Why Karissa Ella Wrote 'White Dress Worthy' with Her Mom: 'She Knows What Love Is' (Exclusive)

Karissa Ella feels the pressure of 'happily ever after' caving in around her. 

"Everyone's getting married and buying houses and having babies," Ella, 27, tells PEOPLE in a recent interview. "It's so exciting, but yet so scary. I feel like a lot of girls my age feel like we're running out of time."

It's this ever-present ticking clock that seems to serve as the backbeat of the dreamy singer/songwriter's new single "White Dress Worthy." "My mom would always tell me to not rush the process but wait until you find that perfect someone and your best friend, you know?" recalls Ella. "That's how the whole song came about."

The crazy part to the story of "White Dress Worthy" is these conversations ultimately ended up becoming a songwriting session of sorts, with Ella's mother Lori Haasz snagging co-writer cred on the heartfelt and oh-so-very important song.

"If she could be down here [in Nashville] doing it full-time, she would be," explains Ella of her songwriting mama, who still lives full-time in their home state of Ohio. "She comes down and writes with some people, but I'm lucky enough to get to write with her whenever I want."

Not only has Ella's mother passed down her obvious creative talents, but also allowed the Belmont University grad to watch a storybook romance take place before her very eyes. 

"My mom and my dad have been together for a little over 30 years now," says Ella. "My mom has seen things, she knows what love is, she knows what to expect. She's seen her friends make mistakes and she just wanted to give a reminder to everyone out there to not make that mistake — to not ignore your intuition and your red flags. Trust your gut and wait for the right one."

It's a piece of advice she has given her children many a time.

"She'll let us fall," says Ella of her mom. "She'll give you the best advice and if you take it, you take it. If you don't, you fall and you get back up. You got to learn your own lessons. I've always appreciated that she's never butted in."

Luckily, Ella currently finds herself in a long-term relationship that both she and Mom would venture to say just might be "white-dress worthy."

"When we were writing this song, I just kept thinking about him," admits Ella — who plans to release her new EP It’s Personal on June 23, an impressive body of work that will also include her prior single "Well Tequila" — with a laugh. "He knows he's white dress worthy. He's a ham about it. He loves when I write songs about him."

And while Ella sounds confident that she has found her "white dress worthy" man, she knows that some still might be settling a bit when it comes to their own relationships. 

"I just keep thinking about all the weddings I have to go to this year," she says. “" know my friends are all making the right decisions, but I also know that there's people out there that maybe need to hear this song to realize that their man isn't white dress worthy and that they deserve to be treated better, you know?"

Because at the end of the day, marriage remains a sacred promise, especially to Ella.

"Marriage is such a special thing that we get to do, and I think some people might take it for granted or rush into it because they feel like it's just that time," she says. "At least that's how I feel right now."

She pauses. "I'm not engaged. I'm not married. I pray and hope one day that I'm able to have kids, but it's just a lot of pressure and it can be overwhelming. And that's when people start making mistakes and rushing into things.  I just think it's such a special bond that you should wait till you find that person that you know without a doubt is your best friend and is going to be there to hold your hand and lift you up all throughout life."

Ella laughs as she adds, "I want a guy that going to lift me up like Patrick Swayze!"