Wedding guests filed into the church. I gave each bridesmaid her bouquet and reminded her to walk very slowly up the aisle. I adjusted the groomsmen\u2019s boutonnieres. Straightened the bridal veil. Time to signal the organist. The wedding march began. Butterflies filled my stomach.<\/p>\n
Was this my wedding? Not exactly. My husband, Terry, and I have been married for almost 40 years, but I remember our wedding like it was yesterday. These days I do my best to help make the day memorable for other young brides.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a wedding-day director. I can work with a bride for a whole year\u2013picking out fabric and color schemes, altering dresses, crafting decorations. When the big day arrives, it feels like my day, too. Sometimes I wonder how I ever could have done anything else. But I did. For years.<\/p>\n
My first \u201ccareer\u201d was stay-at-home mom. I don\u2019t have to tell anybody what a busy life that is. I raised three children. If I wasn\u2019t driving a carpool, helping with homework or making arts and crafts, I was baking for the school bazaar.<\/p>\n
Then when my youngest started school, and the older kids were getting ready to go out on their own, I realized I needed something else to do with my life. I just didn\u2019t know what.<\/p>\n
I filled out a job application at my bank, but I was nervous.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if the boss asks me a question and I answer in baby talk?\u201d I asked Terry. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know if I can handle the pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Terry laughed. \u201cYou\u2019ve been juggling a packed schedule for 18 years. I\u2019m sure you can handle what goes on in an office.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t so sure, but I guessed it wouldn\u2019t hurt to try. To my surprise, I got the job\u2013and I didn\u2019t slip into baby talk once during the interview. In fact, I enjoyed my new position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like discovering you can be a whole new person,\u201d I told Terry after my first week on the job.<\/p>\n
Like any job, it came with stress. But I knew the perfect way to unwind: crafts.<\/p>\n
Both my mother and grandmother had been good with a needle and thread. Together they\u2019d taught me to sew, knit, cross-stitch, and make rag rugs. I\u2019d also learned how to embellish things with ribbons and do embroidery.<\/p>\n
I spent a lot of time in the crafts store getting ideas. After a day at the bank I\u2019d kick back in a chair with my sewing basket.<\/p>\n
I loved to get a real project going. Like when someone in the family got married, I did the alterations and helped organize the wedding day. More often I just gave things away to my friends and coworkers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were worried you couldn\u2019t handle the job,\u201d Terry said one evening as he watched me finishing up some embroidering on a handkerchief. I thought my supervisor might like it. \u201cBut you\u2019ve really thrived in the professional world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you do it?\u201d my boss asked the next morning when I presented her with the handkerchief. She examined the tiny stitches. \u201cIt\u2019s so much work!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWork? Not exactly,\u201d I said. It was hard to explain to someone who didn\u2019t understand, but this kind of sewing wasn\u2019t like work at all. It was fun! More fun than my 9-to-5 job was feeling these days. Oh, I could handle the work. But when my 50th birthday hit it felt like a wake-up call.<\/p>\n
Once again I needed to make a change. My son, Rob, was engaged and I wanted to enjoy that exciting time with him.<\/p>\n
Sitting at my desk at the bank, I found myself thinking about the wedding. I had always told the kids: \u201cFind something you love to do, and you\u2019ll be happy.\u201d The bank was no longer the place to make me happy. But where did I belong?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I handed in my resignation. I\u2019d figure out my next step later. On my last day I packed up my desk, wondering about my next move. \u201cLord, help find a new place for me,\u201d I said as I closed my office door for the last time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you could sell the things you make,\u201d Terry suggested when I got home. \u201cStart yourself a business.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know about that. I had once or twice hired myself out to do professional alterations. Everyone needed everything right away, and I\u2019d have to rush through my work. Besides, sewing for money wasn\u2019t anywhere near as satisfying as making something for someone I knew personally.<\/p>\n
I concentrated on my son and his fianc\u00e9e. With all the sewing and wedding plans to take my mind off things, I hoped I would figure out what I wanted to do with my life.<\/p>\n
I did alterations on the bridal gown and helped Stacy, Rob\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, plan the big day. Stacy and I visited dress shops and poured over fabrics. We went to bridal boutiques and florists and bakeries. I got to know the bridesmaids, talking with them and laughing as I fitted them for their dresses.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust leave everything to me,\u201d I told Stacy. \u201cI\u2019ll make sure everything is in place and get you where you need to go. Your only job is to have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had Stacy on track, but I still didn\u2019t know what I should do with my life once the wedding was over. \u201cGod,\u201d I said one night as I embroidered a jewelry pouch for Stacy to take on her honeymoon, \u201cI need to know what you think is best for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease give me a sign\u2013and be sure to turn on the light when you do. With all these wedding details to handle, I\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll miss it!\u201d<\/p>\n
A few days later Rob came for a visit and found me surrounded in fabric and thread. \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019d do without you,\u201d Rob said, amazed at all the work. \u201cI tell everyone\u2013Mom quit her job to help plan my wedding!\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a pin out of my mouth. \u201cDon\u2019t be silly,\u201d I said. \u201cI didn\u2019t leave the bank to\u2013\u201d I stopped short. A light switched on in my head. This didn\u2019t have to be the last wedding I helped with. It could be the first, as a bride\u2019s wedding-day planner. I\u2019d found my new life!<\/p>\n
I did 50 weddings last year alone, with Stacy\u2019s help. I make alterations on all the dresses and embroider smaller items like hankies and travel pouches. My girls always look like angels. I schedule the wedding day to make it fun for the bride and handle any problems that crop up.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t need to advertise. If a bride liked my work, she told her friends.<\/p>\n
One day my favorite crafts store had a special item on sale\u2013an embroidered angel. She was as pretty as my brides. The owner graciously showed me how to make the angel myself.<\/p>\n
I embroider about 150 of them every year and I give an angel to every bride I work with. It\u2019s my way of saying thank you, not just to them, but to the angel who nudged me into my next career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wedding guests filed into the church. I gave each bridesmaid her bouquet and reminded her to walk very slowly up the aisle. I adjusted the groomsmen\u2019s boutonnieres. Straightened the bridal veil. Time to signal the organist. The wedding march began. Butterflies filled my stomach. Was this my wedding? Not exactly. My husband, Terry, and I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[2280],"class_list":["post-14498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n