Mother of the Groom Outfit (My Last Hurrah)

The youngest of our five sons--and the only one who is still single--is getting married in less than three weeks.  At 26, he is more than ready to take this next big step in his life; but sometimes, his big brothers (who are between 5 and 9 years older than he) forget that he is no longer the baby brother obsessed first with all things Lion King and then with all things Jurassic Park.

Wait a minute...he is still slightly obsessed with both of those movies, and with movies in general (see his blog for proof of this).  But I digress.

I have had my dress since not too long after he and his fiancée, now known here at String of Pearls as Babisiu, became engaged in March.

You would think that on my fifth go-around, I would be an old pro at picking mother of the groom attire, and I'm not. But at least I've gotten past worrying too much about what I wear, knowing how little it really matters when you think about the monumentally important reason for the day: the sacramental union of two souls, whose whole purpose from that day forth is to help each other get to heaven.  When you think of it that way, dresses are pretty unimportant.

But dresses are fun, and nothing feels better than making a choice early on, with the plan that you will lose those stubborn 10-15 pounds you've gained in the past few years so that the dress will fall just so and look amazing; and then even when you haven't been able to make the desired weight loss happen, knowing that you've chosen a dress that will fit you anyway, and is cut in a way that is kind of magically forgiving of your many perceived flaws.  (And also, nothing feels better, more confidence-building, than modeling a dress for your husband and having him tell you that he really, really likes it!)

I have not tried on my dress since June, so I hope I still feel good about it when we get back to VA after our summer away and I try it on again.  (Fingers crossed!)  I did not spend my summer dieting and working out; I spent it having crackers and cheese at cocktail hour, out on the boat with my husband.  (It's been "the Summer of Us," remember?)  I've spent it enjoying delicious meals with him, sometimes followed by delicious desserts.  I don't want to regret anything about this summer, which has been as close to perfect as a summer can be; so I hope that when I see the pictures of the wedding, I don't stress out about the double chin that appears if I don't hold my head up high enough, or the cheeks that are so much rounder than I wish they were.  I hope that all I see is the joy of a mom who has watched the youngest of her five boys make the most important commitment he will ever make, having chosen a young lady who values her Faith as much as he does with whom to share his journey through life--and therefore, having followed in the footsteps of the four older brothers he admired so much growing up.

Anyhoo--

Would you like to see the dress?  (Side note: this is not me modeling it, although I certainly wish it was!)

Less than $60 on Amazon.  You can't beat that price!

I fashioned a special necklace to wear with my dress by taking apart a faux pearl necklace passed on to me by my mom when she had to sell her house and cull through her enormous collection of costume jewelry in order to downsize.  When I restrung the pearls, I added some sparkly beads and a Miraculous Medal in the center (because I like to wear this sacramental always, but I also like to wear pearls for significant Pearl occasions).

I recently bought some mousse (for the first time ever), a curling iron, and some hair spray, and I started experimenting, hoping to come up with a better way to wear my hair for the big occasion.  But in my 61 years of being a female on this planet, I have never mastered the art of hair styling.  So I've decided to just do the usual--straight hair held back with a headband--but I'm taking the advice of my baby sister and making the headband a blingy one.  I got a navy blue satin one and glued on a whole bunch of sparkly gems, and I think this headband will be just the touch of bling I need to add a little pizazz to my usual hair-do.

Wearing that medal around my neck, with a picture of the best Mother of all time on it, I hope to forget any hair or wardrobe cares and feel nothing but peace and happiness and joy throughout the festivities.  And I think that's just what I'm going to feel.