My daughter got married two weeks ago!
Having a child get married is just the best.
Here I am with my beautiful daughter at the rehearsal dinner:
The wedding weekend was one of the four best weekends of my life. These are my best days ever, in chronological order: my own wedding 30 years ago, holding my newborn son Dominick in 1997, holding my newborn daughter Rosie in 1999, and Rosie’s wedding weekend, in 2024.
So much good! And so much preparation. Luckily my daughter and her now-husband are tremendously responsible and intentional, and did 99% of the work. The Father of the Bride (FOB) has many jobs: a walk down a long aisle filled with happy and crying friends, a funny and poignant speech, and the best dance of his life. But Mothers of the Bride (MOBs) get off easy. I basically just showed up and cried tears of joy.
My only job was to provide the “Oh SH!T” Bag
What is an “Oh S%!t” Bag? My daughter explained to me that it is the bag you reach for when someone says, “Oh s%!t” the day of the wedding, when there is a (non-life-threatening) emergency. You need to be able to cover everything from an ill-fitting bridesmaid’s dress to droopy hair to a mustard stain.
But I didn’t know any of this.
Luckily, my girlfriends came to the rescue.
I have friends who walked the MOB path before me, and they provided me with an “Oh SH!T” bag ready to go.
My bag is an insulated tote, which could be used to carry cold waters (or prosecco) and it even has a cute ribbon with my name and my official MOB title.
Everything you could possibly need behind the scenes.
These gals had thought of everything. (I have proved some links in case you want to build your very own bag.)
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- Downy wrinkle release spray
- Purell hand sanitizer
- Shout Wipe and Go
- Kleenex
- safety pins
- Bobby pins
- Mirror
- Tampons
- Deodorant
- Dental floss
- Disposable toothbrushes with toothpaste on them–brilliant!
- benadryl
- Tums
- Advil
- Tylenol
- bandaids
- lifesaver mints
Not pictured: hairspray, and even stationary and pens in case we had forgotten tip envelopes or needed to write an on-the-spot thank you note. My girlfriends rock. And all these supplies were packaged into handy but sturdy see-through bags so I could find what I needed.
Luckily my daughter’s wedding had very few unforeseen mini-disasters, and we did not need everything in the bag. We used the disposable toothbrushes, dental floss, safety pins, hairspray, mints, a band-aid and advil. But if the bride or any of the bridesmaids had needed anything else, I was prepared to provide, mend, heal, bandage, comfort, stain-remove, or mask stinky breath.
Come to think of it, that’s what we mothers have been doing since our babies were born. We should be provided with an Oh Sh!t bag when we leave the hospital with a baby in our arms. And I hope my duties don’t end just because my baby got married.
Looking for other ideas if you have a wedding in your future?
I’m the MOB: How to find a dress?
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