me and my boyfriend have been dating for a couple of months but we have been friends for a longgggg time, almost 7 years. Although we have been friends before this is my mom's first time really meeting him on an in depth level. He is 33 and I am 24. i still live with my parents however. My mom doesn't like me going out with him. She even forced me not to see him one day because she said we were spending too much time together. she was like " you have seen him three days straight. you cant go anywhere with him tommorow) and since its her house i have to follow those rules that she has laid down. We had made plans to have dinner with his family but had to cancel because my mom was non-agreeable. My mom wants to be with my other guy friend that i have known for the same amount of time, i already tried the relationship thing with him and it didn't work out, we broke up after like 4 weeks because we realized we were incompatible as lovers. She talks about how he's such a better match for me because he has something going for himself. My mom was like " you need to get with that other guy. i can tell he's a good man for you" and i was like " my boyfriend works in the same field that my guy friend works in. they are both doing psychology and making fairly decent money. my mom was like " no.. your boyfriend has an associate degree in psychology and your guy friend has a bachelors. theres a difference. ask him how much money he makes per year and watch him squirm. my mom was like " youre a pretty girl with a bright future ahead of you. do not let him mess you up. he fooled 2 other women, what makes you think he wont fool you. i don't know why you can't do better". I told my boyfriend to leave out any information about him having kids, especially three kids.. because its a bad look and i know my mom would freak, but he call himself trying to be soo honest. sometimes its best to keep it hush hush. now everyday i have to hear my mom complaining about it my boyfriend was like " i don't like to get into the habit of lying and you shouldnt either. you need to stop lying to your mom".... like sometimes i will tell my mom im at the park with him when we are really at his own apartment because i know she have a heart attack my boyfriend was talking about moving in together next year and i told my mom and she was like " you better not. do not ruin your life. he is not a nice guy for trying to move in with you before marriage" and i jokingly said " you never know, he might pop the question soon" and my mom was like " you better not say yes if he does"

Okay, I am currently in a bridal shop atm trying on different veils/headpieces to match my dress the best. I am by myself here and trust in the cumulative opinions here. Here are current photos of the one I like. If I could get as many answers asap I'd appreciate it. (Ps, sorry I look bad, I had a 8hr shift at a hardware store and no makeup. The dress in the photo is a size 8 clamped in the back, I am a size 4 too so take that into acct) http://tinypic.com/r/33wmyid/9 http://tinypic.com/r/2pzh3qu/9

I have always maintained that it is, but some of my family disagree, embarrassingly.

Is it ok for a bridesmaid to skip the bachelorette party? I am going to be a bridesmaid in a close friends wedding. The MOH is her much older sister, who, of course, wants to spoil her younger sister. Now, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade or cause a problem, but I am working on my degree and working very part time because my course load is demanding. I don't have much disposable income. I knew it would be costly to be in the wedding, and I simply cannot afford to go to the bachelorette party. I already bought my $200 dress, which needs to be taken in and have to buy dyeable shoes. Her wedding is out of state (in a state that none of the wedding party, including the bride and groom!, live in) and on a week day, so I need to take 2 days off of work for the spa day she wants the day before the wedding (that we're paying for as well), and in my job I don't get any paid time off, the rehearsal dinner, and the actual wedding, plus pay for a hotel for both of those nights. The MOH also wants $125 toward the shower gift, which she has picked, and I imagine more money for the shower, too. The MOH wants our RSVP in a couple of days, and thinking ahead, I just can't afford it, on top of everything else, plus the wedding gift I'll also need to get. She's planning on limos and Lord only knows what else. I think it's much more important for me to apply the money I do have to the shower and the wedding gifts. What do you think? Given my financial situation, is it ok to skip this one event? And should I let both the MOH and the bride know what's up? Would you be mad at a bridesmaid who skipped a wedding event, even if they couldn't afford it? I'm not being cheap, I just can't justify not being able to pay a bill or 2 over one night. Advice, please!

My son is getting married in September. I have stayed very close to both my son and his finance until just a couple of months ago. We spent a lot of time going out to eat and activities.Although, I have never been involved in any of the wedding plans or information except this issue. This is my sons second marriage. Earlier this year my father passed away and I inherited some money. My sons finance wants me to pay for their very expensive wedding.She was upset when I offered to pay for only a small amount. Then when I found out my son was inviting her brother to be in the wedding but not his own brother who he grew up with I suggested to him that he should ask his brother to be in the wedding. I told them it was their wedding but his feelings will be hurt if he is not somehow included. It made his finance angry with me and she deleted and blocked me on facebook and won't visit and my son has seen me once since then but he doesn't want his finance to know he saw me. He asked me 3 weeks ago if I got the invitation. I finally got it yesterday. No name on the envelope, just the address. My son said his finance doesn't want me to come to the wedding but he would like me to come. I will not be seated as parents of the wedding party and as silly as this may sound to some....I am debating going at all. Being a parent has been the greatest experience of my life and highest honor. I feel like if I am not even given the respect of a "mother of the groom," perhaps my attendance may be more of an issue than necessary for the bride and groom. I would never make a scene, but what I mean here is that where a wedding is for the couple, really the day is for the bride. I don't want to add any grief to her. I dread their future as my son has not been able to spend time with his brothers, father or me since all this. And since his finance won't talk to me, I don't know how to work things out with her. So, my question: Should I attend the wedding?

My best friend is getting married in 2 months... We ve been friends since elementary andamp; now she lives in Idaho , and I live in California...her wedding is in Idaho so for months I ve been planning to travel there ... My boyfriend andamp; I have been together for almost a year. Ever since the beginning I have talked about this wedding and it wasn t until months in I told him I wanted him to be my date. Her wedding is now 2 months away and he's saying he won't go with me... I understand since we either have to fly there or drive this is asking him for a lot but it's my best friends wedding. I'm going to be the only bridesmaid dateless , have to travel alone, stay alone, and spend the whole wedding alone. It wouldn't be so bad if all my other friends boyfriends weren't going with them . He says it's because of money, but he recently had more than enough to make it happen and bought a car and motorcycle andamp; now "is broke" . He didn't even attempt to make it happen , and I feel completely unimportant and don't feel like we are a team. I don't want to go alone... I am so upset I don't even want to talk to him ... Am I over reacting ?

My mother doesn't approve of the person I choose to marry, and doesn't recognize our engagement at this point. We've been engaged since March, and I have been trying to convince her since. I'm not sure if announcing it will make things worse, better or not change anything.

We are eloping in 2 weeks with my children present. We have invited everyone to the informal engagement picnic thrown by his sister this coming weekend. We are eloping because we have just bought a house, we have no money, every penny went to the down payment, it's all gone, we are paycheck to paycheck now which is extremely tight. Everyone wanted to attend a big wedding, we are now considered skimpers on the big day,and have even been labelled as white trash by some relatives due to the lack of a "real" wedding. We need this house to live in for the kids so they have a home. They all know we are getting married- just not when- to avoid "offending" the family on both sides because they are not invited. Eloping is the best way, we want to make it right and official in the eyes of God. We love each other. We are rock solid and stable. We are perfect for each other and we know it. My question is how do we politically correctly announce the wedding after it's over?

My husband was asked to announce the couple at the reception. What would be appropriate to say? Just their first names?

My brother and his fiancee want to marry in San Diego. They only want to have a ceremony with only five people attending. Where do people have a wedding if they do not have a big ceremony/party? They just want to make a vow, then maybe a luncheon. What kind of place is suitable? A hotel or community center? Would golf courses accept such a small wedding?

I've been to weddings where the groom is a doctor and they're announce as the doctor and Mrs Soandso. My foster child will graduate next year with a doctorate and plans to marry another doctor. Her momma was an abusive drunk and her daddy is a drug dealer. She couldn't be any less like them! She's a terribly good girl and a very hard worker. I'm so proud of her that I would very much love to hear them announce Doctor and Doctor Soandso when the newlyweds enter their own reception. Would that be alright or would it seem like bragging?

I'm getting engaged for the holiday (we've discussed it) and we plan on eloping soon. We can't afford an engagement ring and are going with a simple civil elopement, as we've been together for so long the marriage is what's important to us, not the engagement. So, do we announce the engagement to our families or hold off until after the elopement and only announce it then? I'd feel bad announcing an engagement and then two weeks later, potentially, announcing we eloped. Any thoughts on how to handle this?

I'm getting married next month and we're having a pretty small wedding, about 30 guests. We want to let people know where we are registered (if they want to know) We have little person-to-person contact with them, and it'd be kind of tough to tell them if they asked us (no cell reception and no internet out where they live) Seeing as we aren't having a bridal shower or anything like that, we would like to tell people where to get gifts, without looking like we want them. We don't, but I know a few of our guests would buy something for us. So, should I send out a little slip of paper in our wedding invites? Or what? If I do that, what should it say? I'm not really following wedding etiquette with this, it isnt entirely needed. I just don't know what to say, I DO know that I dont want it to say "bring gifts, thanks" :P Thanks for your advice!

Hi, I really need your HELP! So, please, I beg you take the time to read my dilemma and give me some input. First, some info: My boyfriend and I started dating in 2006. It's common knowledge his lucky/ favorite number is 4 (he even has it tattooed on his ribs), and on March 1, 2010 it was our 4 year anniversary. Two weeks ago on Valentine's Day, his sister (whom we are very close with) announced her boyfriend proposed. My boyfriend still went through with his planned 4 year anniversary proposal, but we agreed it would be rude to "steal her thunder," because we just had all the attention due to our pregnancy, and now newborn. She chose me to be her maid of honor and I've been helping her since her announcement. HOWEVER, she and her fiance have chosen a date 18 months away (!) and, we don't want to wait that long.... Our original plan was to keep our engagement a secret until after her wedding, then getting married like 6 months later, so she can have all the attention. But now, since she's chosen to get married in a year and a half, that means we'd have to wait 2 years... I know, who cares right? We'll be married right? It just feels like we have to wait forever, and though we don't want to be rude, it seems unfair. What do you think we should do? I appreciate all serious answers, and will be looking to give points to Best Answer. Thank you.

One of my bfs best friends recently got engaged and is having an engagement party back in their home town but Im a little hurt as my boyfriend never asked me to go with him. I know all his male friends are going to be there and I have met two of them just not the rest but even so I would have thought given the occasion and that there such good friends he should bring me with him. Am I right to be hurt or overreacting? We are together 4 months There is no limit on who can and cant go its open invitation. Of course others will be bringing their partners. I would have thought this would be good opportunity for me to meet his friends.. this is his best mates engagement after all. The only reason he didnt ask me to go is because he just wants to be with the guys.. but he has yet to ask me on a night out in the past 4 months

Why did Ellis Island get the nickname "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears"?

Whenever we got the bridesmaid dresses I told them they can have silver heels, I didn t think I was being unpractical because they can wear any style or brand or inches they want as long as they re silver. And my MOH is having a complete ***** fit since she can t wear her ivory shoes she wore to her moms wedding, we got in a pretty big fight about it, I don t know what to do, my wedding is only like 3 weeks away, I even told her I ll the heels of its that big of a deal but she s stressing me out.

I'm going to my favorite dance teacher's bridal shower today. It is at the studio and just with dance people. We are all getting her a Cuisinart mixer... what's a good gift to get her individually?

Me and my fiance are not religious so we want to get married by a judge and not a priest. Can they do this? Like judges I mean, can they marry people? We are also getting married in January in a winter garden (flowers inside a room with frozen glass on the outside - so pretty) so I think a judge, or even a justice of the peace, would fit better.