[OTA] We Are Gathered Here | The Fox-Kattalakis Wedding

[headfollowheart]

A few things had gone wrong, honestly. There had been some confusion in the morning when they’d arrived to decorate the church - a few bouquets on the altar, some green and blue ribbons twined around a few of the posts - and it’d been locked. She’d managed to leave Spade Castle with her dress, veil, the coin from his mother strung on a thin leather thong, the emerald silk sash and Victor’s ring - but of all things, she’d managed to leave her shoes in their box in the closet, and Chives had had to go back for that. Hadyn looked a little green from his adventure shanghaiing Victor with Ben and Elisha, her cousin Sara had in usual Sara fashion managed to break the heel on her left shoe. Nerves finally hit as Chives was braiding her hair, and by the time the veil was settled over the smooth curls, her nails had left indents in her palms.

In the end, though, it was pretty much perfect. Two of her closest friends preceded her down the aisle in soft blue dresses with forget-me-nots in their braided hair and small posies in their hands. She’d walked towards her fiance on her brother’s arm with her hands full of spring flowers, and after the words were said and Victor lifted the veil, they were married. It only felt a little different than before, Zoe thought as their brief kiss ended. But it was different; she was Zoe Fox.

Zoe Fox knew, of course, that Victor Fox would have preferred them to just slip back to their apartment - no big party, no flowing wine and hors d'oeuvres - but she’d wanted something. And he’d given her carte blanche in the end, really; she’d chosen the small reception room that opened out into the Castle gardens, she’d picked the combination of hyacinths, hydragea, and lily of the valley for the table arrangements, the Greek-flavored menu of spanakopita, wild green and strawberry salad, linguine primavera and herb-encrusted lamb. She’d pored over cake designs until she finally picked a vanilla bean cake with strawberry puree filling, decorated in vanilla buttercream. She’d pruned the list of friends, family and acquaintances who might be expected to be invited to the wedding reception until they numbered barely fifty.

Under the strict supervision of Chives, of course the reception looked perfect, she thought as they arrived, and she smiled as she slipped her hand into Victor’s arm and the full skirt of her dress swirled against both of their legs. Perfect, though perfect didn’t matter quite so much to her right now.

Comments

[the_songbird]

Everything is beautiful and Elani's so happy for them both. And between the yellow dress and the signature McCartney beaming smile...that happiness is almost blinding.

The question is...does she want cake or dancing first? (after congratulating the happy couple, of course)

[dreamsofwords]

Alasdair is a more muted sort of happy for them both. He's in a spring suit, and his dimples are showing as he smiles at Zoe and Victor (though he has to say, it was strange sitting on the Fox side of the aisle). He's grabbed a couple of glasses of champagne while Elani's deciding between dance and dessert.

"If we eat cake first, we're guaranteed to get cake," he points out as he nudges her arm. "The dance floor isn't going away."

[the_songbird]

He has a point. It's a very good point. And you know, there's champagne so they might as well get cake to go with it. "Cake it is, then." Because it would be quite disappointing to miss out on it.

And she'll clink her glass against his, "have I told you how handsome you look in that suit, yet?"

[dreamsofwords]

They wouldn't want to get drunk before they go out to dance to Sinatra - who seems to be the theme artist of the night. There are worse choices, though, Alasdair thinks. It could be Celine Dion, for example.

"You said something along those lines when I picked you up," he says as he takes a drink of the champagne andd offers his arm. "You look lovely, too. The yellow's a happy color on you."

[the_songbird]

She'll slide her arm into his gracefully and take a sip of her own champagne. Getting drunk, of course, isn't on the agenda, but a little bubbly never hurt anyone, right?

And maybe they'd include some Dean Martin too, at least.

"Thank you, Alasdair. Just want to make sure you know how wonderful you are."

Of course, when they get cake, it will become more difficult to hold champagne and keep their arms linked but not impossible if she sets her champagne flute down and picks up slices for them both. "It's almost a shame something so lovely had to be cut up."

[dreamsofwords]

Alasdair didn't like Dino as well, really. Something too lounge about him, in the end. But he wouldn't say no to Sammy Davis, Jr. Maybe some Nat King Cole.

"I don't know," he says to the comment about the cake. "It is pretty. But it's the kind of pretty that's meant to be eaten. They can make something pretty in a different way tomorrow."

[the_songbird]

"I expect they'll be something pretty for quite a long time." But of course, she's thinking about Victor and Zoe and the way they're both so happy together.

And certainly the sadness about the cake being cut up doesn't actually stop Elani from eating it. And absolutely nothing will keep her from dancing once that's done.

[dreamsofwords]

Nothing will keep Alasdair from dancing with her, frankly, and he twirls her out on the floor before raising an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't realize we'd be practicing swing dance so soon."

I've been watching too much dancing with the stars

[the_songbird]

"Well, the music kind of lends itself to it, doesn't it?"

You know, as opposed to, say, waltzing. Or jive.

"Rather do a foxtrot, mm?"

[dreamsofwords]

"I had all these plans to do a rendition of Stayin' Alive tonight too," Alasdair says as he shrugs out of his suit jacket and drapes it over a nearby chair. If they're going to dance, after all...

"Oh, well. Guess we'll make do?"

[onlytolerable]

"Gosh! I'm glad that's over with and we can finally have fun." Sophie's beaming nearly as brightly as Elani tonight. She smiles at the Jack from the other side of the champagne fountain. "You look great, by the way."

[the_songbird]

They can both smile brightly at each other and Elani might even curtsy a little. "Thank you! You look lovely too." Even if she was, you know, wearing a bridesmaid's dress. It was a very nice bridesmaid's dress. But then, Zoe did have impeccable taste, herself.

"How much dancing are you planning on doing, then?"

[onlytolerable]

The shoes, Elani. Did you see the horribly frightening shoes? "I haven't thought about it, to be honest. There's the obligatory dances when you're in the wedding party, so there are those. Adrien's my escort, so I'm sure we'll dance, and I might dance with Evan so long as he doesn't get too crazy rambunctious."

She lifts up one foot. "I'm afraid I'll topple off these. Bet you plan on dancing the night away, right?"

[the_songbird]

Well you know, Elani has had a tiny bit more experience with heels, maybe? And she'll grin, "there comes a point, you know, at every event...where it's okay to take your shoes off."

"And if you scritch Evan behind the ear like a puppy, he'll probably relax some." She's laughing though, it's just a joke. But if Sophie tried it, that would be pretty awesome.

[onlytolerable]

Evan is like an overgrown golden retriever now that she thinks about it. "I don't know. He might start thumping his leg. Then where would we be? Anyway, I told myself I'd tolerate the shoes for half the night, then off they go."