Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller
Chapter Three
Mia was kind of ridiculously excited about the prospect of planning this small, impromptu wedding for Sam. Not only did she like Sam very much, but it was a chance for Mia to flex her newly developing wedding planner muscles and see just what she could pull off in a short amount of time.
Granted, it was a very short amount of time. But what if someone came to the inn for a week and suddenly decided to tie the knot? It could happen. This was a very romantic place. And after this, she’d know exactly what could and couldn’t be done.
Hopefully, she’d pull something together that would knock Sam and Levi’s socks off.
She started by making a quick list of the basics. Food, music, photography, flowers, the officiant, and a dress.
The venue was handled. Obviously, they’d have the wedding here at the inn. Either outside if it wasn’t too cold or in the big living room. Outside on the back deck with a lot of candles and the lovely overhead hanging lights that Travis had installed would be beautiful, especially because the wedding would take place in the evening. But this time of year, with the weather getting colder by the day, that probably wasn’t the best choice.
Thankfully, the inside had a lot of possibilities too.
Mia liked the idea of that almost as much, actually. They could still do soft lights and lots of candles and coming down the stairs would be a grand entrance for a bride.
For flowers, she’d call Victoria Leeds at Beach Blooms. Mia had already reopened the inn’s account there so that they’d have flowers for the breakfast tables, as well as fresh bouquets through the common areas. She’d already connected bride-to-be Beth Kingston with Victoria for her wedding and made a plan with Victoria to handle any wedding packages the inn did. Victoria was working on some special pricing for them, all based on availability.
Mia wondered what kind of a deal Victoria would work out for Sam and Levi. Especially because Sam was Travis’s daughter and Victoria already sat on the town council.
She was one of many as eager to see Lavinia lose her seat as Travis was to take it.
Mia looked at another item on her list. Food. That included the cake, which she was sure Coffee would make. But would he be willing to make a little something else? She wasn’t sure. After all, he was already cooking up a storm for Monday’s photo shoot so that they could show off what the inn’s breakfast would look like.
Maybe there was something easy he could do. She’d ask. Otherwise, Ludlow’s might be their best bet. A couple trays of finger sandwiches and some potato salad might not be fancy, but the evening wasn’t about the food. Still, a hot meal would be nicer.
Photography didn’t even need discussing. Mia’s brother, Griffin, would handle that. He was trying to build his business back up and looking to add to his portfolio so this was the perfect chance. She was sure he’d do it just for the cost of supplies. She still needed to talk to him about it, though.
Of course, Mia would really need to make sure this small wedding looked great so that the pictures looked equally as fantastic. They could use them to promote the inn’s wedding packages, something she really wanted to make a go of.
Which brought her around to the dress. Levi probably had a suit. If not, he could go buy one. Travis said he made decent money. But a wedding dress wasn’t something you could just walk into a shop and purchase to wear the next day.
For one thing, most of them took months and months to be made after ordering. For another, most of them were very expensive. Lastly, there was no telling what kind of dress Sam would want. Although Mia didn’t think Sam would be too picky considering the speed at which everything was happening.
The only solution Mia could think of was Bon Voyage Vintage. The little thrift shop, run by the Methodist church and managed by Agatha Goodwin, had come through before. But a wedding dress was a big ask. There were wedding shops in St. Pete, too, but those were all going to cost a lot of money and require a lot of time.
Neither of which Sam had.
Mia decided to cross her fingers and start with the thrift shop. She picked up her phone and dialed.
“Bon Voyage Vintage. How can I help?”
Mia smiled at the sound of Agatha’s voice. “Just the woman I want to talk to. Hi, Agatha. It’s me, Mia.”
“Hi, Mia, how are you?”
“Just fine. But I need your help.”
“I’m happy to. Just tell me what you need.”
“A wedding dress.”
Agatha let out a happy little gasp. “Are you getting married?”
“No, not me. Sam Taylor.”
“Oh. To Levi?”
“Yep.”
“My stars, that was fast.”
Mia snorted. “There were other circumstances.” She gave Agatha the rundown on Lavinia.
Agatha let out a little growl of disapproval. “That woman is downright awful. If Monday’s election doesn’t go our way, we’re in trouble.”
Mia sighed. “I think so too.”
“Enough about that old biddy. Sam needs a dress. Let’s focus on what we can control.”
“Good idea. Do you have any wedding dresses in the shop?”
“We do. Not as many as a bridal shop mind you, but we have a decent number. We keep them in the big antique wardrobe against the far wall. That way they’re a little more protected. She’s welcome to come in and have a look. There’s a woman at church, Faith Marshfield, who’s a seamstress. I’m sure she could fit whatever dress Sam picked, so long as it wasn’t a complete remake. You know what I mean?”
“I do.”
“Tell you what, I’ll call Faith and let her know we might need her services. She might even be able to come into the shop and meet Sam here. Just to sort of help with the process. Tell her what can and can’t be done, that sort of thing.”
Mia shook her head, amazed by Agatha’s help. “You’re amazing. That would be fantastic.”
“Happy to do it. Do you know when Sam might come in?”
“Not yet, but obviously it would have to be soon. And probably after she gets off of work at the salon. I’ll text her and see what I can find out, then let you know.”
“We’re open until six today but if she needs me to stay later, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“I can’t thank you enough. Talk to you soon.” As soon as Mia hung up, she texted Sam. Your dad told me about the wedding. Congrats! Working on pulling some things together for you. Do you have time to go by the thrift shop and look at dresses?
While Mia waited for Sam to respond, she went out to look for her brother. By now he was probably working in the new shed, organizing all of the paddleboard stuff.
She walked out to the breakfast room, but there was no sign of him. No Chloe in the Pack-n-Play either, which was her usual spot when Griffin was working around the inn. But she heard her mom and Aunt Lill in the kitchen, so she walked through. “Hey Mom, Aunt Lilly. Is Griff around?”
They turned to face her. Aunt Lilly shook her head. “He was working from the cottage this morning, and as far as I know, he’s still over there. Your mom told me about the wedding, by the way. I’m in.”
Mia grinned. “Awesome. I still have a lot of work to do, but I think it’s going to be totally doable with all the help. I need to talk to Griff about the photos, though.”
“I can do that,” Lilly said. “I’m heading back to the cottage right now.”
“That would be great, thanks.” Mia’s phone buzzed and she glanced down at the screen. “It’s Sam. I need to answer her.”
Lilly gave them both a little wave as she started for the door. “See you in a few for the game. I’ll get Griffin to text you, Mia.”
“Perfect.” Mia read Sam’s response on her screen.
I hadn’t even considered a dress but I guess I’ll need one now. I can definitely run by the thrift shop after work. I get off at 5. You want to meet me there? I’d love your input.
Mia smiled. I would love to. BTW, do you have a head count for guests yet?
I talked to my dad and I think not more than twenty. Is that okay?
It’s perfect. And it’s going to be beautiful. See you at the thrift shop at 5. Off to work some wedding magic!
Mia added a smiley face emoji for good measure, then opened up her list of contacts, found Reverend Bartholomew and dialed. Time to work some magic indeed.