The Wedding Planner
Chapter One
Family; one word that means different to every person alive. Family was something that could make or break a person. My family live was pretty good for any normal person. I had a mother and dad who loved me very much and an older brother who was always overprotective over me. I however, haven’t been home for three years. I decided to head all the way to the United States to finish up high school and start University. The university thing didn’t last very long because while I was at the University of Boston, I was working as a wedding planner assistant and when one planner quit in the middle of planning of wedding I took over and started my career at age eighteen. I haven’t been home because after that one wedding. I moved to New York soon after and in about a year I was deemed like one of the best planners in the state of New York and I’ve been booked for weddings since. I was coming home for the first time in like three years. My older brother was finally getting married to the girl that he had been dating for years. I was hired as the wedding planner since that’s what I’ve been doing in America for the past three years. For some odd reason I had a great talent for organizing weddings and I was like the youngest wedding planner ever. However I was taking the next year off of planning other people’s wedding for the company I was working for to plan my brother’s and soon-to-be sister-in-law’s wedding.
The flight home back to Holmes Chapel, Cheshire from New York felt like it took forever. Well I think why it felt so long was that my assistant and current best friend, Andrea, kept talking about how excited she was to go to England and how excited she was to actually meet my family because talking on Skype just wasn’t the same as meeting them in person. I was trying to get some sleep because I knew we had a lot to do with a little time period but Andrea wasn’t getting the hint at all.
“Andrea!” I exclaimed and she stopped talking, “I want to get some sleep before we get there, so please shut up.”
“You got it boss,” she said and I thanked her and put my iPod on and shortly fell asleep after that.
The next thing I knew was that Andrea was shaking me awake saying we were landing and I needed to get up so we could walk off the plane. I nodded my head and turned off my iPod and shoved it in my purse and grabbed my carryon and followed Andrea off the plane. My brother and his fiancé were meeting us at the airport in London to make the long drive back to Holmes. As we got off the plane I made sure we had everything before we headed towards the baggage claim because I was not going to lose anything for my brother’s wedding.
“Are you excited to see James?” Andrea asked sensing my excitement.
“Oh you have no idea!” I exclaimed feeling like I was five and my older brother was superman.
“You two are pretty close aren’t you,” Andrea stated.
“Oh you have no idea,” I said looking at her, “You think I’m horrible sometimes together we’re twice as bad.”
“Oh god,” she said laughing as we got to the baggage claim area and I saw my brother’s tall frame looking around for us.
I spotted him first so I made myself and Andrea sneak up on him. We got right behind him when he looked distraught and grabbed his cell phone.
“Do you think that’s such a great idea James?” I asked and he spun around and smiled widely when he hugged me.
“Kennedy!” he exclaimed and I hugged him tightly, “I’ve missed you way too much. You can’t stay away for three years.”
“I’m sorry James,” I said hugging him tightly, “I’ve missed you too.”
“Good,” he said and then smiled looking at Andrea, “You need to get over here and give me a hug too. Don’t think I don’t know who you are.”
Andrea then smiled as my brother engulfed her tiny frame in a hug.
“Holy shit you’re built,” Andrea exclaimed and then I smiled when her face became red from embarrassment.
“I get that a lot,” James grinned and I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t get a big head James Michael Wilker,” I said, “I would like to breathe air.”
I then dragged Andrea and James to get our luggage.
“Gemma’s sorry that she couldn’t make it but I guess Harry had a concert thing tonight and he wanted her at sound check,” James said and I froze a little bit at the name of Harry Styles.
Before our siblings dated, Harry and I used to be best friends. We were so close that we could finish each other’s sentences. However when we started what is considered middle school in England, we grew apart and we never really got along after that. The caring, protective Harry I knew was gone and he was very mean to me and bullied me. He told me I wouldn’t amount much to anything and that no one really cared. James really didn’t know about this because I didn’t want Gemma and James to break up because Harry and I couldn’t get along.
“Wait Harry’s famous,” I said shocked.
“You don’t know,” James said shocked.
“You know Harry Styles,” Andrea hissed.
“I’m so confused,” I said looking at James as we grabbed our luggage.
“Harry auditioned for X Factor three years ago Kennedy,” James said as we walked to the car, “He was put into a group called One Direction. They placed like third and they’re really successful.”
“Wow,” I said completely shocked.
I guess I might’ve been living under a rock but I didn’t know Harry had it in him. I knew Harry could sing but I didn’t think he would actually try to make a living out of it. I guess I was so focused on weddings that I never really had time to keep up on the streaming media. I was about to say something when I felt my phone vibrate. I quickly grabbed my phone to see that someone mentioned me in a twitter post.
@gayandproud!: I miss @Kennedyisagirlsnametoo and @redheadsaremorefun already! Why couldn’t I come to England too!?
I had to laugh at my favorite gay best friend who was also another one of my assistants and my current roommate along with Andrea.
@Kennedyisagirlsnametoo: Aww @redheadsaremorefun and I miss you too @gayandproud! You said that college was way more important then us I believe :(
I then sent the tweet and looked up at my brother.
“I know I told you over the phone last month that we wanted to get married in Holmes,” my brother started.
“But you guys want to get married in London?” I asked and he smiled at me.
“You just don’t miss a beat do you?” he asked.
“Not at all dear brother,” I grinned, “Not at all.”
My brother just laughed as I felt my phone vibrate and James just shook his head.
“I swear I might throw your phone out the window before we even get to the flat,” he said and I just laughed.
“My dear, dear brother,” I said, “I make so many deals on this thing that losing it would be the worst possible thing ever.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said and I just laughed.
“Hey why are we at an arena?” Andrea asked and I looked at James who looked at me sheepishly.
“Gemma wants to see you,” he said, “She said she wants to plan during the sound check.”
“Okay,” I sighed grabbing my giant tote bag that had everything I would need, “Are you going to be a part of these plans or are you ditching us?”
“I’m going to go help Mum out with cleaning up the flat,” he said, “She thinks the place is mess since you’re coming over.”
I just laughed and rolled my eyes as he parked and walked us up to the backdoor of the arena.
“She’s crazy I swear,” I said shaking my head and James chuckled as we walked towards the back part of what I was assuming was the stage.
When we got closer I saw Gemma standing on the side of the stage watching the boys of One Direction sing. I grinned at James and made a shh face and walked over to her and covered her eyes.
“Guess who!?” I exclaimed and she spun around and grinned widely.
“Kennedy!” she squealed and we hugged each other tightly, “You made it.”
“I wouldn’t disappoint my best client,” I said grinning as Andrea came closer with James.
Gemma grinned at Andrea and hugged her tightly too.
“You brought Andrea! Is Paul here?” she asked and I shook my head no.
“He has to finish up his finals and then he’s on the next flight out to help too,” I smiled.
“Come on then let’s go start,” Gemma said dragging and not even acknowledging my brother.
I laughed at her enthusiasm as we walked into a dressing room and she sat down on the couch.
“So do you have a theme idea?” I asked.
“Well I was thinking Happily Ever After,” she said, “but James wants a retro theme.”
“Well do you like the retro theme at all?” I asked.
“I think it would be completely brilliant but I’m just scared,” she said as I took some notes down, “What do you think?”
“Well I’ve done a million fairytale weddings but not a whole lot of retro themed weddings,” I said, “It’s up to you and I can do whatever you want to do.”
“What do you think Andrea?” she asked to turn to her.
“I think you should do the retro theme,” she said being honest, “That one would extremely fun to do.”
“Retro themed it is,” she said and I grinned writing down the theme and knowing exactly who to call to get some invitations done.
“We have the list done though,” she grinned, “Your mum, my mum, and I all sat down and got everything done for that.”
“Good,” I grinned, “I have a person who can make me some invitations and then we can pick which one’s you like and we can get them sent out.
“Great,” she grinned, “I already like this. You’ve been in London all but an hour and we have a theme and invites already going.”
“I’m good at what I do,” I grinned and winked at her as the door burst open and five excited boys joined our room.
“Gemma is this the wedding planner you hired?” I boy with a buzz cut asked.
“It is actually,” Gemma grinned, “Boys meet Kennedy Wilker, James’ younger sister. Harry you remember Kennedy.”
All the boys looked at Harry and I looked up from my papers and met the same green eyes that glared at me as I grew up stare at me in shock.
“K-K-Kennedy,” he stuttered and I smiled.
“Hey Hazza,” I said using the nickname I gave him when we were like five.
I remember giving him the nickname because I was trying to say ah-ha and Harry at the same time and it came out as Hazza.
“Hi I’m Niall,” the boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes exclaimed feeling the awkwardness, “I’m Irish.”
“I’m Liam,” the buzz cut boy said, “I’m from Waolverhampton.”
“I’m Zyan,” the tanned one said smiling, “I’m from Bradford.”
“And I’m Louis!” the boy with the most energy exclaimed, “And I’m from Doncaster.”
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, “and this is my good friend Andrea.”
“I’m American!” she exclaimed and I just laughed at her goofiness and all the boys grinned at her.
“Wait you’re the same age as Harry aren’t you?” Louis asked and I nodded my head yes.
“We are the same age,” I said, “We even share the same birthday.”
“That’s really creepy,” Andrea said.
“Yeah it kind of is,” Zayn said and I just shrugged my shoulders.
The flight home back to Holmes Chapel, Cheshire from New York felt like it took forever. Well I think why it felt so long was that my assistant and current best friend, Andrea, kept talking about how excited she was to go to England and how excited she was to actually meet my family because talking on Skype just wasn’t the same as meeting them in person. I was trying to get some sleep because I knew we had a lot to do with a little time period but Andrea wasn’t getting the hint at all.
“Andrea!” I exclaimed and she stopped talking, “I want to get some sleep before we get there, so please shut up.”
“You got it boss,” she said and I thanked her and put my iPod on and shortly fell asleep after that.
The next thing I knew was that Andrea was shaking me awake saying we were landing and I needed to get up so we could walk off the plane. I nodded my head and turned off my iPod and shoved it in my purse and grabbed my carryon and followed Andrea off the plane. My brother and his fiancé were meeting us at the airport in London to make the long drive back to Holmes. As we got off the plane I made sure we had everything before we headed towards the baggage claim because I was not going to lose anything for my brother’s wedding.
“Are you excited to see James?” Andrea asked sensing my excitement.
“Oh you have no idea!” I exclaimed feeling like I was five and my older brother was superman.
“You two are pretty close aren’t you,” Andrea stated.
“Oh you have no idea,” I said looking at her, “You think I’m horrible sometimes together we’re twice as bad.”
“Oh god,” she said laughing as we got to the baggage claim area and I saw my brother’s tall frame looking around for us.
I spotted him first so I made myself and Andrea sneak up on him. We got right behind him when he looked distraught and grabbed his cell phone.
“Do you think that’s such a great idea James?” I asked and he spun around and smiled widely when he hugged me.
“Kennedy!” he exclaimed and I hugged him tightly, “I’ve missed you way too much. You can’t stay away for three years.”
“I’m sorry James,” I said hugging him tightly, “I’ve missed you too.”
“Good,” he said and then smiled looking at Andrea, “You need to get over here and give me a hug too. Don’t think I don’t know who you are.”
Andrea then smiled as my brother engulfed her tiny frame in a hug.
“Holy shit you’re built,” Andrea exclaimed and then I smiled when her face became red from embarrassment.
“I get that a lot,” James grinned and I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t get a big head James Michael Wilker,” I said, “I would like to breathe air.”
I then dragged Andrea and James to get our luggage.
“Gemma’s sorry that she couldn’t make it but I guess Harry had a concert thing tonight and he wanted her at sound check,” James said and I froze a little bit at the name of Harry Styles.
Before our siblings dated, Harry and I used to be best friends. We were so close that we could finish each other’s sentences. However when we started what is considered middle school in England, we grew apart and we never really got along after that. The caring, protective Harry I knew was gone and he was very mean to me and bullied me. He told me I wouldn’t amount much to anything and that no one really cared. James really didn’t know about this because I didn’t want Gemma and James to break up because Harry and I couldn’t get along.
“Wait Harry’s famous,” I said shocked.
“You don’t know,” James said shocked.
“You know Harry Styles,” Andrea hissed.
“I’m so confused,” I said looking at James as we grabbed our luggage.
“Harry auditioned for X Factor three years ago Kennedy,” James said as we walked to the car, “He was put into a group called One Direction. They placed like third and they’re really successful.”
“Wow,” I said completely shocked.
I guess I might’ve been living under a rock but I didn’t know Harry had it in him. I knew Harry could sing but I didn’t think he would actually try to make a living out of it. I guess I was so focused on weddings that I never really had time to keep up on the streaming media. I was about to say something when I felt my phone vibrate. I quickly grabbed my phone to see that someone mentioned me in a twitter post.
@gayandproud!: I miss @Kennedyisagirlsnametoo and @redheadsaremorefun already! Why couldn’t I come to England too!?
I had to laugh at my favorite gay best friend who was also another one of my assistants and my current roommate along with Andrea.
@Kennedyisagirlsnametoo: Aww @redheadsaremorefun and I miss you too @gayandproud! You said that college was way more important then us I believe :(
I then sent the tweet and looked up at my brother.
“I know I told you over the phone last month that we wanted to get married in Holmes,” my brother started.
“But you guys want to get married in London?” I asked and he smiled at me.
“You just don’t miss a beat do you?” he asked.
“Not at all dear brother,” I grinned, “Not at all.”
My brother just laughed as I felt my phone vibrate and James just shook his head.
“I swear I might throw your phone out the window before we even get to the flat,” he said and I just laughed.
“My dear, dear brother,” I said, “I make so many deals on this thing that losing it would be the worst possible thing ever.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said and I just laughed.
“Hey why are we at an arena?” Andrea asked and I looked at James who looked at me sheepishly.
“Gemma wants to see you,” he said, “She said she wants to plan during the sound check.”
“Okay,” I sighed grabbing my giant tote bag that had everything I would need, “Are you going to be a part of these plans or are you ditching us?”
“I’m going to go help Mum out with cleaning up the flat,” he said, “She thinks the place is mess since you’re coming over.”
I just laughed and rolled my eyes as he parked and walked us up to the backdoor of the arena.
“She’s crazy I swear,” I said shaking my head and James chuckled as we walked towards the back part of what I was assuming was the stage.
When we got closer I saw Gemma standing on the side of the stage watching the boys of One Direction sing. I grinned at James and made a shh face and walked over to her and covered her eyes.
“Guess who!?” I exclaimed and she spun around and grinned widely.
“Kennedy!” she squealed and we hugged each other tightly, “You made it.”
“I wouldn’t disappoint my best client,” I said grinning as Andrea came closer with James.
Gemma grinned at Andrea and hugged her tightly too.
“You brought Andrea! Is Paul here?” she asked and I shook my head no.
“He has to finish up his finals and then he’s on the next flight out to help too,” I smiled.
“Come on then let’s go start,” Gemma said dragging and not even acknowledging my brother.
I laughed at her enthusiasm as we walked into a dressing room and she sat down on the couch.
“So do you have a theme idea?” I asked.
“Well I was thinking Happily Ever After,” she said, “but James wants a retro theme.”
“Well do you like the retro theme at all?” I asked.
“I think it would be completely brilliant but I’m just scared,” she said as I took some notes down, “What do you think?”
“Well I’ve done a million fairytale weddings but not a whole lot of retro themed weddings,” I said, “It’s up to you and I can do whatever you want to do.”
“What do you think Andrea?” she asked to turn to her.
“I think you should do the retro theme,” she said being honest, “That one would extremely fun to do.”
“Retro themed it is,” she said and I grinned writing down the theme and knowing exactly who to call to get some invitations done.
“We have the list done though,” she grinned, “Your mum, my mum, and I all sat down and got everything done for that.”
“Good,” I grinned, “I have a person who can make me some invitations and then we can pick which one’s you like and we can get them sent out.
“Great,” she grinned, “I already like this. You’ve been in London all but an hour and we have a theme and invites already going.”
“I’m good at what I do,” I grinned and winked at her as the door burst open and five excited boys joined our room.
“Gemma is this the wedding planner you hired?” I boy with a buzz cut asked.
“It is actually,” Gemma grinned, “Boys meet Kennedy Wilker, James’ younger sister. Harry you remember Kennedy.”
All the boys looked at Harry and I looked up from my papers and met the same green eyes that glared at me as I grew up stare at me in shock.
“K-K-Kennedy,” he stuttered and I smiled.
“Hey Hazza,” I said using the nickname I gave him when we were like five.
I remember giving him the nickname because I was trying to say ah-ha and Harry at the same time and it came out as Hazza.
“Hi I’m Niall,” the boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes exclaimed feeling the awkwardness, “I’m Irish.”
“I’m Liam,” the buzz cut boy said, “I’m from Waolverhampton.”
“I’m Zyan,” the tanned one said smiling, “I’m from Bradford.”
“And I’m Louis!” the boy with the most energy exclaimed, “And I’m from Doncaster.”
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, “and this is my good friend Andrea.”
“I’m American!” she exclaimed and I just laughed at her goofiness and all the boys grinned at her.
“Wait you’re the same age as Harry aren’t you?” Louis asked and I nodded my head yes.
“We are the same age,” I said, “We even share the same birthday.”
“That’s really creepy,” Andrea said.
“Yeah it kind of is,” Zayn said and I just shrugged my shoulders.
8/19/13