“We would like the main emphasis on the exotic, but also with some romantic blown garden flowers. Cattalaya orchids – well, all orchids, really - Garden Roses, Calla Lilies, Gardenias, Peonies, and Lisanthus. Other flowers are acceptable, but we want to keep the emphasis on these. I really love peonies.”
Elly nodded. “What were you thinking for the bouquets?” she asked.
Sunny smiled. “I was thinking all cattalaya orchids for the bride, and then just a mix of flowers for the bridesmaids. I trust your artistic judgment there. There are a lot of bridesmaids. My daughter has many friends.” She paused. “There are 13 of them.”
“Wow, that is a lot,” Elly responded. She looked down. “This sounds beautiful. Did you have an idea for the ceremony?”
Sunny pointed to a picture from the Martha Stewart magazine that showed a richly decorated church. Flowers poured from every surface.
“I think something like this. I completely trust your design instinct. I know you do beautiful work. There will be an arbor made of Manzanita branches, and we would like that covered with orchids, but the rest will be up to you.”
Elly was shocked. No one had ever given her so much freedom in the designing. Normally, she spent hours on the phone discussing one corsage for an insignificant guest book attendant. This was lovely new territory to explore.
“For the reception we would like both tall and short centerpieces, using the garden flowers and the orchids. Lots of candles. My daughter also picked this out.”
Sunny pushed a picture across the table of a chandelier made up of huge billowy white flowers. Elly immediately recognized the picture; it was from the wedding of a rather popular talk show host. I wonder how to approach this next part, she thought. Budgets were always a sensitive subject, and brides’ desires were almost always bigger than their checkbooks.
“Sunny, I feel the need to tell you that this kind of arrangement is very, very expensive. There might be a way that we can mimic the style of it without you spending a fortune.”
Sunny frowned. “No, no, I want this. I’m not sure how much flowers cost – I’m kind of new at this – but, our budget is $45,000.”
Elly smiled and quickly calculated the normal percent of a wedding budget that covered flowers.
“Oh, sure. Well, $4,500 is a very healthy budget for flowers. But I don’t know that it will cover all that and this chandelier. Let me show you what else we can do…”
“No dear.” Sunny stayed friendly, even as she corrected her. “Our budget is $45,000 for the flowers.”
Elly thought she had misheard her. Forty-five thousand dollars for flowers? That was enough to feed a small country. That was enough to buy a couple of cars. That was enough… Oh Lord, Elly thought, that would be enough to pay off my apartment. Completely. Stay cool. Don’t pee your pants.
She tried to recover, and not show her sudden elation. She hoped neon dollar signs weren’t lit up in her eyes.
“Well, that will definitely be enough for this chandelier, and anything else you want.”
“Wonderful!” Sunny cooed. “Well – should I write the check now or later?”
Elly was shocked. “Er, later. Payment is due when services are rendered. The deposit will be four hundred dollars.”
Sunny opened her purse and pulled out five crisp hundred-dollar bills.
“Well, here is the deposit, and a little extra for you. I’ll be in touch over email with all the numbers and details in the next few months.” She bent over and kissed Elly’s cheek. “Thank you so much. I’m so glad to get you booked and have one less thing to do for Lucia’s wedding. I love your shop. It’s so…flirty.”
And with that Sunny Kepke exited, taking with her Elly’s last mortgage payment in her slim Prada pocketbook. Elly waited until Sunny had turned the corner, then she skipped to the back. Kim and Snarky Teenager were arranging coral roses, yellow tulips and yarrow into silver buckets for that weekend’s wedding.
“Guess who just booked a $45,000 wedding for November?”
There was a stunned silence. The jumping around and hugging that Elly had expected were left hanging in the humid air. Kim put down her arrangement.
“Forty-five thousand dollars? Are you serious? We can’t do a wedding that big.”
Elly pouted. “Why not? We can do it. I won’t take any weddings the week before…or maybe the week after. I can hire helpers. I can rent vans…”
Kim put her hand on her annoyingly lean hip. “Elly. I’m excited for you, but…that is a huge, huge wedding. The biggest we’ve done is…what?”
Snarky Teenager piped in. “The Yeadon Wedding. Last year. That was what, seven thousand? And you were a total wreck, remember?”
Elly suddenly remembered the chaos of that wedding. She flashed back to herself crying in a bathroom stall, holding a broken orchid, while Kim pounded on the door and Snarky Teenager ran around sprinkling pink petals over everything. It had been utter chaos, and the memory hit her like a brick in the face.