Soon after, the time comes for the meeting. Grace wore an elegant white sheath dress with high-strapped heels for the occasion. Then she wrapped a fur coat over herself. Her ash-grey hair was open and wavy.
Lucas wore a brown suit while Halsey wore a Qipao. Lily wore a navy blue dress. They reached the hotel on time in their Rolls Royce. Then they went inside and the waiter took them to their private room.
Luke and Ava were already waiting for them. They arrived first. As the door opened, they got up to greet them. Lucas went ahead and shook hands with Luke with a smile.
" Good evening, Mr Ally. Good Evening Mrs Ally. Please take a seat."
Then the elders greeted each other before introducing the young ones to them. Lucas then said while looking at Grace.
" This is Grace Ashley, our first child. Beside her is Lily, our youngest daughter."
" Good Evening, Uncle and Aunty." Grace greeted them and Lily followed behind.
Finally, they all sat down. The waiter brought tea and snacks as they talked.
" How is Hunter? Is he still on the missions? Will he be alright?" Halsey asked as she was worried about this issue. She didn't know the details about Hunter's work but she vaguely felt that it was a dangerous job and she was afraid that her daughter would end up getting hurt.
" Don't worry. Hunter should be back after a month. He was supposed to be back now but many unexpected things happens in our line of work so he had to extend his days. But I have been receiving reports of his progress. I believe he'll be here soon." Luke replied to her.
" That's good then. I was worried he wouldn't make it in time."
" Yeah. What about Grace? How's her work going?"
" Well, she is being trained to take over the company. Lucas is just waiting for her to get married and settle down before completely handing over the company to her. We want her to enjoy her wedding and honeymoon before she had to take over such a big responsibility."
" That would be really great. Fortunately, Hunter would be able to get a month-long vacation this time so they can really enjoy themselves. Grace, do you want to go to any specific place for your honeymoon? Hunter left in a hurry and wanted us to arrange everything for your wedding. If you want, we can book tickets for your honeymoon and have everything planned." Ava asked.
" Thank you Uncle and Aunty but don't worry about this. After we get married, we will probably stay here for a day or two and only then we will leave. We will discuss together where we want to go. He rarely gets vacation so I think I should ask him where he wants to go too."
Hearing Grace, a smile swept on the elder's face and Ava said.
"You're so thoughtful. I feel that Hunter is really lucky this time. Then please tell us where you want to hold your wedding. Hunter already told us to arrange it all according to your wishes so you have to tell us."
" ...Well, I never thought about it. Since the weather is cool, how about an outdoor wedding? Maybe at a beach or somewhere."
"That's a good idea. What time should we hold it then?"
" At sunset. I don't like too bright places so how about this? It would look beautiful with lights and lamps."
" Yeah, that's a good suggestion. How about this? Instead of a beach, we will hold your wedding on an Island. Hunter's grandfather gifted him an island the day he was born. He really loved Hunter but he passed away soon after Hunter was born. That island signifies his love and it's a really beautiful island. Hunter really likes it too. We went there a few times when he was young for our family trips."
" That sounds better Aunty. I appreciate your efforts."
" Don't say that. I also wanted to ask. Are there any customs for weddings in your family? Like many people have old traditional customs they follow at weddings. So if you have, we can discuss it together." Ava asked this as she looked at Halsey and Lucas. Youngsters usually don't know much about traditional customs.
" We do have certain customs. The first and most common custom is that we don't let the couple meet before their wedding. Of course, that's after their marriage is fixed. It's just to keep the excitement. Then we have another tradition in which we brought our children new furniture and clothes. Basically, after marriage, they should wear only new things as that signifies a new beginning. This one is not compulsory as not everyone can afford it or have different situations but since we can, we could do it. What about your traditions?" Halsey asked them. Ava replied.
" We also have certain traditions. The one about not letting the couple meet, we also have the same tradition. Since our family has been in the military for generations, we also have a family heirloom that is passed down to the daughter-in-law. It is an antique weapon. It's a gun. It was the first and finest model of the gun. It was made up of expensive materials and decorated with gold plating. I heard that it was gifted to my forefathers in a war for his bravery by the king.
It has been passed down for many years. Every time it is to be inherited by someone new, we polish it and gift it to them. Other than that, we have another tradition that is we prepare our daughter-in-law's wedding dress. But anyone would like to wear a dress they like so instead of that, we would like to pay for the dress. You choose it yourself.
So after hearing your customs, I suggest that we pay for the bride's clothing and accessories and you can pay for the groom's. And we can also give gifts from our sides along with that. Lastly, we would like to inform you of something as you may not know it.
In the military, once you get married, you can't get divorced. In simple words, once you are married, you will have to stay together until you die. But of course, it is not impossible to get divorced if you really want to but it would just be a little long process with a bit of questioning and all.
That's all we have to say."