Bride finds message on soles of shoes from mum who died before wedding

A bride found a heartfelt message left by her terminally ill mother underneath her wedding shoes. Photo / Facebook

A woman has been left in "absolute shock" after she found a secret message on the soles of her bridal shoes.

The woman, identified only by her first name, Emma, got engaged in 2016, but sadly a month later, her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died the following year.

But in a beautiful and surprising gesture, she found a way to be part of her daughter's wedding in August last year.

Unbeknown to her, Emma's mother had not only secretly paid for her bridal shoes but as of last week when picking them up, she discovered a heartfelt message engraved on the soles of the customised heels from online UK retailer Lace and Love.

On one shoe the message read: "Wanted you to have a gift from me on your wedding day. Your wedding shoes are my gift to you."

And on the other: "Hope you have a magical day. Lots & lots of love & big hugs MUM xxxx."

The cancer diagnosis had come just one month after Emma, who is from Kibworth Beauchamp in Leicestershire, got engaged in the 2016, and doctors said her mother had one to two years to live.

The story of her bespoke blush pink and gold shoes captivated Facebook when owner of the online retail store, Amanda Weise shared details of it on their page, describing it as "a pretty emotional pair of shoes".

Weise said Emma's mum had sent her a message to include on the soles which she kept secret throughout the whole process along with the fact her mum had purchased them for her.

"Sadly her mum passed away before the shoes were finished but we sent them out last week and I had a very emotional phone call when the client received her shoes," Weise said in the post.

A pretty emotional pair of shoes: This client put a deposit down on shoes months ago. In the meantime and unbeknown to...

Posted by Lace and Love on Monday, 11 March 2019

"What a lovely thing for this mum to do and I know these shoes will carry an even more special meaning to this client. Her mum will be right with her on her wedding day."

In an interview with the BBC after the post went viral, the 38-year-old bride said her mum's message had left her in "absolute shock".

"I started to cry … I was just absolutely in bits. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk," she recalled.

She also explained it has been difficult without her mother.

"It's been so hard planning a wedding without having her with me, and I have had lots of tears."

She said she received the shoes in the post on Saturday, adding: "I had absolutely no idea, my fiance knew about it. It was just an absolute shock."

Before her mother passed away from lung cancer, she had been writing letters to different members of her family after she was told she had between one and two years to live.

"I didn't get a letter, she just ran out of time," Emma told BBC, "So this is special to me."

The post has since attracted many teary messages.

"Made my cry … such an amazing story I am sure those shoes will be treasured forever …" one person commented.

"This is such a beautiful and sad story all at once, what an amazing gift for her to treasure."