‘Aw, she will love it! But yeah, I’m glad he’s going to give her a bit of notice. I think I’d want that too.’
‘So, only his parents and the best man know about it for now, so shush.’ He placed a finger over his lips.
Ellie suddenly had the urge to kiss the finger and his lips right then. So, without thinking, she stepped across, and did just that. She felt such a buzz of excitement about the wedding plans. Joe looked surprised, then smiled.
‘Come back down and we’ll have a cup of coffee, when you’ve made the call,’ Ellie said, feeling more positive than she had in weeks.
He was still standing there just looking at her.
Ellie smiled, and shook her head. ‘Go. Go and make the call. Go make someone’s day.’
Her head was then spinning with the practicalities of arranging a wedding function in less than five weeks. Most of the plans had already been discussed with Lucy and Daniel, but she knew some things might have to alter. She’d have to check if the caterers would be available and so near to Christmas that wasn’t guaranteed, also she’d have to speak with Wendy the florist, plus try and reorganize the band who’d been booked originally.
On top of that, she still had to put the final touches to and coordinate a smaller wedding event for an elderly couple, for the following Saturday, just over a week away. Boy, all of a sudden, she was going to be busy.
A while later, Joe came back down for his cup of coffee. He perched on one of the kitchen stools.
‘Thanks for that, Ellie … for agreeing to take all that on just before Christmas. Dan sounded really chuffed.’
‘Did he say how he was getting on? How he’s recovering?’ Ellie remembered Lucy being so worried about him, and the fact he wasn’t yet able to walk.
‘Says it’s slow. I don’t think he’s really mobile as yet, but he says he’s doing loads of physio. He was joking on the phone just then, about trying to do wheelies and doughnuts in the hospital corridor in his electric wheelchair apparently, much to the nurses’ annoyance. But he’s adamant he doesn’t want to wait any longer to hold off the wedding. Says Lucy’s waited long enough. He sounded in pretty good spirits, to be fair.’
‘Aw, that’s good. Well, we’ll have to make sure everything goes smoothly for them with all the arrangements here, anyhow.’
‘Yeah.’
They chatted for a while about the replanning they now needed to do for Dan and Lucy, and also about the wedding lunch they were holding soon, for the older couple in their seventies. They were to be married at the church in Kirkton and then were coming across for a special lunch at the castle with their close family. Ellie was to do the catering, but as it was for twenty-four people and not too complicated a menu, she felt fairly confident with this. The story was that the couple had been childhood sweethearts in Kirkton and the groom Stan had delighted in telling her all about their past. They had grown up and gone their separate ways. Both had been married, Stan who’d stayed locally had divorced many years before, and more recently, when Janet’s first husband died, she decided to move back to the area. They met by chance at a coffee morning in the church hall, remembered each other from all those years ago, the spark was relit and that was that. It just went to show you were never too old to fall in love.
‘Well, I suppose we’d better both be getting back to work, Joe. Especially now I’ve suddenly got loads to do. A whole new wedding to plan, in fact,’ Ellie said.
‘See you later.’
‘Alligator.’
‘No need to get snappy.’ He winked and was joking, but it jarred just a little with her.
Did he really think she was being snappy lately? She so wished they could somehow move on from this awkwardness between them. Yes, they could chat about work, and the day-to-day stuff. They could pretend all was fine. But neither now dare mention the baby issue, and what was really bothering them, for fear of upsetting the other.
Ellie managed a brief smile as her husband stood to leave. Surely, they would be all right, wouldn’t they? Didn’t every couple have their ups and downs?
So, it was all systems go for the ‘Surprise Christmas Wedding’.
Ellie couldn’t wait until Lucy found out and could share in all the excitement, and the last minute planning. But for now, it was all steam ahead for Ellie, making sure she had as much organized in advance as she could.
Ellie phoned Wendy to let her know the exciting news, then popped to Kirkton to have a chat with her in person, and discuss which flowers might now suit a Christmastime wedding. She remembered that the flowers Lucy had originally ordered for her bouquet, the bridesmaids, and the table decorations, had included peonies and summer roses, which might well be impossible to source at this time of year. If she and Wendy could come up with a floral masterplan, then they could present their ideas to Lucy once she found out and hopefully she’d like them, or they could at least tweak them to her preference. It would be one less thing for Lucy to think about in her two-week pre-wedding frenzy.
Wendy made them both a large mug of instant coffee and they sat at a little wooden table in the back of the shop, where she made up her bouquets. The shop smelt lovely, fragrant and floral-scented. Big white lilies, huge red and pink blooms of amaryllis, carnations, roses and delicate white sprigs of gypsophila surrounded them in green tubs, ready to restock the front displays or go straight into arrangements.
‘Right, so we have a Christmas wedding on our hands,’ Wendy started. ‘I have looked up the original order. I know Lucy wanted big blousy ivory roses, I can probably still manage those, unfortunately the peonies are total non-goers at this time of year, but we could maybe substitute them for some anemones in her bouquet. The best I can do with the roses are David Austins in a pretty ivory shade, and they will have a really lovely scent. Then, a little different, and I used these last year in a winter wedding, are the eryngiums, they are delicate purple-blue thistles, “Scottish thistles” some call them. Really pretty, and with the roses, anemones and some sprigs of greenery, perhaps with some sprayed with just a touch of silver, or eucalyptus leaves. They work well in winter bouquets. You can get a really stunning, slightly frosty effect.’
‘Sounds gorgeous.’
‘Here, take a look. We took some photos of a winter wedding we did last year.’
Wendy passed her an album. The bouquets looked wonderful, elegant and wintery but not too blatantly festive. ‘Yes, I think she’ll love this look. What about table decorations?’
‘Hmm, let’s keep to a similar theme and colour, but we can raise them up on log circles, and we’ll need lots of candlelight, it’ll really lift the room as it’ll get dark quite early on the day. So, imagine you have a tall storm candle to the centre of the log base, your floral display around that, with the ivory and purple-blue flowers similar to the bridal bouquet.’
‘Love it. You’re a gem, Wendy.’
‘Oh, and don’t forget we can decorate the windowsills, and the balustrades coming down from the Great Hall into the courtyard. We could get a load of holly and ivy and twine it along.’
‘Yes, that sounds fab. And, you won’t need to buy any, the estate grounds will be full of it, just come along and help yourself nearer the time.’
‘Thanks, that’ll be perfect. I might find some other greenery there too, if that’s okay. Sometimes sprigs of pine work really well.’
‘Yes, you go ahead and work your magic, Wendy. And take as much as you like from the castle grounds.’
‘That’ll probably keep the costs down a bit for me and for them too.’
‘Yeah, I know they had quite a generous budget originally, but with Daniel being off ill for so long, I’m not sure if they’ll be able to be quite so lavish this time around. We can all do what we can to help, I’m sure … So, you’re all sorted for this wedding on Saturday for me, too?’
‘Oh yes, Janet and Stan, they’re such a sweet couple, aren’t they. The flower order will come in on Friday and I’ll make it all up first thing Saturda
y morning. She’s collecting her bouquet from here and the buttonholes, before going along to the church. And then, I’m to pop along to the castle by noon, with the four table decorations. White calla lilies with sprigs of lily of the valley, simple but really effective.’
‘That sounds great. Thanks Wendy, you’re a star. And I can really picture those flowers working so well for Lucy and Daniel. All winter-wonderland with a touch of frosty sparkle. Perfect. Can’t wait to show Lucy the images and our ideas. Can I take a couple of those winter wedding photos with me?’
‘Of course. Take the album. If I need it back, I’ll give you a shout.’
‘Thank you, that’s fab.’ Ellie just hoped Lucy would like all the new plans they were making.
27
So, Ellie, wedding coordinator extraordinaire, had kicked into action. She felt happier now that she had lots to do, it was certainly helping to keep her mind off all the other stuff.
The flowers were sorted, as long as Lucy liked them, fingers crossed. Now she needed to phone the original catering company that had been booked, to see if there was any chance they might take on the new wedding date, and they also needed to see if the original band were still available (Joe had said he’d look into that for her). Ellie had spoken with Daniel yesterday, and offered to reorganize the main wedding arrangements for him, having kept all the original contacts and details. She’d insisted, telling Dan he had enough to do with reinviting all their guests, whilst still trying to keep it quiet from Lucy, not to mention coping with his own health issues and the physio sessions he needed to attend.
She dialled the catering company. She knew it was a big ask so near to Christmas, but, here goes … she held her fingers crossed behind her back as she listened to the dial tone.
‘Good morning, The Glendale Catering Company. How can I help?’
‘Oh hello, my name is Ellie Ward. I’m the wedding coordinator at Claverham Castle.’
‘Oh hi, Ellie. Yes, I remember you.’
‘We had a booking made with you for a wedding back in August. That had to be cancelled sadly, as the groom had a terrible road accident.’
‘Yeah, I remember. That was such a shame.’
‘Well, the thing is they’ve rebooked for this December 23. I’m just wondering if there’s any way you might be able to do the catering for this new date?’
‘Ooh, right, well it is very close to Christmas. I’ll have to check in the diary and then with our manager, John, to see if we have any bookings, or if it’s possible to arrange the necessary staff we’d need that near to Christmas. Can I give you a call back?’
‘Yes, of course, use this same number.’
‘Okay, well I’ve got the details on the original booking here, Lucy Coates and Daniel Edwards, for sixty-five people, right?’
‘Yep, that’s it.’
‘Right, well just let me look into it. I’ll get back to you soon.’
Two days later.
‘Morning, Ellie. You seem a world away there.’ Doris marched in to the kitchens, ready to help prepare the vegetables for the wedding meal Ellie was catering for, for tomorrow. It was going to be a busy couple of days.
‘Hmm, I was just thinking … about the next wedding event, actually. In fact, I need to ask you and Irene about it too.’
‘Right. So, have we got a new booking then?’
‘Not really, more of a rebooking. The thing is, it’s for the day before Christmas Eve.’
‘Oh, crikey.’ Doris’s face dropped; she looked as if she was about to launch into a rant about selfish people wanting Christmas weddings at the expense of everybody else’s festivities.
Ellie cut in quickly, ‘I wouldn’t normally have said yes, considering how close it is to Christmas, but it’s for Lucy and Daniel. The chap who had the accident.’
‘Oh … I see.’
‘It’s okay, if you have other plans and things arranged for Christmastime, I’ll try and source some other staff. It’s just that Dan wanted to surprise Lucy, and after all they’ve been through … well.’
‘It’s fine. Yes, of course I’ll help. Can’t leave you to do it all on your own now, can I. And I liked the couple.’
‘Thank you, I really appreciate that.’ Ellie smiled.
‘Right, well, we’d better set to work on this other wedding, now then.’
And they were off, Doris peeling and chopping potatoes, Ellie whipping egg whites ready to make the meringues for the dessert.
Joe called in later. ‘The band can’t make it. The one for Dan and Lucy’s do. They have a gig down in Newcastle that evening.’
‘Damn. Oh well, we’ll have to put our thinking caps on. We’ll need some music for sure, and a live band is so much better … Dan’s into rock stuff, I think, isn’t he? Aerosmith, that type of thing?’
‘Yeah, he loves Nickelback, and Bon Jovi too. He mentioned that was playing on his iPod in the hospital, when we went in that day. Said it was keeping him sane.’
‘Isn’t there some tribute band does that type of stuff, around the local pubs up here? Ah, what were they called now? They were quite good back at the BBQ in The Swan in the summer, when they had that real ale festival on. Do you remember?’
‘Yeah, they got us all up dancing, or that might have been the ale, but yeah, they were really good. I’ll get on to Alan at the pub. See if he has a contact number for them. Good thinking, Robin.’
‘Hmm, I have my moments. So, go Batman, go get something booked.’
28
It was Saturday morning, the third weekend in November, and Ellie’s last but one wedding of the year. She was up to her ears in salmon starters, and wrapping chicken fillets in bacon ready to cook for the main course. She’d also made some gorgeous chocolate truffles and fudge yesterday, as petit fours to go with the after-dinner coffee. Doris was preparing broccoli and chantenay carrots for the side dishes, with Irene whipping cream to go with the meringues, raspberries and blueberries for dessert.
As Ellie was arranging sprigs of dill on the side of the starter plates, the phone went. It was the call back from the Glendale Catering Company. They said they were very sorry but they couldn’t do the December 23 wedding. Some of their staff were booked off on holiday, and they had a big event to cater for the day before, so they couldn’t possibly take it on.
Nooo, she so wanted to make this wedding day special for Lucy and Dan, and she didn’t now want to risk having to put it out to some catering company who she’d never heard of. There was only one thing for it, they’d have to do it themselves here at the castle. She would, she could. There would probably be no more than sixty or so people to cater for, if the numbers stayed the same as before. She’d just have to set her mind to it, and come up with a gorgeous (but not overly complicated – she was a cook, not a chef after all!) menu.
But here she was today, November 19, and there was another couple and their family and friends, who needed their special day too. They had had their wedding this morning in the church at Kirkton, and were coming along to the castle for their Reception meal. Ellie reset her mind to the task in hand, and concentrated on making the smoked salmon starters look pretty with the dill, a drizzle of dressing, and a caper on each. There were homemade crusty white and wholemeal rolls to go with it, which Irene was finishing baking just now. They were smelling gorgeous. The first course was ato be ready to be served in fifteen minutes. Deana, Joe and Malcolm would be welcoming the wedding guests in to the Great Hall right now, with Derek as runner between the Hall and kitchens. Ellie was about to join them in five minutes, when the waitressing team of Doris, Irene and Lauren would take over.
Seven-ten p.m. and they waved off the bride and groom, plus a few merry stragglers, at the front steps of the castle. It had all gone well, the happy couple seemed delighted with their meal and event. And, being a local family, they hadn’t needed to book out any of the guest rooms for this wedding, so it was an early finish.
The castle staff had an ‘all hands on deck’ pick-
up, wash-up and Great Hall tidy-up. Ellie felt pretty shattered, but so pleased that it had been a success.
Joe found her in the kitchens loading the last tray for the dishwasher. The other staff had just left. ‘You okay?’
‘Yep, bit tired, but fine. Went off well, didn’t it.’
‘Yeah, you did a great job with the food today. It looked amazing what was coming out. And they all seemed really pleased with each course.’
‘Thank you.’
For her lack of catering training – basically, she’d taught herself, with a little help in the past from her Nanna, and she’d learnt on her feet over the past five years working at the castle – she felt she’d done well, first in the teashop and now, moving into the catering side with some of the less complicated wedding functions. It was just the best feeling when her customers enjoyed her food. She’d kept all the thank-you cards from wedding and teashop customers since she’d started here, and put them on a pinboard in the kitchens (there had even got too many, and some were now stored in a file in the apartment). It reminded her of how far she’d come.
‘Well then … it’s pretty late, and I think we need something to eat ourselves.’
‘Agh …’ The last thing she could think of was starting to cook again.
‘So, I suggest we go along to the pub in the village.’
‘The pub, yes, that sounds like a damned good idea. Better get there soon though, before I fall asleep.’
‘Thanks, and I was so looking forward to your company … actually, hmm, what exactly does that say about mine?’
It was warm and cosy in the Swan Inn. They were sat at a table next to a roaring log fire. Ellie had a glass of cider before her, and Joe a glass of red wine. He had ordered steak pie, and Ellie some local sea bass. This was so much better than having to forage in the freezer back at the apartment, especially after having cooked for two days solid now.
Landlord Alan came across to let them know the food would just be a few minutes.
The Cosy Christmas Teashop Page 18