You Say It First
Page 55

“No. I left her a message, but I haven’t heard back. I’m sure she’s busy dealing with all kinds of things.” Even expected, the loss of her father would be devastating.
“We all loved working with her,” Wynn said. “I’ve never tried to make banners like that before. What a great idea. You know, we should use them in other weddings. They’re not that expensive and now that you don’t have to buy the panels, we can get them together quickly. They would add a real personal touch to the event.”
Wynn drew in a breath, her eyes wide. “Oh, wow, I just got the best idea. What if we took pictures as people came into the ceremony? Someone could do that and get me the file. If this was all planned in advance, I could use the same background and make a kind of collage with the pictures. It wouldn’t take very long. I’m sure I could have it back to you by the time the reception starts. People could sign them and write notes. It would be a great personal memory of the event.” She thought for a second. “Not that I want to be doing that every Saturday night but I wouldn’t mind doing it sometimes. For someone like Nova.”
“You wouldn’t have to do it then,” Pallas said slowly, thinking as she spoke. “What if the guest book was digital and that was how we did the pictures? It was at the reception—they got their picture taken and wrote something. I could get you the file on Monday morning and you could do it anytime over the next couple of weeks. It would be like a digital scrapbook, with the wedding theme as a backdrop. That way I wouldn’t have to figure out which couples were worthy.”
“I love that,” Violet said. “It’s fun.”
“And a great moneymaker,” Wynn added. “Let me get you a quote. I’ll do it with a minimum number of pages, then a price for every page after that.”
“This is what I want,” Pallas told them. “More creativity, more fun. Rather than weddings in a box, I want to do weddings out of the box.”
“I like it.” Silver smiled. “Are you changing the name of your business?”
“Yes. I’m going to file the paperwork with the city and get new business cards made. I’ll have to update the website, which will take time. My point is I want to branch out. I just signed a contract for an under-the-sea wedding.” She explained about Taylor and Jake’s dream wedding.
“You’re going to be buying more accessories,” Wynn said. “And you’ll need more costumes. Can you store everything in the space you have now?”
“No. We’re already crammed.” She hadn’t thought about storage. “I’m not sure what makes sense. Those storage unit places can be expensive.”
“I have an idea,” Wynn said. “I want to move my business. I’m growing just enough that it’s too small for me. I found a great storefront with a huge warehouse in back. I don’t need that much storage and I don’t want to pay for space I’m not using. I didn’t want to sublease because I didn’t want to have to deal with someone I didn’t know, but this could be a solution.” She nodded at Silver. “We’ve already discussed Silver using a small part of it for her decorations.”
“And the trailer itself,” Silver added. “There’s a big fenced-in parking area out back. I don’t like to leave my trailer stocked when it’s parked in front of my house. All I need is a couple of teenagers breaking in, having a party, then going for a joyride. This way I can restock as needed and it’s safe.”
“There will still be plenty of square footage for you, if you’re interested,” Wynn said.
Pallas was thrilled. “That’s a great solution. When can I come see the space?”
“How about tomorrow morning? I have to let the landlord know by the end of the week.”
Pallas wrote down the address. Having more storage would be a big help. Right now she could barely find room for everything. Costumes were all crammed together. The caterer didn’t have anywhere to set up. But if she could move everything to an off-site location, she could open the upstairs rooms for other purposes. More than one bride had asked to have the rehearsal dinner on-site, but there wasn’t any room—not when she had to start setting up for the wedding the day before. Maybe one of the rooms could be modified for that. Of course with everything at a different location, she would have to get a van or something to move costumes and decorations, but why not?
“Okay, now I know why you asked me to come up with less-specific server costumes,” Violet said. “Right now they’re totally custom, and while that’s great, it’s expensive. You’re limited by what’s on hand. Some brides might be turned off by that, but if you went a different direction, you could get by with two or three server costumes that could be modified to fit any situation.”
She pulled a file out of her tote. “I’ve thought about this. My suggestion is that you leave the guys in black pants and change out their shirts.” She flipped pages to show a toga-like shirt, a shirt with billowy sleeves and a basic black shirt. “We could do a lot with vests that are easy to make and more forgiving, sizewise. I’d say dress the female servers the same. If there’s enough other stuff going on, the servers will just blend into the background. You can put your decor money into other things.”
It wasn’t how Gerald had done it, Pallas thought, but the simpler server outfits made sense.
“The bride could still choose the look,” Silver pointed out. “And hey, if she wanted to pay for custom uniforms, then she would get them.”
Pallas nodded. “That makes more sense. I’d still have some costumes for specific weddings that are always popular. Like the togas for the Roman soldiers who carry in the bride. But it’s not cost-effective to dress the serving staff when we’re going to have so many options.”
“What kind of weddings are you thinking?” Wynn asked.
“Pretty much anything,” Pallas told her. “That’s what I want to do—give brides their dream weddings. Of any kind.”
“Zombies are very big right now.” Silver grinned. “That would be a fun signature drink.”
“You’re gross.” Violet’s voice was affectionate. “How about something with wine? We could do a fake wine country wedding. Pump up the Italian thing. Or weddings based on movies.”
“The seasons are nice.” Wynn reached for a cookie. “A Dickens’ Christmas wedding or a beautiful fall wedding with changing leaves and lots of apples.”
Pallas laughed as she wrote down their suggestions. “I have to say, that’s quite a range. From Zombies to a Dickens’ Christmas.”
“You wanted to be out of the box,” Wynn reminded her.
“I do.” She wanted to make her business unique. With a little help from her friends, that was going to happen.
* * *
FRESH FROM HER MEETING, an inspired Pallas stopped by Nick’s studio. She practically danced from her car to the open door. Inspiration and excitement made her light and happy.
She took a second to let her eyes adjust from the bright sunlight outside. On the far side of the room, the hot glass oven hissed and roared as Mathias and Ronan pulled a long rod with molten glass from its depths. Mathias expertly spun the rod before blowing into the end of the tube. The glass grew into a circle, which transformed into an oblong shape as he spun it around several times.