stared at each other.

"You first!"

"No you!"

"No you! Ladies first, as they say." Finally, she admitted she hadn't been able to keep her mouth shut and had told all her colleagues about the engagement. Ridge burst out laughing and told her he was about to confess the exact same thing. The two finally fell into each other's arms, giggling. After dinner, they sat down together and Taylor suggested they should brainstorm about their wedding; he immediately agreed. Taylor pulled out a notepad and a pen.

"I think we should start by deciding where we should have our wedding?!" They looked deeply into each other's eyes and out of one mouth, it shot out of both of them.

"San Francisco!" Taylor was a little surprised.

"Are you really sure about this? I mean I would love to get married here but LA is still our hometown."

"That's true, but we found each other here again in San Francisco, we reconnected here and fell in love here so I think it's more than convenient to get married here too!" Taylor was in complete agreement with him. A little bit meekly, she added.

"Besides, our last wedding memories in LA aren't exactly untarnished and I don't want to be reminded of them on our big day." Ridge took her closely in his arms; he understood her very well.

"To be honest, I already talked with the hotel manager on Friday while I was waiting for you. They have beautiful wedding arrangements and the hotel organizes everything you want!" Taylor smiled broadly.

"Seriously? You really want to get married there?"

"Yes, I think it's the perfect place!" Taylor jumped in his arms. So the location of their wedding was set. The next step was to choose a date. Ridge suggested making an appointment with the hotel as soon as possible to discuss the details. They could then surely tell them how long it would take to get everything organized. Taylor thought that sounded reasonable, so she wrote under the point 'date': 'Arrange with hotel'. Then they discussed the setting their wedding should take place. Taylor revealed to Ridge, she secretly dreamed of a very private ceremony, with just him and the kids Thomas and Steffy.

"This is a great important moment for us and our family that should be just ours." Ridge quickly got used to the idea. Still, he thought since it was going to be their last wedding, they should have a proper party, too. After all, they had plenty of friends and acquaintances here in San Francisco who would be very disappointed if they weren't allowed to share this event with them. So they agreed to have a reception after the ceremony for everybody. The question about including the family was way more difficult. Ridge was concerned they would certainly insist on participating at the ceremony as well. Neither of them said the word, but they both feared to jeopardize their dream wedding if the entire family would show up. There had never been a Forrester wedding without some drama and this wedding should be perfect. Taylor was especially afraid Brooke would find out about their wedding and try to stop it. It wouldn't be the first time. Eventually, they agreed to keep the wedding a secret from the family. After all, they could always celebrate with the family at a later date.

"If it's necessary, I'll recite my wedding vows twice." Ridge commented pragmatically. Of course they were aware that the family would most likely react very disappointed and hurt at first, but it was their wedding and therefore their decision. Taylor asked Ridge if he wouldn't like RJ to be there. As much as Ridge would love to invite his son to their wedding, he decided against it. He knew it would be extremely hard for RJ to keep this secret from his mother and possibly have to lie to her. He didn't want to put him in this position. RJ was already on the fence enough times. Besides, he assumed RJ was at an age where he had better things to do than dancing at a family wedding. So the basic structure was set. First the ceremony with Steffy and Thomas only and afterwards a big party with all their friends and acquaintances. In addition to their closest friends, Ridge wanted to invite some co-workers and business associates. Taylor wanted to include some of her colleagues as well as some friends from the orphanage. They drew up a guest list. At the end they came to a number of 30 guests.

"I think that's enough for a decent party!"

They listed the following steps they had to take care of. Steffy and Thomas needed to be informed of their plans, so their clique. They decided to invite their friends over for dinner the very next day. Immediately they grabbed their phones to call everyone. None of them suspected anything, it was nothing special to come together for dinner at one or the other's place. So the next evening, everyone showed up at their place. Ridge had managed that none of his colleagues had told Rosa about the engagement. Otherwise, it would no longer have been a surprise. At the aperitif on the terrace, Ridge announced proudly he had finally popped out the question and Taylor added overjoyed, she had said 'yes' and waved her hand. Loud cheers and shrieks broke out. Everyone was immensely happy for them. During dinner, plans were eagerly made and Taylor and Ridge were inundated with suggestions. Everyone had numerous ideas for the big event. The next day, they talked with Thomas and Steffy via video chat. The siblings couldn't believe it at first, then they cried out and started dancing and jumping around like little kids. Both were beside themselves with joy. But their mood changed when they learned from their parents that they would have to hide the secret from the rest of the family. Even if they understood the motives of their parents, Steffy and Thomas knew it would be very difficult for them not to divulge anything.

The next few weeks were dominated by the wedding plans. Ridge and Taylor had an appointment with the hotel manager, where they discussed all the details. They booked the weekend in six weeks. Now that the date was set, they got straight to the first point on their agenda and wrote the wedding invitations. They had made a 'To-do list' with all the tasks that needed to be done. They were relieved when the invitation cards were ready to be sent off and they were able to make their first checkmark.

Even though the hotel took care of everything, Taylor and Ridge had plenty of decisions to make. They had to choose the flowers for the arrangements and the style of the decorations. A pianist would attend the ceremony, so they had to choose the music pieces he should play for them. They had to determine the appetizers for the reception and their wedding menu. Many nights, Taylor and Ridge sat together and discussed each point in detail. Ridge noticed with concern as Taylor became more and more obsessed. It was her ultimate goal to put on the most gigantic wedding ever. Over time she got extremely tense and nervous. She hardly allowed herself a break and the preparations gradually grew into real stress. When he came home one night and found Taylor again hunched over numerous catalogs, he decided to act. He vigorously took everything away. Taylor was about to protest, but Ridge took her in his arms and spoke with a soft warm voice.

"I know you want it to be the most magical wedding ever and I promise you it will be a beautiful celebration. But let's not get all crazy about it."

"But Ridge, there's still so much to do! We have to..." He forcefully covered her mouth.

"Tonight we don't have to do anything. We really need a break. I don't want to hear one word about flower arrangements and wedding cakes. Look at you, you're a mess. I mean, planning a wedding is supposed to be fun and joyful." Taylor finally relented. She knew Ridge was right.

"I just...I mean...I just want it to be a special day. We waited so long for this moment."

"I know and I swear to you It will be a day we will never forget, I promise! But we would have a major problem if you collapsed before then. Because I have serious doubts, the hotel will be able to get a replacement for my bride." Taylor had to laugh. So they got dressed to go out. They went to their favorite Italian restaurant and afterwards they moved on to a dance bar. As Ridge demanded, they didn't speak a word about the wedding. When they got home a few hours later, Taylor was far more relaxed and at ease.

"That was a wonderful idea! Sorry I've been such a pain in the neck lately!"

"Oh well, it was not that bad! I mean actually it's very sweet that our wedding is so important to you. We should just take it a little easier in the future. We still have plenty of time." She promised not to put herself under so much pressure anymore.

"I swear I won't freak out again. At least I try and you have every permission to stop me."

"I will hold you on that!"

"I love you so much!"

"I love you more!"

"That's impossible!" They continued this debate in their bedroom.

Over the next few days, they took it way more easily with the preparations and soon all the points were discussed and everything was settled. Two weeks before the big day, they met at their lunch break to pick up the wedding bands at 'Cartier'. Taylor was very emotional as they tried on the rings to make sure they fit.

"I can hardly believe that soon we will be wearing these rings every day!"

"Yes, and this ring is supposed to tell every other man to keep his hands off you."

"Oh, and this ring is to remind you that you have a wife and all other women are off limits!"

"What are you trying to imply? I told you before, my time as a playboy is over."

"I hope so. After all, you're mine!" In confirmation, she gave him a devoted kiss.

Despite fierce opposition and protests from their friends, Taylor and Ridge had decided to forgo all the pre-wedding fuss like a bridal shower and the traditional bachelor/bachelorette party. After all, they both had all this several times before in their lives. They no longer placed any value on it. Their wedding should simply be a celebration of their love. Furthermore, they had decided that they didn't want any wedding gifts, so they hadn't registered anywhere. They didn't need more fancy kitchen supplies that would end up getting dusty. Instead, they came up with the idea, anyone who wanted to give them a treat should donate a check to the orphanage. Some time ago Taylor had overheard some of the children were in desperate need of new furniture and she had suggested to Ridge, the money would be in much better use there and he had completely agreed with her.

A week before the wedding, Taylor met with Stacey, Rosa and Susan for a leisurely brunch. Beaming with joy, she told them Ridge and she had another talk with the hotel manager yesterday and everything was prepared for the wedding. Everyone rejoiced with her. Stacey was dying to know what her wedding dress looked like. Until today Taylor had always kept it a big secret. Right after her engagement, she had contacted her kids to ask them to design her wedding dress. Ridge had reacted a little offended at first, because he would have liked to design the dress for her himself. But Taylor was rather old-fashioned on this point. She had appeased Ridge with the argument Steffy and Thomas had inherited his talent and learned everything from him. Thus his influence would be indirect in the design of the dress. Steffy and Thomas had been enthusiastic and had set to work with fervor. They had designed four outfits from which their mother could choose.

Taylor gave in and showed her friends the design. It was a restrained red-beige dress with an extravagant rose pattern. Susan was impressed.

"Wow. It's stunning, I'm sure you'll look great in it!" Rosa added.

"Yeah, this dress is a dream. You're really lucky that your kids are designers." They were all a little surprised that Taylor didn't opt for a traditional white dress. Taylor answered she could do pretty well breaking that tradition. It was no secret that this wouldn't be her first wedding and equally obvious that she was no longer a virgin. Moreover the last time Ridge and she attempted to get married, she had worn white. Not a dress, a pantsuit, but still. She didn't want to be reminded of that day. Everyone could relate to that.

"And Ridge has absolutely no clue what kind of dress you're going to wear?" asked Rosa, amused. Taylor grinned mischievously.

"Oh, no. He has no clue. I've hidden this sketch very well and if he gets the idea to spy on me, he's in for a huge surprise." Taylor had hidden the refused sketches in her desk. This was the first place Ridge would start looking for them. Taylor was amused by the idea, he would find them and think he had outsmarted her, Everyone joined her laughter.

Three days before the big event, Ridge and Taylor met with their friends at their favorite restaurant for an early rehearsal dinner. They finally had agreed to this dinner as everyone had promised on high not to bring a stripper or any other creepy surprises. Marc asked if they slowly started to get anxious. But they both claimed they were completely calm. After all they both knew what they wanted and that it was the right thing to do. Susan jokingly remarked.

"You guys have had enough dress rehearsals! How many times did each one of you already get married?" Taylor and Ridge glanced at each other stumped. Ridge finally took Taylor in her arms.

"It doesn't matter! This will be the final wedding, for sure!" Taylor nodded in agreement.

"Exactly the best comes at the end!"