WHO: Friends and Family of Nora Carson and Kit Greene WHEN: November 26 WHERE: The Carsons' Winery in Napa Valley SUMMARY: Happy Friendsgiving, all!
FRIENDSGIVING
Samantha Cross must have had a good night for Saturday morning dawned nice and clear. Everyone started gathering at 8:00am at Nora’s house to board the bus that they had rented for the occasion, and VOLUNTEER 1’s complaints about the early hour were silenced when JASPER SAMPSON SPENCER brought out snacks for the trip and agrees to share, unlike VOLUNTEER 3 who brought their leftover Halloween candy and refuses to give anyone else a piece. Right before the group pulls out VOLUNTEER 4 arrives and hams it up as they do the walk of shame to the very last seat on the bus.
SAM WHITE HORN sweet talks the bus driver into getting control of the radio and soon hooks up their phone to the system. The self appointed DJ keeps the bus in good spirits as they cruise towards Napa, and just for the fun of it they veto any song choice VOLUNTEER 6 calls out. Soon they're on the winding roads leading towards the Carson Family Winery, and when they come into view of the house. VOLUNTEER 7 half-jokingly asks if they're actually going to an actual castle.
Once everyone has had a chance to drop their things in their assigned rooms in the house and guest house on the property, Nora gathers everyone in the kitchen to start making dinner. You gotta werk, people! She has recipes printed out and scattered around the kitchen. VOLUNTEER 8 claims to fix the turkey and grabs VOLUNTEER 9 to help, only to find out that the bird is already made. Claiming their part is done, they head to the couch to watch the football games. SUMNER GRACE catches them and drags them back in to help peel potatoes. VOLUNTEER 11 gets so preoccupied trying to do everything that they forget to set the timer on the oven and ends up burning the biscuits.
After everything is ready to go in the ovens Kit shoos everyone out to go get ready for dinner. He grabbed Tyler as he passed by and asked him to give him a hand with something, and they disappear towards the back of the house while everyone else retreats back to get dressed in the gold or navy outfit they brought along as per the invocation. VOLUNTEER 12 has fun trying to figure out what all’s in the guests bags Pippa placed in all the bathrooms and accidentally ends up eating one of the moisturizing beads thinking that they were mints. VOLUNTEER 13 forgot to read the invitation and realizes they didn't bring anything color-appropriate and ends up raiding [Nate or Nora’s] out of fear of Pippa turning them away without dinner.
SURPRISE! A wooden sign greets people when they walk outside towards the garden, letting everyone in on the secret that their hosts had an ulterior motive to the dinner. Seats have been placed facing away with the house so the vineyard is in the backdrop, and Kit is moving around greeting people with a goofy grin on his face as they fill in the seats. VOLUNTEER 14 changes seats twenty times to get the best seat so they can capture the bride when she walks down the aisle, making VOLUNTEER 15 a little mad when they snag the chair they were going for. They’re stopped by making a scene when the music swells and Kit and Tyler take their place next to the Carsons’ family pastor.
When the music reaches a crescendo Noraappears at the end of the aisle on the arm of Jasper, who she caught while everyone was getting ready to let him in on the secret. The ceremony is short and sweet, filled with traditional vows and a few laughs when Kit sneaks a kiss during his vows, and before everyone can realize what’s happening the pastor is pronouncing them Mr. and Mrs. Greene. VOLUNTEER 16 whistles when the couple kiss, and then it’s off to dinner!
The group is ushered to the back patio, which has been transformed to party central. Fairy lights are wrapped around the columns and festive centerpieces line the tables, ready for everyone to gather around and enjoy the holiday. The food everyone prepared earlier is arranged on groaning tables lined against the house, but the star of the show is the dessert table filled with mini assorted pies - which VOLUNTEER 17 makes a beeline for. Life’s short, so start with dessert!
After a while, inspired by the Carsons’ wine and the festive mood TYLER PIRLO breaks a wineglass by trying to get everyone’s attention to give a toast in honor of the holiday. When that’s over NATE CARSON pulls Nora onto the dance floor to get the party started as the stars come out, and VOLUNTEER 20 loses their shoes in order to have more fun. There’s no need to worry about driving home, so VOLUNTEER 21 takes full advantage of this and enjoys a little bit of everything. However, they end up falling asleep in their chair as the night goes on and CALDER FULLERTON ends up taking them back to their room as the party winds down.
The next day Pippa and RYAN COMLEY wake up early to prepare brunch for everyone before they leave the vineyard, and the bus takes everyone back to Woodsbridge by early afternoon.