Getting married is as life-changing as an event can get so it’s no surprise that it’s not just the bride and groom that are involved but typically both sides of the family as well in helping make the wedding happen.
After all, nothing makes parents happier than seeing a child get happily married.
A bride named Emma was looking forward to her own wedding when she got engaged in 2016. However, the preparations soon took a bittersweet tone when her mother diagnosed with terminal cancer only one month later.
Emma was hoping her mother could at least make it to her wedding but she died in 2017.
Last week, the bride-to-be from Kibworth Beauchamp in Leicestershire got the bridal shoes she ordered but soon discovered that her mother had secretly paid for them.
But what was more special was that a message was written on the soles of Emma’s shoes from her mother, which read:
“Wanted you to have a gift from me on your wedding day. Your wedding shoes are my gift to you.
“Hope you have a magical day. Lots and lots of love and big hugs, MUM xxxx”
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The 38-year-old, who will marry fiancé Richard in August, was understandably shocked and touched at the same time.
She said, “It’s been so hard planning a wedding without having her with me, and I have had lots of tears.”
“I had absolutely no idea, my fiancé knew about it. It was just an absolute shock.
“I pulled out the one shoe and I saw part of the message and I couldn’t think who it would be.”
But when she realized that the message was from her mother, “I started to cry… I was just absolutely in bits. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk.”
She explained that her mother had been given one to two years to live after the lung cancer diagnosis came in and had been writing letters to members of her family.
“I didn’t get a letter, she just ran out of time,” said Emma, “So this is special to me.”
When she shared her story of Facebook, messages of support started pouring in.
“It’s really nice to hear that obviously, what I’m feeling, that other people have gone through it, and to know that there are people out there who are planning weddings and not having their mum there,” she said.
Amanda Weise runs the online shop Lace and Love which customizes shoes. She said it was “lovely” taking part in making the touching gift.
“It’s probably the most emotional pair of shoes I’m ever going to make. Hopefully, it will give her a bit of comfort on the day. It will be like walking down the aisle with her mum,” said Weise who is from Barrow upon Soar.
She was contacted by Emma’s mother a few weeks after the order was placed.
“It was her mum who told me she had cancer and wouldn’t be there for Emma’s wedding day. She told me on the first message she sent me.
“Her mum actually emailed me and said she wanted to pay for the shoes. I said, ‘well she’s already paid half.’ She said, ‘can I pay for it all and then you refund her the money when she gets the shoes?
“I was aware that she was terminally ill at the time. I think Emma was kind of hoping she would see the wedding. From the message that she wrote, I think she did intend for it to be after she was gone.”
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