My mom was SO EXCITED I was asked to be a contributor for HELLO GIGGLES, she decided to also write a blog on the same topic of my first assignment. Here is HER list of the 10 THINGS NO ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT PLANNING A WEDDING:

Mom’s List—Wedding Planning Surprises, by Laura Baria

Me & my mom, about to embark on our wedding dress shopping adventure

1. There may be a teeny gap between my expectations and my daughter’s.  For example, when I think of invitations, I think of a trip to Kinko’s.  My daughter thinks of a trip to Fort Knox.

2. That I’d already be thinking of grandbaby names.  And, of course, by that, I mean the gbabe’s names for me: for the record, I prefer Glammy (a dear friend’s chosen designation) to Gamey (perhaps more accurate?).

3. That the bridal industry is just that—an industry—a huge one.  If you want a book on any subject pertaining to weddings, such as, How to Marry an Earl, it already exists.  (FYI: my daughter did not happen to read that one.)  And truly, if you can dream it, you can have it at your wedding—volcanoes, no problem—a choir of angels, why not—just for a slight fee not less than multiple mortgages on your home and soul.

4. That there’d be so many references to “rustic chic.”  Don’t those two cancel each other out?

5. That my daughter’s fiancé could exhibit 50 shades of pale when asked to help pin down a wedding date sometime within the next decade.  Yes, usually an engagement does lead to an actual wedding.

Tony, thinking the idea that an engagement leads to actually picking a wedding date, is a joke… IT’S NOT.

6. That I’d get an endorphin rush whenever I’d see the words “Elopement Special.”

7. That for all of the millions of details in planning a wedding, I’d be gifted with an equal number of e-mails from my daughter.

8. That I would come to adore the practicality of the word “bridechilla.”  I have found it can be used interchangeably with the phrases back off/calm down/back away from the precipice/and you look beautiful and really thin.  Why do I always get such a look of hostility when I use it?

9. That margaritas and bridal dress shopping go hand in hand.

10. That I would love my daughter’s intended so very much, despite his crashing my car, dissing my dog, and making me laugh so hard I sprained my face.

#besties