Well, here's Chapter 12! I hope you enjoy it, please don't forget to review. It made me excited for the upcoming Finchel wedding.
NOTE: Before anyone says anything, I know Glee didn't cover all the songs Rachel names. The one she names that you haven't seen on Glee are the ones they used in my other fanfics (the Nationals one and the Senior Year one).
Chapter 12: Wedding Plans
Rachel Barbra Berry
and
Finn Christopher Hudson
request the honor of your presence
at the celebration of our marriage
July 28, 2013
6 p.m.
The Galleria - Lima, OH
Rachel had probably looked at the printed invitation a thousand times. She'd probably look at it a thousand more times. She'd dreamed about marrying Finn since they joined Glee together. Now, it was actually going to happen.
It was only February, but the wedding plans were already on. They'd already selected a venue and a date, but that was all that had been done. They hadn't hired a real wedding planner, deciding Kurt would be just as good. This weekend, Finn and Kurt would be coming home so they could do some more planning. Rachel smiled as she went to bed, looking at her ring before she turned out the light. It was happening. It was really happening. Finn would be hers.
x
Rachel sat next to Finn in the pew at Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury's wedding (well, now she was Mrs. Schuester). As they said their wedding vows and gave their speeches, Rachel squeezed Finn's hand. Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury, or Mr. and Mrs. Schuester as they were now, had always clearly loved each other. Rachel knew that they would get married.
Mr. Schuester had asked all 26 members of the New Directions from the 2011-2012 school year to perform at his wedding. All of them had sang during the walk down the aisle and they'd all sing for the first dance, then take turns performing at the reception.
As the rings were exchanged, Finn leaned and whispered to Rachel, "I hope one day that'll be us."
Rachel smiled and nodded.
The congregation cheered as the new Mr. and Mrs. Schuester processed out of the church and down to the reception hall. As they went to the reception hall, Finn leaned over to Rachel and whispered, "Have I told you how pretty you look today?"
Rachel laughed. "About a million times. But it doesn't hurt." She gave Finn a quick kiss.
"You look gorgeous, Rachel," Finn said. Rachel smiled and looked down. She was in a navy strapless dress with flowers by the shoulder blades and glitter on the upper part. She'd styled her hair into an updo and was wearing the necklace Finn had given her for graduation.
Rachel looked at Finn, who looked so handsome in his tux. "You look very handsome."
Finn kissed the top of Rachel's head. "Let's find our seats."
Finn and Rachel were at a table with Puck, Quinn, Sam, Mercedes, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and Santana. It was great to be seated with so many of their Glee friends. The whole time they ate, Rachel couldn't help but fantasize about what her own wedding might be like.
Mr. and Mrs. Schuester came to the table with the New Directions alumni. "Thank you all for being here," Mr. Schue said. "Even though Baby Schuester's on the way, you were my first children."
"Thanks, Mr. Schue," Finn said. "We're so happy for you."
"And congratulations, MRS. Schue," Rachel said.
"You aren't our students anymore," Mr. Schuester said. "Please call us Will and Emma now."
"And Rachel, we're very much looking forward to your wedding," Mrs. Schuester said. "I'm betting that'll be the next wedding we'll all be here for."
"Everyone says that!" Rachel said.
"Yeah, because it's gonna happen," Puck said.
Rachel looked around the room. Graduation had only been a few weeks ago, but this was the first time since then all 26 members had been together. The 26 members had become one big family. At the table behind theirs were Mike, Tina, Artie, Lauren, Alex, Carly, Kayla and Zach, and at the one to the left were Jake, Kylie, Johnny, Hannah, Will, Natalie, Andrew and Erin. It was just so good to see everyone all together again.
The dancing began after the meal. Finn's dancing had improved greatly since they first joined Glee. He held Rachel close when they danced. They did a duet together and everyone cheered. When it came for the throwing of the bouquet, Rachel caught it. Finn had just winked at her. He had carried her to the car and walked her up to her house.
x
It turned out that the Finchel wedding WOULD be the next one. Rachel seriously couldn't wait for Finn and Kurt to arrive for wedding planning, because life at home alone in Lima was getting lonely and boring. She wasn't a fan of the classes she was taking at the community college, her physical therapy was getting more and more annoying and her parents were expecting her to do more and more work around the house. She'd finished her Ohio State application and would be moving in with Finn in the fall. The two of them would be getting an apartment together off campus.
On Friday afternoon, Rachel sat in the living room, just waiting for Finn to arrive. Finally, Finn just let himself in, came into the living room and greeted Rachel with, "Hey, fiancee!"
"Hey, fiance," Rachel giggled as she gave Finn a tight hug. It was their first time seeing each other in nearly three weeks.
Finn gave Rachel a kiss. "You need to come down to Columbus and spend the night with me sometime. I can show you around campus so you know where things are next year. Besides, Eric would have thrown me out this weekend anyway because his girlfriend's coming to visit, so I can throw him out for a weekend so you can come visit."
Rachel smiled. She liked the idea of spending the weekend with Finn, but worried about being on a college campus again. Just the mere thought made her think of that dreadful day at Princeton where she nearly lost her life. "How is rooming with Eric going? Is he better than Derek?" Rachel asked.
Finn nodded. "MUCH better. He actually doesn't eat my food, is quiet when I want to sleep, and asks me before bringing people in the room. My classes this semester are much better, too. But next semester will be the best, because I'll have you with me."
"I feel the same way," Rachel said. "I don't think I can take this separation much longer."
Finn gave Rachel a hug. "You smell really good today."
"Must be the new shampoo and lotion," Rachel said.
"Well I approve of it," Finn said. They kissed as they heard the doorbell ring.
"Could you get it, Finn?" Rachel asked. "It's probably our wedding planner."
Finn went to the door and let Kurt in. Kurt was carrying a huge stack of wedding magazines. "Okay, Finn, Rachel, I'm going to make your wedding the best one I've ever planned. Tell me exactly how you want everything."
Rachel began freaking out. "Okay, Kurt. First of all, I want NO songs with sexual themes or offensive language played at the wedding. I want drinks limited to two per person. We can give out drink tickets..."
"Rachel, we are NOT little kids anymore," Kurt said. "Besides, you're the one to talk. You got drunk as hell at Puck's graduation party."
"And you had a VERY dirty mouth when you got drunk," Finn added.
"Fine, we don't have to keep it PG with the songs," Rachel sighed. "But I want Faithfully for our first dance and pretending for the walk down the aisle. And I want the following songs included on the soundtrack for the reception: Don't Stop Believing, No Air, Smile, Borderline/ Open Your Heart, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, There's A Light, Last Christmas, I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, As Long As You're Mine, Somebody to Love, Imagine, You Can't Always Get What You Want, My Life Would Suck Without You, Hello Goodbye, Total Eclipse of The Heart, Any Way You Want It/ Loving Touching Squeezing, Marry You, Sing, Loser Like Me, Only In America, Seasons Of Love, Fireflies, Show Me The Light, With Or Without You and No Day But Today." She finally took a breath. She'd memorized the list of every song she and Finn had ever sang together in Glee. And she wanted each one to be played at the wedding. Heck, the original versions of those songs was her top played playlist. And it was entitled "Finchel."
Kurt slapped the table. "Rachel, do you have all those written down somewhere."
Rachel nodded. "Yup!" She went to the computer, printed the list and gave it to Kurt. Kurt scanned the list. "You know these are all Finchel songs, right? And not all of them are exactly the right songs to use for a wedding."
"That's why I want to use them," Rachel giggled. "And even if they're not wedding-appropriate, I want to use them because they're Finchel songs."
"All right then," Kurt said. "Finn, any songs you want to add?"
"I want to use the Finchel play list," Finn said. Rachel laughed and kissed Finn.
"Okay then," Kurt said. "Next order of business, the menu. What do you want to serve?"
"Finn, handle this one," Rachel said.
"Okay," Finn said. "For the appetizer, I want shrimp cocktail. Then house salads. Then for the entre, steak, roasted potatoes and asparagus. And then a layered chocolate wedding cake."
"That sounds great!" Rachel cheered.
"You two are much easier than I thought you'd be, you're making my job easy," Kurt said. "What about decorations?"
"Oh, I want a gold star theme!" Rachel gushed. "Gold stars for the centerpieces, streamers with gold stars, gold tablecloths..."
"Rachel, I'm stopping you right there," Kurt said. "I thought you were retiring the gold stars."
"But I grew up with them!" Rachel protested.
"I think Kurt has a point, Rach," Finn said gently. "I'd rather not have gold stars as the centerpiece at my wedding."
Rachel sighed. "We're not using your favorite football team's colors either, Finn."
"What's your favorite color, Finn?" Kurt asked.
"Blue," Finn answered. "Like, royal blue."
"And Rachel, what's yours?" Kurt asked.
"Pale pink," Rachel said.
"We'll do a pale pink and royal blue color scheme then," Kurt said. "We can use blue tablecloths and pink plates and then put pink and blue flowers as the centerpieces and then pink balloons and blue streamers."
"I like that idea," Finn said. "What do you think Rach?"
Rachel smiled. "I love it." Her excitement was only growing for the wedding as she talked to Finn and Kurt.
"I assume neither of you have your dress or tux yet?" Kurt asked.
"I don't," Rachel said. She turned to Finn. "Do you have yours?"
"Nope," Finn said.
"Then I'm getting you each appointments at some of the finest designers in Chicago," Kurt said. "You two are two special to just buy chain outfits. You're each wearing a one-of-a-kind piece."
"Aren't those really expensive?" Finn asked.
"I make the calls here!" Kurt shouted. "I'll find you each a stylist for the big day. Rach, I know you and the girls do each other's hair for dances, but for the wedding, you need a professional. Especially since you have short hair now, there's less to do. Finn, I'm sorry, but for the wedding, the mussed look won't do it. Rach, I'll get a makeup artist for you. Don't worry, it'll be natural, because I know you don't really like makeup."
"Okay," Rachel agreed. "And while we're on the subject of the dress and tux, I want the bridesmaids to have aqua blue dresses. I haven't found the perfect one yet, but dresses that color are really pretty. Which would mean aqua blue vests and ties for the ushers."
"Perfect!" Kurt explained. "That'll go great with our color scheme. And the last thing we need to go over today: speeches. How's Sam's best man speech coming, Finn? Should I write it for him?"
"I think Sam can write his own speech, Kurt," Finn said.
"Then that's all we need to do today, I'll go make all the calls," Kurt said. "Finchel, you're going to have the best wedding ever." He gave Finn and Rachel each a hug before leaving the engaged couple cuddling on Rachel's couch.
"What do you think, Rach?" Finn asked as Rachel rested her head on his lap. "Are we going to have the best wedding ever?" He held her hand with one hand and stroked her hair with the other.
Rachel sighed. "Finn, already I know it's going to be everything I've always dreamed of." She knew that even if it was just the two of them in a cramped room, it would be everything she'd dreamed of, because the groom was Finn. Rachel smiled and kissed Finn's hand.