HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS OF THE BRIDE

AND

MOTHERS EVERYWHERE!

Not My Mother’s Wedding is the humorous and informative wedding story of a Bride and her Mother and has been given rave reviews by The Polka Dot Bride and the Hartford Magazine. It is a must read for any Mother of the Bride who is wedding planning along side her daugher.

Take advantage of special Mother’s Day pricing of $12.95 for this beautiful hardcover gift book.

Your Mother of the Bride will laugh the day away!

We wish you all the best, Maureen & Kate

http://notmymotherswedding.com/buy-book/

Wedding days can be hellish for mothers-of-the-bride. Here is a great opportunity for you to look modern and glamorous and, for one day at least, to be rid of your usual frumpy, cardigan laden mom attire. However, hitting the mark on your kid’s big day is invariably a stressful task for mums all over the country.

Most mother-of-the-brides make one of two fatal fashion faux pas. They either dress too dowdy and old so they resemble an extra from Downtown Abbey or they dress a little too sexy, try to compete with their daughters and put the guests off their sausage rolls. The key here is balance. MOBs need to pick a dress that is both appropriate to their age but is also modern and sleek.

1. As mother of the bride, you’ll technically get first dibs on the colours, designs and styles of dress. However, your kids’ wedding day is not an excuse for a competition. The best mother of the bride and mother of the groom dresses complement each other whilst not clashing with the bridesmaids’ outfits or the bride. Finding out what the mother of the groom is wearing is always a good idea as the two of you don’t want to look like a Jackson Pollock painting when standing together in the same photograph. Worse still, you could end up in the same dress!

2. Remember, weddings are long, tiring days and you need to stay in your comfort zone. If you never usually wear heels, then stick to a pair of gorgeous flats. Worried about flabby arms, then cover yourself up with a sheer sleeve, shrug or a shawl. Regardless of how stunning you want to look, you also need to feel confident and relaxed.

3. Try to do your own thing. It is usually a bad idea for MOBs to wear the same colour or same style of dress as the bridesmaids. These girls are usually in their 20s and their style just wouldn’t suit your more womanly figure. It is also a good idea to have several colour preferences in mind – but stay away from white, ivory or cream – and then adjust the tones depending on what colours naturally look good on you and the colours of the wedding party.

4. Wedding experts advise that your search for the perfect mother of the bride outfit should begin six months prior to the big day. This gives you plenty of time to make sure it fits properly and that any accessories are not left until the last minute. It is always a good idea to keep trying the dress on, just to ensure that you aren’t losing or gaining any weight. You should aim to have a complete outfit ready about six weeks before the wedding.

5. Be a little selfish and try on as many elegant outfits as you want. Your daughters’ big day is special for the both of you and you should enjoy every moment of it. And try not to become too stressed. Remember, picking a dress is only a part of your overall outfit. You still have to work out how you should style your hair, what accessories you’ll wear and who’s going to do your makeup. Have fun!

Bridal showers have been around for a while, but that doesn’t mean you need to stick to an old formula to make it a success. You probably didn’t want a shower modeled on your mother’s ideal, and your bride-to-be likely doesn’t either. Here are three new and exciting ideas for a shower that everyone will enjoy.

1. The Couple Shower

So what if it’s not exactly a “bridal” shower? Many couples are opting for a dual shower instead of spending the time and expense of planning multiple get-togethers. Hopefully your daughter and her groom-to-be enjoy activities with each other — if not you have a whole different issue to deal with — and the couple shower allows both of them to participate. More importantly, it makes it easier to plan and less arduous for the friends and family who will be attending. You don’t have to forgo the gifts, but this type of shower usually focuses more on a “party” atmosphere.

2. The Traveling Shower

Gone are the days when a get-together at home will suffice. Why not go all out and travel to a unique place? The destinations can range from the exotic to down the road to the local scenic view. Once you pick a place, you can design your theme around it. For example, you could decorate with a nautical theme for a shower at the beach. If sand and sun aren’t your thing, then choose something like a spa where you can get all the pampering you need. This type of shower is a chance to get friends and family together for a day or a whole weekend if you choose.

3. The Crafty Shower

Traditionally, showers are all about the gifts and making the wedding happen. Imagine a shower that included gift giving and gave you the chance to get a whole lot of necessary work done. Think it’s impossible? Not if you approach it in the right way. If you host a crafty shower you can have the best of both worlds. Invite friends and family to a shower where they will be working together to make crafts that also happen to be the centerpieces for the tables at the reception. If you go this route make sure to spend time making the activity fun. You don’t want your friends and family to resent you for making them do what seems like work at a celebration.

Keep these ideas in mind when you’re preparing for your bride’s big day!

As the mother of the bride (MOB), you have dreamed about your daughter’s wedding for a long time. It’s her day to shine and you want to do all you can to make sure her wedding day is perfect. As the MOB, you can’t forget about the mother of the groom (MOG), who has also dreamed about this important day and wants to be involved in the wedding planning in order to make it successful. The last thing you want to do is make the MOG feel lowly and out of the loop. A wedding isn’t just a celebration of love, it’s also a celebration of bringing two families together. Here are few things to keep in mind to keep the MOG involved:

When the engagement is announced you should call the MOG as soon as you find out to share the excitement. If you live close to each other then get together for lunch.

Have a discussion with the MOG about wedding duties and get a feel for how involved she wants to be. Don’t just assume because you are the MOB it’s your show. Setting duties up in advance will help you avoid conflicts as you get closer to the big day.

Talk about wedding dress expectations early on. You might have a simple suit in mind where as the MOG might want to wear a ball gown she could wear to the Emmy’s. Send each other photos of the dresses you are trying on or go dress shopping together. You should both look great and have similar styles so one mother isn’t way more dressed up than the other.

Show the MOG some photos or websites that you are considering for the reception site and vendors. If you aren’t planning those aspects of the wedding but are in the loop about where the wedding will be held, share that excitement with the MOG.

Ask the MOG to come up with a list of people she would like to invite to the wedding. Be interested in her guest list and ask her about her favorite relatives and best friends. Even if you have a set number of people you want to invite, be flexible and understanding.

Traditionally the MOG gets to host the rehearsal dinner. Ask her if she needs help planning it, but as a rule of thumb this is her time to shine so let her do her thing.

Don’t put your kids in the middle. If you don’t have a close relationship with the MOG, don’t go through your kids to talk to her because that will drive you apart even further.

Don’t criticize her to your child. The last thing you want to do is cause animosity with your daughter and her fiancé.

A small gesture like getting matching MOB and MOG wine glasses or personalized wedding tee- shirts will go a long way.

The last thing you should do is talk about the future as a family together. Talking about sharing holidays, vacations and other special events together will let her know you are excited about being a family. Remember it’s as exciting for her as it is you.

My son will be married in a few short weeks and I will have my turn to experience that special moment. I appreciate, however, that with this reward comes a responsibility.

I have been meticulous about choosing my dress for this day.  I would like it to be special and yet it must be comfortable.  Wedding photos will be my reminder of how well I accomplished my goal.

The message in the song that Matt and I dance to must also be special… and it must fit as well.  I understand that Mother – Son relationships are unique for everyone. The meaning of a melody that may be right on for one relationship, may simply not work for another.   I want the song that we share to be evergreen. Like the wedding photos, I wish for our song to take me back to who we were at that moment in time.

I want to thank the members of the Mother of the Bride Group on FB who helped me find just that right song.  I enjoyed listening to every one of your suggestions, wondering how often the Mother of the Groom cries.

It won’t be long until I will be escorted to the dance floor looking up (way up) into the eyes of our son who has brought us only pride and joy. I can not wait until he hears the words I have chosen for our dance; a song by Mark Harris ~ “Find Your Wings.” I know I will cry.

The wedding guest list is one of the most important tasks on any Bride’s to do list. In fact, I am a firm believer that it should be number one. The number of guests attending a wedding has an enormous impact on the cost of the wedding as well as a major influence on the style and feeling of the day itself.

Unfortunately, creating the guest list is often the first area of conflict between a Bride and her parents. The Bride and Groom will have close friends they have made through the years, who they will want to be with them to celebrate their special day. The Bride’s parents, who more often than not are helping to pay for the special day, will of course, have their own guest list in mind. When trying to work within a budget, whose list takes priority?

While helping Kate with her wedding, I did what I always do on a project. I started with the goal of the project in mind and backed into the planning that would help me achieve that goal. My goal was to have the happiest Bride and Groom possible. My goal was to have Kate hug me at the end of the day and say, “My wedding day rocked!”

Because, in the end, after so much time spent planning the wedding, and the cost of putting on the wedding, if the Bride is not happy, was any of the effort worth it? Was winning the battle worth losing the war?

I have some thoughts that I will be sharing on the importance of your wedding guest list and how the numbers effect the reception day.

Not My Mother’s Wedding is the humorous and informative wedding story of a Bride and her Mother and has been energetically reviewed by The Polka Dot Bride and the Hartford Magazine as a must read.

Take advantage of Holiday Pricing of  only $12.95 for this beautiful hardcover gift book.

We wish you all the best,  Maureen & Kate

http://notmymotherswedding.com/buy-book/

I realize that I may have glossed over some of the circumstances surrounding Quinn’s wedding. Some of the issues we faced were personal, so I hope by my eliminating them or not going into detail about them is understandable. Some things don’t need to be talked about other than to say they did have some influence on the overall event.

As far as the deposit for the canceled beach wedding in their original plans , Quinn and Graham actually got to use the venue for their Honeymoon! We decided that we’d give it to them as a gift, so even tho they gave up the beach wedding, they still got to enjoy the sun and surf and hotel for a week afterwards.

As far as the Ebay wedding went, I believe it was serendipity. What are the odds of something like that showing up in an area not far from us, and having no one else bid against me? I won with their opening bid (and I’m sure they were hoping it would go for MUCH more), but that was the risk they took in listing it as they did. I was told they were going to use it as some kind of promotional thing for the Hotel (but nothing ever happened with it), and some people were secretly making fun of it beforehand (we later found out). I guess they expected it to be of lower quality or something, so I think they were pretty shocked at how elegant it actually was. Yay for us!! I love proving people wrong!

Another thing I forgot to mention was that if you’re smart, you won’t take on any major home improvement projects while planning a wedding. With Quinn’s wedding still hanging in the balance, we hired someone to install new hardwood floors in our living and dining rooms as well as to add more substantial woodwork. Having dirt and sawdust everywhere does not make for a good environment when you have paper projects to complete. That meant that my kitchen, DR & LR were pretty much a filthy mess for a month or so as I was receiving all the packages for the replanned wedding. It will also explain some of my pictures showing my practice centerpieces in my LR!

People choose their wedding dates for many different reasons, and most of them have signifigance to the couple. Many times the ideal date isn’t available for other family members due to work, travel or previously scheduled commitments, and it can become difficult to find one that works for everyone.  The weather can also have a pretty big impact when picking a date, especially if you’re depending on clear skies for an outdoor event. Try and keep track (and check the Farmer’s Almanac for prior years on you date) to see how the landscape may be affected too. We were told that the hotel’s garden area would be in full bloom for her wedding, but with a lower than normal rainy season that year, the inground flowers were skimpy. I would have made arrangements to have more florals delivered to fill it in had I even considered how sparse it would be.

If you’re having children in your wedding parties, remember they may not always act as expected. Our flower girl had turned two just weeks before, and while she’s a very mature little girl for her age, her stubborn side reared its head right before she had to walk down the aisle. She shed a few tears and did manage to make it all the way, but became easily distracted by the adjacent pond. She decided she had to explore it while the ceremony was taking place, so that’s why I included a picture of her walking off to the side!  Children can steal the show and she stayed up dancing until 11pm, but if the ones you’re including aren’t very predictable, make sure you have arrangements for them to be taken to bed early or provide a sitter and entertainment for any little ones needing to exit the party.

Our beautification process was pretty involved, but it helped that the hairstylist and makeup artist were friends and guests that were there all night. Quinn’s extensions flopped in the heat and humidity, and it was fabulous that her hair was able to be re-done for the rest of the night.

A few months prior, I also decided to see how I could improve on my appearance because I always looked so tired. I’d always decided I’d embrace my wrinkles when I started to age, but changed my mind when the thought that a photographer would be in my face for so many hours. I had Botox injected in my forehead, between my eyes, as well as my crow’s feet, and Juvederm fillers in my upper lip and smile lines. My girls were so excited to see the results and told me I looked 15 years younger, so it was a GOOD thing, in my estimation. If any are considering it, you need to do it at least six weeks before in case of any adverse reactions, swelling or bruising. I had some, but within two weeks it was gone, and the procedures just made me look ‘fresher’ and not ‘plastic’.  I highly recommend!!

I lost my Mom in 2004, and we all really missed her presence that day. To keep her close to the bride, we wrapped one of her crystal necklaces around the handle of her bouquet. It was comforting to my daughter to feel my Mom with her, and to know how happy she would have been. I also carried a small bouquet of three long stemmed white roses that I placed on the seat where she would have been sitting.

When I attempt to re-live the wedding in my mind, it becomes like a movie on fast-forward. As each part of it was happening, it was almost dream like, or not REAL. It’s so hard to describe the feeling you have as each step takes place and everything moves along as it should. Weddings happen every minute of every day somewhere in this world, but when it’s happening in your own part of the universe, time stands still. I had a rush of memories of my little girl and wondered who was that WOMAN donning her wedding gown? How did this happen? It was just a minute ago that she was pushing her babydolls in their carriage and stopping to adjust their blankets.

Since every wedding and every story is so different, I hope I’ve given you some insight into ours, and that you’ve enjoyed reading about our experience. Life is full of chapters, and I can’t wait for the next one in her life!

Amanda met her future husband Ian during their first week of Freshman year at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.  During the summer between their Junior and Senior year, Ian proposed to Amanda, and a year of wedding planning started soon after.

They opted to have the wedding festivities in their college town, which happened to be about halfway between their two Texas hometowns, and also ensured that many of their college friends would be able to attend.  Ian and Amanda wanted a traditional church wedding and a formal reception with a plated meal at a nice venue.  Because Central Texas weather in mid-May can be warm and stormy, they ruled out an outdoor venue.

The church choice was obvious, since Amanda and Ian were active in the college ministry at a church in Woodway (a suburb of Waco). Because Amanda wanted dancing at the reception, we knew it would have to be in another location.  After researching Waco’s indoor reception venue options, and finding that not many would hold the 150 to 200 guests that were anticipated, we booked the Ballroom of the Waco Hilton Hotel.

On May 21, 2011, exactly one week following Amanda’s graduation from Baylor, the couple was united in marriage.  The ceremony and reception décor reflected the light blue and ivory color theme chosen by the bride.  Blue hydrangeas, accented by lilies and white roses were featured in the bouquets and floral décor.  The couple opted for cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake, and cake balls instead of the traditional Southern groom’s cake.  The reception also featured an ice cream sundae bar, a DJ, and dancing, as the bride had hoped for!