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TBT: Mom's wedding dress

{May 22, 1978}
Since it's almost Mother's Day, I thought I'd post about my mom's wedding dress. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love wedding dresses. I would wear mine regularly if it were socially acceptable! 

In May of 2010, a couple of months before my wedding, I was sitting at my parents' house studying for the USMLE Step 1 (aka the worst exam ever) when I thought to myself: I should probably try on my mom's wedding dress. When I put it on and found out that it was long enough, I thought: I'm the only daughter. If I don't wear this dress, who will? So I called a lady from our church (Nancy) who does alterations and asked if she would "alter" my mom's wedding dress for me, and when she said that she would, I headed over to her house with the dress. (This all happened within the course of an hour or two...I was in a strange state of mind while studying for that horrible test.) 

 I think Nancy thought I was a little bit crazy, which is probably true. But she did a lovely job on the dress! She removed the sleeves and used them to accentuate the waist, put some of the lace around the neckline...and it ended up being the perfect dress for dancing! 
{I changed dresses before my dance with my dad}
photo by Andrea Bibeault
I'm glad I got to wear my mom's wedding dress--and that we got to get married at the same church as my parents. Our whole wedding was really lovely, and we were (and are) so lucky! And we continue to be so grateful to our parents for being so good to us and for giving us so much love throughout our lives.

 If I have one regret, it is the fact that I worried too much on our wedding day...when my mom told me that she sobbed the whole way down the aisle at her own wedding, I told her that the only way she wasn't allowed to cry if she walked down the aisle with me. In retrospect, I wish I wouldn't have said that...I should have let her live "in the moment" and cry at her daughter's wedding if that's what she felt like doing! When I was dancing with my dad, I shouldn't have been worrying about whether our guests had to wait too long for their food or if they were getting bored...if I could go back, I would just enjoy the day and soak up every special moment with all of our best friends and family members! (Not that I didn't enjoy the day or soak up special moments...but that is all I should have been doing.) 

 Anyway, happy early Mother's Day! And don't worry, be happy!
{I love this picture of my mom...
even though she's in the background,
she looks so proud! Gets me every time.}
photo by Andrea Bibeault
{I'm really glad this happened.}
photos by Andrea Bibeault
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Location: Omaha, NE, USA

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