Always My Bridesmaids

Thirty minutes. That’s how long we had before we needed everyone to be ready and me fully dolled up to tip toe over and slip into my dress. My hair was just being finished, my makeup untouched, I had to keep reminding myself to breathe….All of my bridesmaids were up to something wonderful; painting another’s toe nails, doing another’s makeup, encouraging and complimenting each other as they put on their dresses. There was curling, spraying, fluffing, and scrunching partnered with giggles, anxious squeals and the occasional nervous laugh.

I had, quite possibly, the best group of girls standing by me at my wedding that any bride could ever ask for (…no biases of course), each one of them playing an amazing role in making my wedding day a beautiful one, and in the midst of all of the excitement of sending Justin and I off into the sunset, I was only able to embrace a couple of you and share but a few words of how grateful I am for every one of you.

I’m struggling to write this…ironically I have stumbled upon whatever the opposite of writers’ block may be-the overflow of so many thoughts and emotions that one cannot possibly begin to find a way to compile them into words that could efficiently and honestly justify what is initially being felt. I want you girls to know just how grateful I am that you supported me in every way on the edge of a new chapter. Your uplifting, selfless and serving hearts made this process such a joy for me as we prepared for the day that each of us have talked about for so long…

Though I sincerely have no intent to undermine any role that the rest of my beautiful bridesmaids played, I would like to say a special thank you to my Matron of Honor for all of her hard work and dedication the past few months…whether it be throwing me a shower, never missing a fitting, or decorating my apartment for our return…she did it with such joy, and never a sense of burden-if I needed her, she was there. The morning of my wedding that I began to describe earlier, was a morning that showed me more than ever how important being my matron of honor was to her…Amidst the beautiful chaos as the time ticked by and the wedding ceremony was less than an hour away, my matron of honor stood behind me pinning the last stray hairs and securing a flower under my curls-still in her clothes from that morning, no make up, hair in a pony-tail and not worrying about anything but her bride. She was my voice when I was too overwhelmed to speak that morning, my brain when mine had turned to mush and I couldn’t think, and one of many supports I leaned on that day to make it what I’d dreamed. You, my dear sister in Christ, were and you still are such a gift to me…short of Justin, you were my first friend here in Texas and you welcomed me with such loving enthusiasm…I could not have imagine this process without you…

Every one of you is so dear to me. Each one of you holds an amazingly unique and special place in my heart…Thank you for being as fun as I needed you to be when I was becoming overwhelmed. Thank you for being as calm as I needed you to be when I needed to rest. For being as crazy as I needed you to be when I needed to let loose. For being as helpful as I needed you to be when I needed to take a break. For being as discerning as I needed you to be when I couldn’t make decisions anymore. And most of all, thank you for being as faithful to me as I needed you to be when I was entering a huge change in my life. I am so blessed to know women like the six of you...so encouraged to be a part of each of your lives-regardless of how distant or near that involvement can be at this time…so, so blessed.

My bridesmaids, my dear sweet bridesmaids-My wedding has passed and I’m a married woman now-almost two weeks! But you six will always be my bridesmaids.

I miss you all so much…You each-almost every one of you-came from different parts of the country and it saddens me that I don’t get to see you as often as I’d love (except one of you, yay!) I pray so earnestly that you enjoyed being a part of Justin and my wedding as much as we enjoyed having you…Thank you for bearing with me during my times of stress, balancing dangerously on ladders into the late hours of the night decorating, embarrassing me to my core as you stood by and let me be serenaded by a stranger during my bachelorette party, line dancing in my living room at two in the morning the day of the wedding, coming before a merciful God and laying hands on me as I stood in my long white dress, and wiping my tears for me the whole time because my hands were holding yours…Thank you…