And They Lived Happily Ever After

Spring Break allowed me time to focus on a variety of tasks, including the upcoming wedding of my middle son. As a mother of the groom, my involvement is somewhat limited, but the rehearsal dinner is our responsibility, a task I eagerly embrace. Figuring out the menu, designing a tablescape, and visualizing the flow of the evening are creative activities I enjoy.

While searching for different items, I remembered another item, tucked away in a cedar chest: my mother’s wedding gown.

After she passed, I took her wedding gown causing my brother to ask, “What are you going to do with that thing?” It was difficult to throw it away, so I simply answered, “You will see”, hoping that I would be able to think of a creative way to use it.

The dress, yellowed and wrinkled, is hanging in our office. I took it out of the cedar chest, home to the dress for the last two years. At one point, I thought of ripping it up and keeping parts of it for family members’ bouquets. I didn’t do it because it was hard to think of actually ripping it up.

I love thinking back to how my parents met through a church magazine, The Banner. Back then, people would use the magazine as a way to connect to other Christians and future spouses. It was the older version of E-Harmony. Someday, I hope to locate the actual advertisement in its archives.

As the wedding plans continue, honoring grandparents and their marriages is part of the discussions. One idea is to set up a room at the reception and include family members’ wedding dresses. My son didn’t seem too thrilled about this idea, but what son gets excited about looking at past wedding dresses? I think that it would generate interesting conversations and remind guests of the beauty of marriage. Plus, it would finally answer my brother’s initial question. Another idea is to create an area of photos from parents’ and grandparents’ weddings.

I wish my mother could attend his wedding, but perhaps her dress is another way to keep her memory alive. I know she would have been thrilled to see her first grandson marry a wonderful girl.