Bride-To-Be Looks Under Wedding Shoes, Finds Message From Her Late Mum

Wedding Stress

She paced back and forth. Dress, cake, table settings, everything was becoming too much both from a stress perspective as well as financially. It seemed everything was determined to make her lose her mind or go broke.
She fell into a chair and let the tasks run wild through her mind when the phone started ringing, bringing the worst news a bride could ever wish to hear.

The Best Day of Her Life

Emma Letts was more than excited to finally be planning the wedding she’d dreamt of since she was a little girl. It was all right here in her head and she couldn’t wait to tell every one of her friends and family.
She was lucky too, everyone already loved her fiancé, Richard Wilson. She picked up the phone and dialed her mother’s number.

Perfectly Planned

Weddings are about more than just the bride and groom. They’re also about family, memories and most importantly, love. Bride-to-be Emma of
Leicestershire, England was finally planning her very own wedding.
She already knew that she wanted everything to be bespoke, just for her, just for this one day and so the wedding date was set a neat two years away. Surely, she’d have enough time to plan everything perfectly.

All the Choices

A venue was chosen and the deposit paid, she worked on the table settings long before the invites were to go out, and she’d pulled Richard around to every cake shop in and out of town for tastings.
She finally decided on a rich chocolate ganache cake topped by a smaller traditional fruit cake to cut and save.

Keeping Secrets

Emma was oblivious to the world around her, living only in the fantastic make-believe of her wedding day planning. She didn’t know that the people closest to her were hiding something from her.
She continued to plan and prep and her husband let her do just that. Months passed and she was still none the wiser.

Bad News

It was 2016 when Richard asked Emma for her hand in marriage and only a few short months after that amazing day followed terrible news for Emma’s family.
Her mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and with the wedding date set for August 2019 it didn’t seem possible that
her mother would be with her on her big day.

Brought to Tears

Of course, Emma was distraught at the idea of not having her mother watch her walk down the aisle. The year had brought the most amazing news and also the very worst. It was just too much to cope with.
It was now Emma’s mother who did something behind Emma’s back. Something that would make her cry her eyes out.

A Brave Fight

Her mother fought bravely on but it wasn’t long before she lost her battle with cancer and unfortunately long before the nuptials. “Sadly, my mum past away around 17 months ago, it’s been so hard planning a wedding without having her with me and I have had lots of tears!”
Alas, time waits for no one and eventually picking herself up, she forged on with the wedding details.

Everything Coming Together

Everything was starting to come together now. Every day packages were arriving at the front door or appointments were to be dashed off to and finally, her bespoke pink suede wedding heels came in the mail. Except, she was confused at an odd receipt saying she had nothing owing on them,
in fact, she was getting her deposit back too.
Emma was simply blown away, and she hadn’t even pulled out the surprise yet.

A Massive Surprise

“I received my finished shoes at the weekend and had a massive surprise, I pulled out the one shoe and I saw part of the message and I couldn’t think who it would be.” This was the surprise that even Richard had kept from Emma all this time.
An extra special touch offered by the cobbler is to add a note from a loved one in their handwriting on the soles of the shoes.

A Beautiful Note

The message, of course, was from her mom who secretly got in touch with Amanda Weise, the owner of Lace and Love shop. “The client put a deposit down on shoes months ago. In the meantime and unbeknown to her, her mum who was terminally ill contacted me to pay for them.”
“She also sent me a message to include on the soles which I kept secret throughout the whole process along with the fact her mum had purchased them for her.”

With Her in Spirit

Because Emma had already paid the deposit her mom asked Amanda if she could pay for the entire bill and have Emma refunded upon delivery.“I know these shoes will carry an even more special meaning to this client,” Amanda wrote on Facebook.
“Her mum will be right with her on her wedding day.”

Couldn’t Breathe

Emma began to read the message inscribed on the soles of her wedding shoes, “I started to cry… I was just absolutely in bits. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk,” The 38-year-old bride, naturally, was overwhelmed with emotion.
But just what did the “secret” message on the soles say that left Emma in tears?

Your Gift From Me

“Wanted you to have a gift from me on your wedding day. Your wedding shoes are my gift to you,” a note in a gold script read. “Hope you have a magical day. Lots and lots of love and big hugs, MUM xxxx”
So know Emma’s mom will be walking down the aisle with her, and there’s another reason these shoes are so sentimental.

No Letter

Doctors had told Emma’s mom that she had a very short time to live and she began writing letters to everyone she loved, but the dreaded disease took her before she had even begun to write a letter to her daughter.
“I didn’t get a letter, she just ran out of time,” Emma said. “So this is special to me.”

Hand Crafted

Crafted by custom cobbler Lace and Love, designer Amanda Weise said that coordinating the special shoes was well worth the extra effort. Emma’s mom had secretly contacted Weise, detailing that she wouldn’t be there for her daughter’s wedding day.
She asked to pay for the dainty, ankle-strap heels, add the secret message, and keep the details from Emma until she shipped out the order, which the designer agreed to.

Hidden Message

“The shoes were a beautiful thing to be a part of. From designing them to match Emma’s requirements to make sure I could get a message from her mum to add to the soles was a lot of pressure,” Amanda said.
“Especially while keeping it secret from Emma that her mum had paid for them and we were adding the secret message from her.”

Emotional

“It was also very emotional knowing what these were going to mean to Emma so the pressure to get them right was even greater,” she continued.
“I’m so proud to be able to give this gift to Emma and deliver what her mum wanted.”

Lace And Love

Amanda, Lace and Love owner, loves to personalize shoes, adding unique and personal touches to each pair.
From initials, dates or names to charms or even miniature picture frames, these can hold a photo of a loved one to have them with you every step of the way.

Anything Special

A newly written note or one from a long time ago can be written on the shoes, or even offcuts of the material used to make your wedding dress, a special brooch or almost any small meaningful item you may have been given.
But Amanda does have this to say, “This is probably the most emotional pair of shoes I’m ever going to make.”