Carly & Kyle: the wedding

May 2088. Carly Cook is 33, Kyle Kowalski is 31.

previously: Carly & Kyle got engaged

Carly is an old character whose story existed across three game versions and several blogs, much of it even off-camera. I know there are parts of her story that I can’t find on any of the blogs now—maybe they were in drafts of things I never got around to posting? Like the ending of her relationship with Joe. Or that she and Kyle were breaking up, then they were suddenly back together and getting engaged. There was some in between, I’m sure, but I can’t find it now, lol! 

Well, she’s here now and she’s finally getting married! 

Carly and Kyle took a quick little trip to Tartosa to consider their wedding options. Even though this world is indeed lovely, they won’t lock themselves into this one location. 

The venues here are pretty enough, though a little small, and a little too… I don’t know, traditional? Carly is fancy, and she hoped to put her sights on something a little grander. 

But Kyle promises they can keep looking as long as she wants. 

Wise man, indeed. Carly Cook loves getting exactly what she wants! 

The wedding agent ( = me) tells Carly that there’s a lot we could do with the available spaces. But there are no plans drawn up yet and no promises on the completion date. The construction and design crew (also me) has a toddler. 

Carly is in the business of extreme makeovers. She knows what a big project that would be. 

“Sorry, I’m gonna pass,” Carly says. 

We considered Tartosa, we considered Sulani, we even allowed the Riley Estates Company to put in a bid for their luxurious Sky Suites in San Myshuno. But then we saw the Lost Falls Botanical Gardens in full spring bloom and Carly had her credit card out before she even heard the price tag!  

It’s okay, it’ll be worth it. It ticks all the boxes. Fancy, stylish, and a little bit exclusive. 

—

Back home now to begin the wedding preparations. First, she needs a wedding party!



Carly chose two of her oldest friends from back in the day, Piper Phoenix and Amelia Bradshaw. They’ll be joint sims of honor.

(To be totally honest, though, Carly was always just a little bit closer to Piper than Amelia. But we don’t want to cause any trouble. So I figured she’d ask them both, and then Kyle could pick two more of his own. Then I learned that you only get two total, so Kyle gets zero, lol! But it really doesn’t matter, because being a “sim of honor” does jack shit at the wedding anyway.)




Just a quiet girls’ night out to celebrate. These ladies are too tired and swamped with toddlers these days for one of those wild TS2-era bachelorette parties. (Like the one where April hooked up with Carly’s ex in the bathroom. Carly doesn’t know about that, and Amelia technically doesn’t know, either, even though she was in the other room… but hey, that’s ancient history by now… as in, twelve years, two game versions, and seven blogs ago!)

My girls are all grown up, about eight years later, from mid-twenties to early thirties. Both Piper and Amelia were married off-camera (= book), but Carly went on to live in TS3 stories, where she met her love, Kyle. So she’ll get to have her big fancy (hope it’s not too broken) wedding on camera in TS4.

Wedding dress shipping! Tortosa is pretty and all, but to hell with the kiosk wedding shops! 

Instead, Carly gets to shop around from my real sims who own real businesses and do real work. Coolidge House Country Inn in Copper Hill will supply the catering and wait staff for Carly’s wedding. Cake expertise goes to Janie Trudgen of The Old Market House in Fort Palmetto. Flowers were designed by Courtney Bachman, who works at The Hope Chest bridal shop, also in Fort Palmetto.

Getting ready for the big day, and enjoying some spa time with her ladies. 

Perfect! Here we go!

 —

The big day arrives. The weather is mildly warm and sunny. We couldn’t ask for anything better. But how is it that Ingrid Thompson is the first guest to show up at the aisle?

Kyle has a brief moment of terror, wishing that absolutely anyone else had shown up to this wedding first, remembering the night he and Carly got engaged and that very pivotal fight they had about Ingrid. Bouncy, bubbly, naked Ingrid.

She’s clothed, today, thankfully. But she’s the best photographer, they were told. She’s local, they were told. She’s harmless, she promised. And Carly agreed to this. Perhaps Carly has learned to trust her soon-to-be husband after all.


So they catch up for a few minutes before, thank God, all the other guests finally arrive.

And here comes the bride.










Vows are exchanged and promises made.  

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski and/or Cook. Carly will probably be keeping her last name, because she’s all independent like that. (Also, for the record, Carly seems like the type who would have asked for a pre-nup. I don’t have the numbers to lay out here, but she has quite a bit more wealth than him, and she has trust issues, too!)


Picture time.

Ingrid does indeed take lovely pictures and is skilled with her equipment, but they’re technically off-lot here and their budget limitations (= me ) dictate only two poses. 




All done. Ingrid leaves the lovely couple to enjoy the serene backdrops of gardens and waterfalls in peace. 

Ingrid says, “See, I don’t destroy everything I touch.”

Good girl, Ingrid!

—

Reception time!

It probably looks like I posed them here in front of this wedding sign and meant for this shot to happen. But no, not quite. I had asked them to dance on the actual dance floor and they moved themselves all the way over here to the stairwell. Sims, lol! 


First dance, take two. 

Now a group dance, everyone! 

Oh, did Kyle not get the memo?

You see, poor Kyle didn’t get to live in TS2 like the others. He doesn’t know what group dancing is. He’s doing it so wrong. But he’s living his life and doesn’t care. It’s his wedding and he’ll dance badly if he wants to!


Also, the bartender is pissed because he’s a snob and there’s somebody here he doesn’t like (this mod)

So we’ll make the bartender chug a glass of wine to calm his nerves.

And hey, that was actually really fun.

Dinnertime! For their wedding menu, they ate herb-crusted salmon, mushroom soup, Caprese salad, and vanilla sea shells & chocolate caviar.


Poor darling is upset that her manicure didn’t even last through her wedding day.

I’m upset about that, too! Only 24 hours? What the hell? I’ve had one coat of $1.99 department store polish that lasted longer than that!

(Mod to the rescue, but not in time for poor Carly’s wedding day manicure.)


Here’s me wishing spouses autonomously danced with each other... 

The reception was had. The toasts were attempted and were somewhat successful. The cake cutting was less successful, but at least they all got to eat cake. 

And whee! We’re super happy!

Then this is the part of the wedding where the cake is cut and all the drinks are drunk and the bartender wandered off to dance somewhere in a corner (even though he hates dancing and it stresses him out). The men-folk are all bored and would rather be at home in their boxers, so they get on their phones and wait for their wives to finish chatting.

Even Carly is ready to start her honeymoon, and she pulls out her knitting.

That’s it, guys. That’s how the party ends.

—