Open Letter to all my Mother Hens

After spending the past 72 hours prepping for the wedding of a friend's daughter, I've been overwhelmed by new emotions about my own wedding, 22 years later.

My wedding was ultra-simple.  We were broke college students, in love, and supported by an army of Mother Hens.  The plain truth is, my wedding would never have happened if those Mother Hens didn't put it together for me.  Being on this side of things, the Mother Hen side, I'm seeing just how much effort it takes to put on a nice wedding, on the cheap.  I think I understood that on some level when I was 20 years old and blinded by love.  But now.... well, now I see it anew, deeply.  It was a labor of love.  Labor being equally as important as Love.

So, even though I'm sure (I think) I sent thank you cards 22 years ago, I feel a thank you note is in order again.  Seeing as I don't actually have all those addresses anymore, and seeing as there were probably more Mother Hens involved than I was aware of, I'm writing an open letter to my own Mother Hens and to those out there who need to know they are appreciated more than the bride has shared.  So...

Dear Mom, Meilynn, Vanita, Nancy, Cindy, Carla and all the other Mother Hens who helped make my wedding beautiful,

Thank you.

Thank you for recognizing that our youth did not discount our commitment. For seeing that Christ was the center of our relationship and trusting that He would make sure we grew up together in faith, life, and love.

Thank you for making a dreamy wedding when I didn't have a clue what I wanted.

Thank you for donating decorations from your own daughters' weddings. For gently guiding me in details I didn't think were important but that you wisely knew would matter to me later.

Thank you for making a gorgeous wedding cake with zero guidance from me. For knowing how to direct the crowd and accurately predict the timing. For realizing that I wasn't thinking of anyone's hydration, including my own and seeing to it so no one passed out.

Thank you for keeping us from embarrassing ourselves. For educating us about honorariums so the pastor we adored and the organist who I couldn't believe said yes, were properly shown the respect we felt for them.

Thank you for being excited for us. For crying out of joy for us. For being our cheerleaders, our mentors, and our prayer warriors.

Thank you for sweating for us. For sacrificing sore hands and sore feet for us. For cleaning up for us.

Thank you for being the very best examples of Mother Hens for us so that we could be Mother Hens (and whatever you call Chris' version of a Mother Hen) for this weekend's bride and groom. And all the others brides and grooms coming our way over the next few years.

We love you. We are grateful for you. We wanted you to know.

- Nicole and Chris