My husband has younger twin brothers. They got engaged to their wives around the same time that we did, and we had weddings within 4 to 6 months of each other. My mother-in-law bent over backwards to make sure that we girls were able to have the wedding we dreamed of. I overheard her talking to her sister-in-law during the second wedding (the younger of the twins), and talking about how stressful it was to help out with three weddings so close together. But the part that I’ll never forget was when she said, “But they’re my girls, so in the end, it’ll all be worth it.” Two years later, my mama-in-law has wrapped all three of us girls in the same love and care she gives to her sons. I truly am a lucky woman to be married to a wonderful man, raised by a wonderful mom.

*EDIT* I saw someone ask why I let my mama-in-law pay for everything. I apologize for being unclear, she didn’t pay for everything. Traditionally the groom/groom’s family pays for the bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages, as well as the rehearsal dinner, etc. For all three weddings, the brides and our families paid for everything else. My mama-in-law took us girls to pick out the flowers we wanted, made sure the dinners/pre-ceremony luncheons were at places we wanted to go/had food we liked to eat. They also helped with set-up and take-down for the receptions. For the third wedding, I stayed up late the night before the ceremony with my mama-in-law to help her iron tablecloths for the reception, because she had made a promise that those tablecloths would get ironed, and by GOLLY she was going to come through on her promise!

There were complications on my side of the family (my mom in particular) with my wedding that I won’t go into. I tried to keep the worst of it from my now husband, as well as his family. But the little crumbs I did let slip were enough to let them know that I was stressed out. My mama-in-law said that if my mom pulled out her financial support, then she (my MIL) and her husband would help foot the bill. Luckily it didn’t come to that.