From Writing Notebook 2021.
What the Maid of Honor Saw at My Wedding
I held the mirror in shaking hands
afraid to look
Anticipation so intense.
I snapped at the well-meaning
who had thrown me a bon voyage party
some weeks ago
now gathered here to escort me
from the single life
to the married
twenty minutes from now.
Those who gather up the bustle of my dress
and keep the visitors’ book
laugh and chatter
as we wait
I stand alone
so as not to crease my dress
Can this really be me?
The music sounds.
The flower girl dawdles
The maid of honor catches up to her and
guides her into place.
My turn.
I walk down the aisle.
6/9/21
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
You hooked me with the title! 🙂
Thank you. I write about my sister’s wedding, I was the maid of honor, and this is taken from my observations; I don’t know how my sister would remember the same moments before the ceremony.
Probably best that way.
A witness. A moment in time and then the blur of travel in this life….
Yes. I am writing about my sister’s wedding, I was the maid of honor, and my imagining what she felt and thought, but…I don’t know, never asked, don’t want to. I like my own memories of the day as they are.
You really capture that feeling of being on the cusp of a momentous life change and the unsettling feeling that comes with anticipation. This may also be me projecting my own feelings about my own wedding day but I believe there is also something in here about donning a costume and playing a part and not feeling like your authentic self as a result.
Thank you. I wrote this about my sister’s wedding (I was the maid of honor) and what I observed, then put what feelings and thoughts would have been mine if I were getting married. I have no idea if they are what she actually thought! But it’s what her actions said to me. I remember so well how she was so still and fixed while all the rest of us bridesmaids were in high spirits and kidding around. The flower girl incident also happened; she refused to go and I had to push her a bit. At my own wedding, I almost ran down the aisle, I was eager to go to the next phase of my life. I practically mowed down the bridesmaids.
Ha ha! I can completely imagine you doing that.