The day has come. She’s wearing a white dress, looking beautiful. Her mommy’s eyes well with tears and her daddy couldn’t be more proud. It may not be what you think, but our daughter was a first-time flower girl. The setting was breathtaking – a sunset wedding on the beaches of the Outer Banks. It couldn’t have been more gorgeous as the sun set with a few Bob Ross fluffy clouds lingered in the sky.
I was a proud mama seeing my “big girl” do her thing. Little did anyone know the practice we had leading up to her 30-seconds in the spotlight.
The dress. We wanted to make sure the dress was good for walking in the sand (not too long) and approved by the bride. Luckily the bride was carefree and it wasn’t too difficult. We scored our dress for less than $20 from OldNavy.com. Thank goodness because I don’t see her wearing a white dress to daycare…just sayin’.
The basket. The basket, courtesy of Michaels’ for $5 found its way into the playroom way too many times. Our daughter would march through the house with her basket full of toys, rocks, Play-Doh, Pull-Ups, dinner, etc. It’s a wonder how the basket we bought managed to be the basket we used.
Headpiece. The bride asked that she wear a floral halo with ribbon streams. Simple enough I found an adorable one on Etsy and ordered it at least two months ahead of the wedding with the intention of my daughter trying it on and getting used to wearing it. Seeing how planning is completely useless anymore, it sat in our bedroom until the week before the wedding. The first time she wore it? The day of the wedding.
Petal dropping. We practiced “take a step, drop a flower” all throughout the house. She would take a step and empty out her entire basket with one fist full of flower petals. Teaching “one at a time” to a two-year-old is harder than you would think.
The time came – first day of summer, on the beach. I took my seat with my six-month old in the front row and gazed back as I saw her daddy carrying her down the aisle, grabbing fistfuls of rose petals and threw them down on the smooth sand. She joined us in the front row after coming down the aisle and played quietly in the sand. I learned my lesson. Just relax and let her do her thing. The family and friends attending the wedding loved her and even applauded. It was a great experience, including her blurt out of “Mama, I want pizza” right before the vows.
