Bride Receives Wedding Shoes. On Seeing a Message on the Soles, She ‘Couldn’t Breathe’

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“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk,” recalled bride-to-be Emma Letts, from Kibworth Beauchamp in Leicestershire, England.

Emma got engaged in December of 2016, but elation turned to sorrow when, just one month later, her mom was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Emma was of course hoping that her mother would be with her on the most important day of her life. Devastatingly, Emma’s mom died the year following her daughter’s engagement.

Emma, 38, received her bridal shoes in the mail in early March of 2019, and that’s when the surprises began.

She was shocked to discover that her mom, while suffering the debilitating symptoms of her illness, had still kept her engaged daughter at the forefront of her mind. Emma’s mom had secretly paid for her bridal shoes. But the shock didn’t end there.

As any sensible bride should do, Emma proceeded to inspect the shoes, wanting to make sure her outfit would be perfect on the day of her wedding. As she turned the heels over, an engraved message of love stood out in gold lettering for all to see, words of love from Emma’s mom.

“Wanted you to have a gift from me on your wedding day,” she had written. “Your wedding shoes are my gift to you. Hope you have a magical day.”

Emma’s mother’s message signed off simply, and from the heart: “Lots and lots of love and big hugs, MUM xxxx”

“It’s been so hard planning a wedding without having her with me,” Emma shared with the BBC. She is due to marry her fiancé Richard in August of 2019. “I have had lots of tears.”

It turns out that Richard knew about the surprise but kept quiet. Emma, on the other hand, had “absolutely no idea ... It was just an absolute shock. I pulled out the one shoe and I saw part of the message,” she continued, “and I couldn’t think who it would be.”

It didn’t take long for the penny to drop, and the touching realization left Emma in tears. “I was just absolutely in bits,” the heartbroken bride-to-be admitted. “I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk.”

After sharing her story on Instagram, Emma’s story caught the hearts and imaginations of readers across the country. And perhaps, before long, the world.

“It’s really nice ... to know that there are people out there who are planning weddings and not having their mum there,” she said.

Amanda Weise runs the online shop Lace and Love, which made Emma’s beautiful shoes. Weise said she was contacted by Emma’s mom a few weeks after the initial order was placed. “It’s probably the most emotional pair of shoes I’m ever going to make,” she told the BBC. “Hopefully it will give her a bit of comfort on the day. It will be like walking down the aisle with her mom.”

“From the message that she wrote,” Weise added, with compassion, “I think she did intend for it to be after she was gone.”

Emma’s mom was given just 12 to 24 months to live after her arresting diagnosis, so she had put aside time to write heartfelt letters to each individual member of her family.

“I didn’t get a letter,” Emma admitted. “She just ran out of time. So this is special to me.”