(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Vanessa Minnillo's mother had no idea the star was getting married.

The TV star tied the knot with Nick Lachey last month, but her estranged mom Helen Bondoc hasn't see her daughter for 20 years and wasn't invited to the nuptials. Helen was sad to miss out on Vanessa's wedding and can't believe how different her daughter looks now.

"Oh my goodness, she's beautiful!" Helen, 57, told Star magazine as she looked at photographs of Vanessa on her honeymoon. "She's changed so much, though I can still see that little scar on her forehead from where she picked at her chicken pox when she was a child.

"I didn't have a clue that Vanessa was getting married. We last spoke about 12 years ago, on the phone. I just wanted to talk to her and tell her everything straight about my life. But I still think about her all the time, and I still love her dearly."

Vanessa hasn't seen her mother since Helen's second marriage ended and she was dropped off at her father's house in Charleston, South Carolina.

In a scene from a TV show documenting her wedding, 30-year-old Vanessa was overcome with emotion when thinking about her absent mother. She revealed she was devastated that she doesn't have a close relationship with her mom and missed having her around while she was planning her wedding.

"My mom wasn't there to try on dresses with me... and say those cheesy things girls think their moms will say to them," Vanessa lamented.

The star rarely speaks about her estrangement from her mother. Helen wishes she had a relationship with Vanessa and still hopes they can make amends one day.

"It would be nice to have a relationship with her now, but I don't know how she'd feel if I called her," she added. "It would be a happy occasion to meet my grandchildren. Whatever she's doing today, I hope she's happy with this man and that he treats her well. She's still my little girl." (C) Cover Media