HEJ, MY LOVE

SIX MONTHS TO FOREVER

"Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe"—which names the four good-luck objects (plus a sixpence) a bride should include somewhere in her wedding outfit or carry with her on her wedding day.

"Wow, Dima, she looks like an Oscar nominee."

"Phew, I would have knocked you out if you said princess," May said.

"May, why the aggressivity. You've really got to work on that," Jade said as she pulled her faux locks in a bun.

Sierra made abstraction of the noise and smiled at her reflection. She asked Dima for a less sophisticated look. This time the makeup was lightweight. Thus her hair was in a side waterfall braid that allowed her loose curls to tumble following her desired look. The style won over May's cliché milkmaid crown braid that had Jade laughing for ages as she imagined Sierra wearing the Dutch golden age 17th-century attire to go with it.

As for the dress, Sierra chose the Vera Wang Priya one Vincent's family refused as it showed too much skin. The other reason why the gown found itself dismissed was the color. The ivory-colored backless dress didn't gain the Patels' favor with its slight v-neckline and hand-applicated metallic flowers. Yet, Sierra adored the gown. There was no need for white; it was a second wedding, after all, the woman thought when she bought it.

Jade managed to sell Sierra's first dress at an auction for a reasonable price, and so the bride was able to reinvest in the one she desired in the first place.

"Dima, what's wrong?"

The woman's eyes shone with tears, "I can't believe I did this."

Dima outdid her performance in comparison to Sierra's wedding with Vincent. Unlike her friends, Dima didn't follow all of Sierra's love story with Jonas. The bachelorette party, which was more of a sleepover, allowed Sierra to play a storyteller. She started with her encounter with Cecile and told the story until Jonas confessed to having her letters.

Even May and Jade's eyes shimmered with tears though they already knew the tale, which seemed improbable yet Sierra's reality.

Dima revised everything she had planned. She wanted her friend to be unique, just like her love story. The makeup artist's goal was for Jonas to see another Sierra, and Dima truly excelled; the bride was mind-blowing.

Sierra wasn't superstitious, but she chose to wear her twenty-first birthday gift from Cecile. They were blue Jimmy Choo heels that faded into a metallic tint close to one of the flowers on her wedding dress. Jonas's mother gave her a hairpin the day before that belonged to Jonas' grandmother. Dima placed it in a way that allowed everyone to see the white pearls.

May questioned whether Sierra really desired to have sixpences shuffling in her shoe when she realized her friend followed these old traditions. The couple even chose to marry on a Wednesday, considered the luckiest day for a wedding, unlike the Saturday seen as the least fortunate but loved by most couples for practical reasons, including gathering the most friends and family.

The men and the women slept in separate wings of the mansion of the Norvikken gardens. Though Sierra didn't wish for any extravagance, Jonas, nature's lover, chose green. Sierra only discovered the location a week before and immediately fell in love with the garden's landscape but also Victoriahuset, the glasshouse where the ceremony would be held.

November's cold froze all, but the glasshouse bathed in sunlight was warm. The setting gave the impression of marrying in summer. One felt desperately in need of romance once they set foot inside.

Jonas refused to share any details concerning the price of the location. Sierra was grateful not to go through the complicated motions of wedding planning. The man ensured things remained simple by asking whether the choice pleased her or not. The Potsmann didn't even meddle with anything; his family just said they were available if they needed help.