2018 Brings new beginnings!  I have 10 weddings already on the calendar for 2018 and one has special meaning(they all do) – not only will I be Officiating – I will be Mother of the Bride! Eeek!  What a different perspective from this side.  Sure, I planned my own wedding(s) first one in 3 months and the second in 3 weeks. That was not the same. There was no pressure about HOW to ask your friends to be in your wedding party – you just asked, there were not goody boxes and proposals other than the groom asking the bride. There wasn’t elaborate expensive trips to Las Vegas for your Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, you went out for dinner with your girlfriends. Not that any of that is bad, it is just different. My daughter who is getting married (March 31st) has been out of the country serving in the Peace Corps in Colombia so this has all been planned via Whatsapp, email, video chat and lots of time on the part of her sister and I. I know she is grateful for our help but I can imagine that part of her is sad, she didn’t get to “shop the venue”, go to tastings, sample cakes, and do a day of dress shopping with me and her bridesmaids. She sort of had to call it in and rely on all of us back here to get it together. That is a big leap of faith. Her sister, fiance and I have worked very hard to get the vision right and hopefully she will love the outcome!  I have purposely kept my calendar packed for this next 3 months to pass the time. She arrives home 15 days before the event and is having to leave for 3 days the week leading up to the wedding (Peace Corps business in DC). I have 4 weddings prior to hers, then a month off before the next. I am thrilled for her and her new adventure with her soon to be husband. To say I am not scared about this one would be an understatement – this is more personal than any ceremony I have done,  but I am so incredibly proud of this child of mine that I can think of no better way to show her just how much I love her that to unite her with her love. I am up to the challenge.  2018 is a lucky year for me!

(picture of me and my beautiful daughter in November when I had the opportunity to travel to Colombia to see her and wonderful work she is doing in the Peace Corps- I highly recommend it BEAUTIFUL Country!)

Thank you for indulging this mom some bragging!