Weddingbee Blog

FH and I have been together for over seven years and have spent a ton of time with each other’s families. In a rare occurrence in this universe, we actually adore each other’s families. I’ve been tagging along for his family’s annual trip to Cancun the past four years (which is actually coming up again soon—yay!!), and he’s been at my family’s annual Christmas party for the past six years. Not to mention the countless trips we take out to Wisconsin to visit his parents and all the time we spend with my parents who only live an hour from us. So when we finally got engaged we knew that the families just HAD to meet. And we wanted them to get to know each other before the wedding.

 Image via Free-Extras.com

So this past May, FH’s parents and brother flew in to spend the weekend with my family in NYC. We arranged a whole weekend itinerary, including:

• The “First Meet” Group Dinner
• Bridal Dress Shopping for the Ladies
• Guys’ Day Out/Mets Game (while ladies were shopping)
• BBQ at My Parents’ House

We were admittedly nervous at first having the families meet. After all, their backgrounds couldn’t be any more different. FH’s parents are second and third generation American—his mom’s background is Norwegian and his dad’s background is Italian. My parents were both born in Haiti and came to the US in their early 20s. FH’s family lives in the suburbs of Wisconsin. My parents and sister live in New York’s most populated borough, Queens. We were worried that they all wouldn’t have anything to talk about considering how different they were. Boy were we wrong!

This is the restaurant where we had dinner in the city. / Image via NYCGO.com

All eight of us met for dinner at this Cuban restaurant in the city and had a fantastic time. Everyone was laughing, eating, drinking, sharing stories, and just really getting to know each other. Breathing a bit easier, FH and I declared day one a success. The next day, we ladies traveled around the city in style for the bridal-dress appointments, courtesy of FH’s awesome mom who arranged for a car service so we wouldn’t have to worry about taxis/trains. You already know that part of the story, which ends with the ladies giving their full approval on my dream dress and my mom purchasing it for me. I ended up surprising the ladies with spa treatments after our last dress appointment to thank them for spending the day with me. Meanwhile, the guys were having a great time bonding at Citi Field for a Mets game. FH scored some incredible seats, which included a fantastic view and food/beverage service at their seats.

But it was the next day at my parents’ house for a little backyard BBQ that really solidified everyone’s relationship. My parents had given his parents little gifts and opened up a bottle of famous Haitian rum. FMIL watched and learned as my mom cooked up Haitian dishes. The dads were in the backyard with FH and his brother drinking rum and Cokes, grilling meat, and just having a good time. We all had a big dinner outside, and afterward FH and I had to drop off his family back in the city (their flight was the next day) and we needed to head back to our apartment in Connecticut. We were standing by the door and, no joke, the goodbyes and hugs took a good 15 minutes. So much so that we were like “OK, guys. Sorry to interrupt this love fest, but we need to hit the road!”

Since then, the parents text each other and send each other gifts in the mail. It’s too sweet for words, and we are so excited that our families truly enjoyed each other’s company. And the wedding will be that much more awesome because of it.