Weddingbee Blog

It’s the part that always gets me at every wedding: recognizing the parents. More than the bride walking down the aisle, the vows, the first kiss—it’s when the newlywed couple thanks their parents for all their love, support and sacrifice that turns on the waterworks for me.

I am really close to my Mom and lived with her during the years after I moved back to LA and before I got married. I saw her every day. We took walks together. We ate dinner together. We fought once in a while. But not just during that time that I lived with her after college, but in general. Before being married to Mr. Lace, she was probably the person I was/am closest to in this world. She has always been there for me (whether I wanted her or not), sacrificed and cared for me. So, after the engagement excitement wore off and it got closer and closer to our wedding day, I realized that my relationship with my Mom would change dramatically. No longer would I see her every day, eat with her, talk to her whenever I wanted. It started hitting me hard and I started to have a lot of weird (for lack of a better word) feeling about getting married, coming under the safety and protection of Mr. Lace and moving to Orange County!

Because of our close relationships with our moms, Mr. Lace and I wanted to take a small opportunity to recognize our love and gratitude for our parents during our wedding ceremony. In other weddings I’ve attended, when I see the bride and groom hugging their parents and everyone crying, I would cry, too. I understood the sacrifice and love that parents give to their children. And, as children, we often don’t show enough gratitude or respect for their dedication in caring for us. I know that there were plenty of times I’d think, “I shouldn’t have said that,” after a rousing disagreement with my Mom. But, over the years, we’ve both become better about saying sorry and admitting when we were wrong and trying, but I’m sure I’ve hurt my parents much more than they’ve hurt me. I know that’s not the case for everyone and that everyone comes from different home situations. But, Mr. Lace and I knew we wanted to take a moment to reiterate to our parents how much we love them. We didn’t really say much to each other, it was mainly just crying!

It looks like I’m about to smile…

But it’s the tight-lipped expression I get right before I cry.

That’s me trying to regain my composure.

But by not, I’ve completely lost it. And look at all those people snapping photos of me crying!

All images courtesy of Hanssie Trainor

So, there it is. The part that always gets me when I attend weddings…and of course, since it was my own, it hit me with a vengeance.

What are you doing to honor or recognize your parents at your wedding?

Missed something?

• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I get all dolled up.
• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• We had awesome music.
• We took photos.
• We get married!
• We write. We fight. We say our vows.