A Harborough bride will walk down the aisle in a pair of shoes with a special message from her late mother

A bride from a Harborough village will walk down the aisle in a pair of high heels which her late mother designed – with a secret message written on the soles.
The shoes. Photo from SWNSThe shoes. Photo from SWNS
The shoes. Photo from SWNS

Emma Letts, 38, got engaged to Richard Wilson, 38, in 2016 but was left devastated when her mum died in October the next year.

The couple are getting married this August and last week Emma collected her wedding shoes which she had custom made.

The shoes with part of the message. Photo from SWNSThe shoes with part of the message. Photo from SWNS
The shoes with part of the message. Photo from SWNS

To her surprise, she was told the £189 shoes had been secretly paid for by her mum who also had a message printed on the soles for her daughter.

The message reads: "Wanted you to have a gift from me on your wedding day. Your wedding shoes are my gift to you.

"Hope you have a magical day. Lots and lots of love and big hugs, MUM xxxx"

Office worker Emma, of Kibworth Beauchamp, Leics., said: "It's been so hard planning a wedding without having her with me, and I have had lots of tears.

"I had absolutely no idea, my fiancé knew about it. It was just an absolute shock.

"I pulled out the one shoe and I saw part of the message and I couldn't think who it would be.

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

Emma’s mum was given up to two years to live after she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2016 but hoped to live long enough to see her daughter get married.

She wrote letters to members of her family to be opened after she died but didn’t get the chance to write one to Emma.

Emma added: "I didn't get a letter, she just ran out of time so this is special to me."

After having the shoes delivered last Saturday, she posted pictures of them on Facebook which has since gone viral.

She said: "It's really nice to hear that obviously, what I'm feeling, that other people have gone through it, and to know that there are people out there who are planning weddings and not having their mum there.

Emma’s mum had the shoes made for her daughter after contacting her friend Amanda Weise, who runs online shop Lace and Love.

She said: "It's probably the most emotional pair of shoes I'm ever going to make.

"Hopefully it will give her a bit of comfort on the day. It will be like walking down the aisle with her mum.

"It was her mum who told me she had cancer and wouldn't be there for Emma's wedding day. She told me on the first message she sent me."

"Her mum actually emailed me and said she wanted to pay for the shoes. I said, 'well she's already paid half'.

She said, 'can I pay for it all and then you refund her the money when she gets the shoes?'

"I was aware that she was terminally ill at the time. I think Emma was kind of hoping she would see the wedding.

“From the message that she wrote, I think she did intend for it to be after she was gone."