One of the aspects of marriage that I’m still getting used to is having a second family. The Campbells are not just Sean’s family, they’re my family too. I just don’t see them very often since they’re in Long Island. Hopefully that’ll change now that we’re married.

Sean, on the other hand, has gotten to know my immediate and extended family pretty well since most of them live in southern California and there’s a party at least once a month. They’ve embraced him as a grandson, son, brother, cousin, nephew and uncle (for the cousins’ kids).

One of the basic things we hadn’t done pre-wedding was a parent introduction. My parents were curious about his family and asked question. What’s his mom like? What did they do before retiring? I showed them the Campbell’s photos (including some from their wedding Sean put up on flickr). They also got a kick when they found out they were almost going to be twins at the wedding. Despite living on opposite coasts, they had tried on the same dress. Mrs Campbell bought it, my mom didn’t even though it was one of her favorites.

Sean and I planned the parents’ dinner shortly after the Campbells arrived from NY. We wanted to give some time for our parents to meet before the wedding madness began. We picked Lascari’s restaurant since it was less than a mile from the hotel. The group ended up being Sean’s immediate family plus Junior’s girlfriend, Olga and most of my immediate family. My brothers couldn’t make it due to work.

The dinner was fun. There was a lot of laughter as the Campbells shared stories about Sean. Even though Adrian wasn’t present, his name still came up as my mom noted that he and Junior were similar in their attitudes and sense of humor. They became immediate friends when they met the next day at the bachelor party.

The in-laws shared stories about what Sean was like growing up — always reading, rarely getting in trouble. Just like me. Mi suegra (MIL) shared how much she’d like a granddaughter (no pressure) and how we should go shopping together next time I was in NY. My parents were amazed at how many of the Sean’s relatives had flown out.

We ended relatively early since we didn’t want to keep the NY contingent up late.