Just this past month I partnered with Wish Upon A Wedding. When I first heard about this non profit I just knew I had to be involved anyway that I could. Their mission hit home for me, so I decided to reach out right away.
I had been for searching for some time for an organization that I could either donate items to or contribute to financially. It had to feel like a good fit both personally and make sense for the business. Since I sell wedding accessories I was looking for something within the wedding space.
One afternoon I typed in "wedding charity" into my search bar and boom... there was Wish Upon A Wedding. After I read their mission statement I sent them an email and said I would love to be one of their partners.
THE MISSION
Their mission statement in their own words: "Wish Upon a Wedding grants weddings and vow renewals to couples facing serious illness or life-altering health circumstances."
The original "founders came together with the vision to give couples and their loved ones a day away from serious illness." A very noble cause and one that hit home deeply, in fact, it brought me to tears.
I wrote a blog post a couple weeks ago about why and how I started Ella Winston so some of you may have already heard my story. But for those of you haven't I'll summarize for you here.
MIKE'S ILLNESS
In September 2010 Mike and I got engaged and moved to Las Vegas from the Bay Area. We were on cloud 9 for 6 months, planning our wedding and discovering a new city together. That is until the day a doctor discovered something in one of his lungs.
Three weeks to the day before our wedding he was sent to the hospital for an emergency lung biopsy. I still remember sitting on the floor in his home office crying as he was telling me where he kept all his important papers just in case he didn’t make it. That is not a situation most brides are prepared to deal with just weeks before they get married.
He made it out of the surgery with no real diagnosis (that came 2 years later!). Even though he was still recovering we had our wedding and it was perfect. Fun, emotional, magical, it was everything we both wanted.
Having Mike facing a life altering illness (that we still didn't even understand at the time) completely shifted the meaning of our wedding vows. "In sickness and in health, for better or worse," you imagine yourself saying these words to your partner one day but I had never stopped to consider the weight they carry with them.
The day I said those words to Mike I knew I was committing to whatever was going to come our way with this illness. We would stand together and never give up. Those initial doctors didn't think he would make it a year but here we are now about to celebrate 8 years of marriage on September 16th!
That day stood out as a beacon of light for both of us as we walked through this darkness of his health crisis, and later infertility struggles, for many years.
If you would like to read more about our story and how I started Ella Winston you can do so here.
Coming from personal experience, I know how crucial it is to have those amazing memories to look back on and remember when times are really hard. Which is why I wanted to be involved with this organization. I needed to contribute a little something to these couples, make them feel extra special.
MY ROLE
So, I will now be offering a robe for the bride to be to wear the morning of her wedding or vow renewal. So far I have donated three robes in the few shorts weeks since we partnered. I am excited to be a part of an organization that celebrates the deep love and commitment that these couples have for each other.
My goal is to donate one robe for every wish that this organization grants. I can only do that through the support of this community. So know that with every purchase you make here at Ella Winston, you are contributing to a well deserving couple and making their wedding wishes come true!