A Perfect Royal Wedding

Bloom stood in the middle of Domino palace’s beautiful gardens and couldn’t help but look around in pure giddiness. Everything was going according to plan.

Today was her sister’s wedding, and she had been given the responsibility to plan it. Obviously, Bloom had enlisted her friends to assist her with the wedding, and they had happily and eagerly agreed to lend a hand.

Stella was currently with Daphne, assisting her with her hair and her dress. Musa was working on the music systems for both the ceremony and the reception. Flora was overlooking the decorations for the Grand Hall, ensuring everything was in place. Tecna was making sure that the party favors matched up to the name cards that were situated at the tables in the Grand Hall. Aisha was overlooking the dishes that were being made in the palace’s kitchen. Roxy was in the gardens making sure everything was set up for the ceremony. Sky and Nex were with Thoren, helping him get ready for his big day. The Specialists were out in the garden, putting up the last of the chairs for the ceremony.

For the ceremony, Bloom had decided to use the palace gardens. Daphne had always liked the gardens, and so Bloom felt it was the perfect area to get Daphne and Thoren married. She had thought about having the ceremony at the beach, but getting the guests to Earth was too much of a hassle, so Bloom settled on Domino’s palace. Because they couldn’t go to the beach, Bloom decided to make the wedding beached-theme.

There were two hundred chairs, painted celeste blue set up for the ceremony. One hundred had been placed on the left, and one hundred was placed on the right. Dividing them was a white carpet leading up to the altar. Lining the aisle were average-sized sand dollars. The altar’s archway was curved and made of iron, also painted celeste blue with white curtains draped over the sides of the archway and divided in the front so that the guests would be able to see the bride and groom say their vows. Holding up the curtains were beige colored sea-shells, tied on celeste blue ribbons. At the back edge of the archway was a small table, where three candles were set up and waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The Grand Hall, where the reception would be held, was just as beautiful. It was large enough to hold the two hundred guests and the wedding party. There were several tables set up with chairs situated around them. A long table was placed at the head of the Grand Hall, which was where the royal family and members of the wedding party would be seated. Each table was set up with white table covers, and sea foam green ribbons were wrapped around the tables. In the middle of the wedding party’s table was a picture of the bride and groom in a heart-shaped frame. Vases filled with sand, sea shells, sand dollars, mini-figurine starfishes, and a single candle were the table decorations. Each vase was placed in the center of the tables, and only the wedding party’s table had two vases on it, one on each side of the table. The chairs were painted white, just like the chairs for the ceremony, but these chairs had a sea-foam green sash tied around the chairs, tied into a bow to keep them from falling. Woven, brown, round table mats were situated in front of every chair. Name cards for where each guest was sitting were placed on top of the table mats. Silverware and drinking glasses were situated in their correct locations on the table in anticipation for the wedding’s feast.

The menu for the wedding had been overseen and written up by Bloom herself based on dishes inspired from Earth recipes. The first course had three appetizers, one of which could be chosen by the guests. The first appetizer was crab cakes, following in line with the beach-themed wedding design. The plate had three crab cakes lined up in an orderly fashion with some buttered sauce lined under them. The second appetizer was a white bean cilantro chopped vegetable salad. Bloom was health conscience and wanted to offer a dish that would cater to people who wanted to eat heathy, so she went with a non-meat dish. The dish was small, and contained white beans mixed with chopped cilantro, diced zucchini, diced bell peppers, diced radishes, and chopped parsley. Olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper were mixed into the salad as well, and it was topped off with toasted pine nuts. The last appetizer was bite-sized turkey sandwiches. The plate had two bite-sized cut turkey sandwiches, made of wheat bread, turkey slices, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, sliced tomatoes, and sliced lettuce. The meal was just enough for a person to be mulled over until the main course was served.

The main course, like the appetizer course, also contained three dishes that the guests could choose one from. The first dish was filet mignon with cabernet cranberry sauce. The meat would be cooked to the guests’ pleasure and would be covered with the cabernet cranberry sauce with a side of their choice added onto the plate. The second dish was salmon filet stuffed with crab imperial. The two salmons would be cooked well-done and doused in lemon juice and melted butter with seasoning sprinkled on them. The last dish was chicken marsala. The three chicken cutlets on the plate would be cooked well-done and then doused in the sauce filled with diced mushrooms and garlic. The chicken would be seasoned with salt and pepper, and garnished with parsley.

Each main course would come with a side, and like the courses, there were three sides, and the guests could choose one. The first side dish was herbed potatoes au gratin. The potato was cut into a square piece, and was made out of cream and milk and russet potatoes. Filled inside the potato was onions, peppers, cream cheese, chopped parsley, grated parmesan cheese, fresh thyme, and garnished with chives on top. The second side dish was curried fruit couscous. Placed in a side bowl, the dish contains couscous, yogurt, black pepper, diced, dried apricots, sliced almonds, shredded carrots, green onions, and chopped flat-leaf parsley. White wine vinegar and curry powder were mixed into the dish as well. The final side dish was vegetable rice pilaf. Like the first dish, it came in a small bowl that contained the jasmine rice mixed in with olive oil, chicken bouillon granules, chopped parsley, diced onion, diced carrots, diced celery, and cracked peppers.

The drinks that were being offered at the wedding were nearly unlimited. For the adults, wine of their choosing and champagne were being offered. Sparkling cider and soda were being offered those who could not partake in the adult-only drinks. Water was also being offered if the guests did not care for any of the choices.

The wedding cake was being worked on, and would be ready by the time the bride and groom would be ready to cut it. The cake was triple-layered with mint chip frosting dyed a darker color so it would resemble the sea green color. Wave-like designs rounded the outside of each layer. At the top of the cake were two plastic toppers: one miniature version of Thoren and one miniature version of Daphne, standing on top of a starfish that was red velvet frosting. Situated behind the miniatures was a miniature archway similar to the one being used in the wedding ceremony.

Selina, who had repented from her evil ways and was seeking forgiveness, had been tasked with arranging the party favors, which she placed beside each name holder on the tables in the Grand Hall. The party favors had been designed and worked on by the Winx Club girls (along with Roxy, Selina, the Specialists, and Nex) the night prior. Contained within a white, elegant drawstring bag was mini laurel branches, seashells, and a small jar of homemade honey which had been specially made by Vanessa.

Bloom checked off each item on her list and grinned to herself, thankful and grateful that everything had gone off without a hitch. All that was left was for the wedding to commence.