Mother of f the Groom
Tells All
ELLEN TILMAN | JE FEATURE
W When my son announced that he was planning to ask his girlfriend to become his wife, my
husband and I were ecstatic. We had waited a long time for this moment and quickly made
arrangements to join the couple for the formal engagement.

Upon sharing my happiness with friends whose children had long been married, I saw sly
smiles and heard knowing guffaws — “you are going to be the Mother of the Groom. Just wait.”
They provided advice: Don’t expect to be involved in the wedding planning. Your job is to
wear beige and say yes to everything. Just smile and write checks. You can’t have any opinions.

They told me wedding horror tales, too.

One groom-to-be had only one request for the wedding: kosher food so his family could
eat. The mother of the bride quickly replied that she had already signed a contract with her
desired venue and that kosher catering was not an option. The groom’s family and other
friends ate packaged kosher airline food.

See Mother, Page 26
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM SIMCHAS
OCTOBER 27, 2016
25