Now, it's a well known fact that my mom can be crazy and irrational, and apparently she regrets marrying my dad when she was 21... her relationship with my dad is SO disfunctional, mostly because she's nuts and overreacts about everything -- when I was in middle school, she made a huge scene at a restaurant in Disney World, accusing my dad of cheating on her. Yep, I had to explain to her that she had no reason to think that (I was like 13). That's just one example.

Craig and I stopped eating meat recently, and the other night she went out with us and said to Craig "Kaylee is forcing you to not eat meat... don't listen to her!" It's like she's TRYING to break us up! Of course, it's not going to work, but it's getting ridiculous!!! We've been engaged for a year, together for 4, and our minds have not changed -- we've tried explaining this to her, but she never understands. She also thinks I need to dress sexy all the time and "look my best" or he's going to leave me. I could go on and on and on...

Now we're actually starting to make wedding plans and all she says is "You're really going through with this?" A few months ago she said she wasn't going to look at wedding dresses with me (because she wasn't excited for the wedding), so I told her I would go with Craig's mom instead. She got so upset and started saying "OH so she's the cool mom and I'm the witch!?!" It's true though, if she's going to act like this then I don't want her to be involved!

It's hard because we're a really close family and, I'll admit, want my mother's approval. How do I explain to her that every time she questions my decision, it's hurting me more and more? Has anyone else had this problem?

The Situation: My bride has been contemplating our BM dresses for the past couple of months going back and forth on styles and colors and fabrics. There was one dress in the beginning she loved and I went to see if I could check it out. Being I'm a plus sized girl, and most stores carry sample sizes, I knew I could not try on this dress. Even so, found the style and also loved it. Sweetheat neckline, defined waist and generous A-line skirt and rich dupioni fabric. I knew it would fit my form (smaller than normal chest for a plus sized girl, defined waist, but very wide hips) AND would also suit the other BMs. This was also when she was considering darker color dresses of purples or browns.

Fast Forward to now: Bride sent out her final decision of dress, which I had never seen before. It has the identical top as the one she previously loved, but there is one very big difference from the other dress. Instead of a generous A-line skirt that would flow away from my hips nicely, it is a straight skirt, in a regular satin fabric and in a champagne.

I actually felt my spirits drop all the way to the floor. I love the woman who I am a BM for and this day is for her 100%, but is it wrong to feel like I'm going to be the odd BM out when all the other BMs are of much smaller size and propotions? I've been wrestling with these feelings for most of the day because I do not want to cause a fuss, but I also don't want to drop a very large sum of money on a dress that I am going to feel very uncomfortable wearing.

What would you all suggest in this situation? Should I speak with my bride, and if so, what should I say, or do I just suck it up and bear it? I do not want to offend her and I don't want to upset her. This is her day and it should be her decision. I'm just a bit lost in this situation. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

my mom died 12 years ago & i am the oldest of 5 children. my dad has worked (and is still working) hard his entire life to make sure he is able to give us everything he can, he is doing one hell of a job! best dad i could ever ask for - he truly is my best friend! when i got engaged and we started to talk about the wedding we discussed what i consider a very reasonable budget - after all he is a single parent with 5 kids! but in the end i know he will do what ever he can to make me happy and make it the best day of my life!

my fiance on the other hand, is an only child. his mother is very very opionated and his dad just agrees with his mom. his mom has been very persistant since we got engaged that he HAS to get marred at st pauls cathedral (pittsburgh, pa) she said she has been paying to be a member there for the last 26 years so she could see "her son" get married there - needless to say, that is were the wedding is at - even though i want it at the church i grew up at - she had to get her way or else we would never hear the end of it, plus we agreed hoping she would "ease off"

recently we have been looking at reception places and due to our large familys, we will be inviting around 250 people so we are looking for some very nice places but with reasonable cost. today she showed me her guest list, her list alone is 175 people and she told me there is NO WAY she can cut out any of them. she is also very persistant about having the reception at a place where it is $150 PER PERSON! i told her there is no way we can do that & we are looking at other places, her response was "i dont care how much it costs, that is where I WANT IT" (like its her wedding!!!!!!) then i told her how much photographers, limos, flowers etc cost and she looked at me like i was nuts!!! then had the nerve to say she will not tip anyone! she wants to pay a forturne per person to have it where she wants it, yet wants to be cheap!!! the comment that really put me over the edge was she told me i should talk my aunt (who is like a mom) into buying me my dress and other stuff like that so it "frees up" some more of my dads money.

i feel like since my mom is not here, she is trying to take over, and she does not understand the word no, she doesnt care what we have to say or what my dad has to say, its ALL ABOUT HER!!!! i am trying to do the best i can to respect my dads (very generous) offer on a wedding budget (plus my fiance and i are paying for stuff two) but its like she thinks he should just pay out as much as he can which is so wrong and not far.

she is making me feel really bad & so stressed out, i am almost to the point where i want to call everything off and run away and get married! is there any polite way to tell her to "back off" and let us do the planning with out her & when we want her opinion well ask? any suggestions?!?

What do you think? Even if she is there, she doesn't deserve the whole Mother of Groom treatment. (Seating of mothers, lighting candles, etc.) Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

When I was younger I was best friends with my cousin and we promised that we would be each other's MOH in our weddings. However, I haven't been close to her in two years. We talk on occasion, but not like we use to. I haven't even talked to her in about five months (and not without me trying to). I'm not sure whether to ask her or have someone else be my MOH. If I don't ask her, however, I'm not sure who else I would ask because I don't really have a "best friend" other than my mom and FI.

I don't know if I want her as my MOH, but I'm also afraid I'm going to hurt her feelings by not asking when we promised each other. 

I know you ladies are very insightful, so maybe you can give me options I never even thought of! 

My bride has an unlimited budget for the wedding, but unfortunately her BMs/friends do not. She has requested a bachelorette weekend in Vegas. She has also given me a guest list of 20+ girls. There is airfare, hotel, food, drinks, shows, nights out to consider for all the attendees, plus some of the bride's expenses to be split. Most of the girls will only be an hour flight away, but some are coming from across country. Regardless the weekend will cost a bit of money for everyone involved.

As the hosts of the bachelorette weekend, am I and the other BMs within our right to ask the bride to either scale down her expectations (ie, not Vegas, and keep it 'local' withing California), or if we do go to Vegas, can we reduced her guest list (at least one of the bachelorette invitees is not invited to the ceremony, which seems tacky to me)? 20+ people attempting to coordinate anything in Vegas just seems like a huge mess. 

Bride mentioned that for her honeymoon she either wanted to go to Italy, Greece, or Paris but that it would most likely be either Italy or Greece.  So I thought we could bring Paris to her....

Thoughts? Good idea? Bad idea?  Party suggestions?  Anything?!

*Looking to do this in the Portsmouth, NH area if anyone knows of any good location spots as well.*

ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED! :)  This is my first time as a maid of honor and the bride is my big sister who is also my very best friend so I really want to make this special for her in every way I possibly can. 

Thanks in advance for your help. :)