No matter the size or type of wedding you have, there is ALWAYS prep leading up to it in the final days. The Friday before mine  started with clocking a few miles running, which my mom BEGGED me not to do for fear I would trip and fall before the big day. Her fear was not completely based in Jewish mother neuroses. A couple of months before, I went out for a seemingly uneventful run, tripped on an uneven sidewalk in my neighborhood and did a MAJOR number on both elbows. I literally walked home for the last few minutes dripping in blood like Carrie and thought I may even need a trip to the ER. So, the compromise was that I used my treadmill instead of chancing it on the uneven sidewalks.

Then after some pampering by way of mani/pedi with my favorite manitherapist who came in just for me on her day off (I’m kind of a big deal there), I went to pick up my daughter from school to head down to Aventorture to await the impending arrival of the Long Island faction. We dropped of bags of snacks at the hotel (because god forbid anyone go a minute without something to eat), dropped my bags off along with my gown to our hotel, and got derailed by a quick trip to the mall because my daughter decided to change her mind about what she wanted to wear in her hair and I didn’t feel like experiencing a 6-year-old’s fashion meltdown on my wedding day.

We didn’t have a rehearsal dinner because it really wasn’t that type of wedding weekend, but my mom had to at least feed my family or they would all talk about her. So in typical fashion she ordered food for 40 even though there was like 17 of us, tops. And made a kugel. It’s her signature hostess move.

Jason’s parents came too and the melding of the families continued. Our families are equally awesome but definitely different. I’ve used this comparison before, but you know the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Well, Jason’s family is more like the civilized Groom’s (Aidan from Sex and the City) family.

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And mine are the ones talking loudly over each other roasting a pig on a spit in the front yard.

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As you know from past family events, my mom ALWAYS tries to initiate a game of some sort. All anyone ever wants to do is eat and hang out, but she just can’t help herself. This time though, I came armed with one of my own – Heads Up. Yep! The guessing game made popular by Ellen Degeneres (or as my mom who loves to butcher a name calls her, DEE.GEN.HEIRESS (phonetically), emphasis on the HEIRESS.

It’s the app version of the actual game, Head Bandz, where you hold the word up on your own forehead and everyone has to give you clues to get you to guess correctly. The kicker is, that the app version actually videos the people giving the clues, and so I knew it would produce some instant entertainment.

We played over and over and over and within seconds my mom and aunt were already downloading the app to their own phones. I’ll share a few highlights so you can get a feel for the tone of the night.

Here are my cousins, siblings Bret and Nadine (both born performers…obvs).

[vimeo 126058792 w=500 h=375] <p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/126058792″>sibs</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user39626820″>Rachel Sobel</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

And here, my friends, are my mom and aunt playing. And by playing I mean shouting over each other making every clue unintelligible and my mom continuously yelling “SKULLY CAP” as the clue for Enrique Iglesias while getting visibly frustrated because she can’t understand how it’s not a dead giveaway. There was no practicing which makes it both unbelievable that they are making the same noises and displaying the same mannerisms (wow for genetics). And then my mom apparently decides she’s had enough and peaces out, leaving my aunt unfazed and still playing without even flinching. I actually submitted it to Ellen…seriously. Everyone cross your fingers. I feel like if Ellen gets any exposure to my mom it may be my big break.

[vimeo 126058896 w=500 h=375] <p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/126058896″>sisters</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user39626820″>Rachel Sobel</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

And then, as we moved the party to the balcony, in perfect cliché fashion, there was a rainbow. While this would usually elicit “oohs and ahhs” from a “normal” crowd, my cousin, Nadine (bride / star of the blog post, “My Cousin’s Big Fat Brooklyn Dumbo Loft Wedding) was instantly rendered speechless trying to alert the rest of us to the rainbow with flailing arms similar to what you might witness from someone choking at a restaurant.  Then she took the next logical step. Her and her brother Bret broke into song. But not any song…Rainbow Connection.

[vimeo 126061655 w=500 h=888] <p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/126061655″>rainbow</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user39626820″>Rachel Sobel</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

Shortly after, my daughter and I made our way to the hotel where the wedding would occur the next day, for our very own crazy girls night. We played the kid’s version of Heads Up, watched some Curious George and passed out by 9pm. But not before she visited the bathroom and yelled, “Mommy, there’s a second toilet in here for babies!” = Bidet.

It was a calm, quiet, typical night with family all getting ready for a super exciting Wedding Day.

Well…mostly calm.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Wedding Day!