Read Online Always the Baker, Finally the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker - Free Book Online Page B

invitation should match the tone or theme
chosen for the wedding.
    • Today’s wedding invitations can include such personal
choices as dried flowers, recycled papers, and gilt edges.
    • Traditional and formal weddings usually require a
more formal invitation with engraved lettering,
a technique that raises the letters slightly.
    • For a more casual invitation, a professional portrait
of the bride and groom can be a nice touch to make
a personal statement, and it is a particularly nice touch
for those invitations going to out-of-town recipients who
will likely not be able to attend the wedding.
    • The wording of the invitation may also vary;
however, the name of the hosts should always be
included in addition to the date, time, and location.
    • When cost is a priority, some lovely invitations can be
created with a little imagination and a good-quality printer.
There are many templates available, and a fine stationery
store will offer everything from cardstock to
linen papers and vellum overlays.

5
    Pleated sweetheart bodice
.
    Hand-embroidered and beaded cap sleeves
.
    Side-draped cascades of chiffon
.
    A two-inch belt of rhinestones circling a natural waist
.
    Twenty rhinestone buttons down the back
.
    A-line silhouette with draped chapel-length train
.
    Those were the notes Audrey had scribbled while they conferenced about Emma’s gown. A week later, she’d included them in the e-mail to Emma with a jpg of the sketch attached. She had meticulously included every idea Emma had somehow managed to express, times ten. And now—seeing the end result before her—Emma could hardly breathe.
    “Oh my!”
    “Yes?” Audrey asked eagerly.
    “Oh . . . Audrey . . .”
    “I think that’s a yes,” Kat added. “Isn’t it?”
    “Well, come on. Don’t keep us in suspense,” Fee declared.
    “It’s beyond—” That was all she could manage.
    Emma sank to the edge of the king-sized bed, both hands over her heart, trying to breathe as she gazed at the dress form angled toward her. Every detail of the gown came together tostop her heart, every rhinestone on the belt perfectly placed, every pearl and bead on the delicate cap sleeves shimmering. Even the way the hem sat arranged on the floor brought a mist of emotion to her eyes and a lump to her throat that kept her from speaking.
    “It’s a gorgeous dress,” Kat said with a sigh as she dropped to the bed beside Emma.
    “Exquisite,” Emma managed.
    The four of them lined up along the foot of the bed, gazing at the gown as if it had descended from a cloud, affecting the mood of the room full of women the way only a wedding dress could.
    A sudden bang-bang-bang against the door drew Kat to her feet, and she hurried to answer Sherilyn’s frantic calls from the corridor.
    “Let me in! Don’t you dare leave me out of this!”
    Emma couldn’t manage to look away from the gown as Sherilyn blew into the room. But when Sherilyn gasped and the others fell eerily silent, she looked up to find her friend standing in the middle of the room, her baby strapped across her chest, bulging diaper bag flung over her shoulder, and her glassy eyes trained on the dress before them.
    “Is that it?” she slowly asked. Fee’s dry glance at her elicited a further reply: “Oh. Well, of course it is. It’s . . . it’s . . . exquisite!”
    “Isn’t it?” Emma said.
    Sherilyn sat down next to Emma on the bed, cradling the tiny pink bundle in her arms.
    “Hi, Isabel,” Emma cooed at the baby. “Did you see my wedding dress? Isn’t it beautiful?” Looking up at Sherilyn, she asked, “Can I hold her?”
    Sherilyn nodded absentmindedly, pulling a bottle of antiseptic gel from the bag and handing it to Emma without glancing away from the gown.
    Emma squirted out a dollop of gel and rubbed her hands together as Sherilyn exclaimed, “Oooh!” She plucked something else from the front flap of the diaper bag and waved it at Emma.
    “The invitations arrived!”
    “They