I smiled and had a feeling this was going to be it.
We met with the venue wedding planner, an older gentleman named Jacob. I already liked him better than the other woman from the last venue. He was kind and answered all of my questions without caring how my best friend looked.
There were two rooms for the reception we could choose from. The first was nice and had a view of the landscaped courtyard. “The cocktail hour will take place outside in the courtyard, and then dinner will be in here. Depending on the weather, all of these windows can be removed so that your guests can filter between inside and outside.”
“This is great,” Sienna said.
“Let me show you the other option.”
We walked down a long hallway to the back of the building. This room was a little smaller. And the windows had already been removed to show the bright blue sky and view of the ocean in the distance.
“Wow,” Sienna said.
Jacob smiled. “We get that reaction a lot.”
We walked through the space and outside. “We can have your ceremony out here, overlooking the ocean.”
The view was even more breathtaking than the photos on the website. This was the place I wanted to have my wedding. And I knew Rachel would agree.
“Over here we can seat up to two hundred people,” Jacob said, indicating the space in front of us. “Then over there would be your cocktail hour.” There was a long bar on the backside of the reception room. “We usually put out high top tables and a tent, so your guests stay cool.”
I nodded and looked back over to where the ceremony would take place. Sienna had wandered to the edge of the overlook. When Jacob was done with his spiel, I walked over to her.
“What do you think?” I asked her.
She took a deep breath. “It’s perfect.”
Jacob came up behind us. “If you both stand over here and face each other, then you can imagine how it will be on your wedding day.”
Sienna flinched and turned to Jacob. “It’s not our wedding day.” Her tone was hard, as if she couldn’t even imagine marrying me. My throat tightened. I didn’t understand why I felt so upset by her comment, but for some reason, it upset me more than I wanted it to. My earlier feelings from before were squashed. Sienna had no feelings for me other than friendship. Her dislike for Rachel had spurred that conversation from the night before, and that was all. At least my cold feet had finally thawed.
“Oh,” Jacob said, “I’m sorry. I just assumed.”
“I’m the best man,” she said, smirking at me.
“You won’t be the first female best man we’ve had,” Jacob said.
I bumped Sienna’s arm with mine. “See, it’s not that weird.”
“So, what do you think?” Jacob asked. “Do you have any more questions?”
“Are both rooms available for the day I discussed with you on the phone?”
“At this moment, yes.”
“Good, I want to buy the whole place for that day,” I said.
Jacob cocked his head. “How large is your group?”
“Not that big, but we want privacy. I’ll pay whatever you want.”
Jacob blinked a few times. “If you insist. Let me put together some numbers for you. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” He left us alone to wander the property.
“I really like that courtyard,” Sienna said. “And if you’re buying the place out, I think it should be used.”
“I thought you would say something about my careless spending of my money.”
She rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to spend money, you might as well spend it on a fabulous party.”