I had my mom and sisters wear their wedding dresses for my 40th birthday. People stopped to take pho

July 2024 · 4 minute read
2024-06-30T09:22:02Z

When it's your 40th birthday, people can't say no to what you want to do. They just have to go along with whatever you want to do to celebrate. At least, that's what I think.

For my 40th, I wanted my sisters and mom — who only live a short distance from me — to dress up as the same thing and go out to dinner. I'd seen people go out as a group of grandmas, for instance, but I wanted something unique and different.

Leading up to my birthday, I asked my mom if she still had all our wedding dresses in the house.

"Yep, you want to take yours?" she asked. "They're all still hanging up there."

I told her no, but I would like us all to wear them to celebrate my birthday.

There was no shame about not fitting in them

Most of my sisters were excited about the idea. A couple of us knew we wouldn't fit into our dresses, but we planned to use safety pins on either side of the zip, with ribbon crisscrossing, as a makeshift corset — there was no shame about the fact we couldn't fit into our dresses. I told my mom she could just wear her favorite mother-of-the-bride dress.

On the night we had scheduled, all but one of my sisters and mom drove their minivans to my house with their wedding dresses stuffed into the driver's seat.

One of my sisters had stopped off at Trader Joe's to grab a ton of flowers to make bouquets, and we sat at the dining room table, assembling them before dinner. We had love songs blaring on Alexa while laughing about our impending stunt.

Courtesy of Hailey Myers

Before it got dark, we started the 10-minute walk from my house in Midtown Tulsa, a historic neighborhood, into the bustling center of town. The thought of walking alongside the road was mortifying, but it was really fun.

People stopped to take our photos

Every car that drove past us slowed down to honk or wave. Several people offered to take pictures of us. I had expected at least some negative responses from people thinking we looked stupid, but there was nothing like that. It made everyone smile.

While we walked, our trains dropped and zips loosened, so it took a bit longer than usual to get into town. We loved looking at how unintentionally similar our dresses were.

Stepping into the newly opened, full-to-the-brim restaurant, everyone dining stopped and turned to watch as we paraded in. The place went silent.

Once we arrived at the dinner table, we talked about all our wedding memories. It was such a reminiscent time — recalling what we remembered from each wedding. We laughed and cried, thinking back to how precious each one was.

Although our weddings and this "wedding dress dinner" were particularly memorable days together, my mom, sisters, and I make memories every week.

I'm close to my family

Every Tuesday, we have a weekly hangout. It's a non-negotiable for all of us. We might float in a pool together or just sit around a table, talking about how we're all doing. We talk about all the hard things we're going through. Sometimes, we don't agree with each other, but because we value each other, we listen to and respect one another. We don't leave things under the rug because those things will fester and turn into more if not talked about.

We work on our relationships with each other, and it has paid off repeatedly over the years.

This tight-knit bond started when we were kids. My mom always told us that friends would come and go, but sisters last forever. She instilled a commitment to family in her girls, and it has lasted into adulthood.

Dressing up in our wedding dresses, remembering the best days of our lives, was especially sweet for my mom. She had paid for the most expensive pieces of clothing we'd ever wear, and now she could see them again while reflecting with us about the days we'd worn them.

The whole evening was one we'd love to do again.

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