"Oui, je le veux!"

Good news - I said yes!... or oui... or maybe I said "the cat is under the table and the car is blue" but whatever I said in french resulted in cheers and confetti and a hell of a party. The bridezilla I didn't think lived inside me made a brief appearance before the ceremony began when I was a giant marshmellow packed in a hot car because people wouldn't get their french fannies inside the church, including my now-husband (The whole big reveal tradition was important to me). Obviously I didn't want be so be sweaty you could smear me and my marshmellow dress on a graham cracker and top me with a Hershey's chocolate bar. I finally was able to exit the car and all of us were about to begin our walks down the green mile... I mean the aisle... when I realized I had forgotten both my veil and bouquet. Luckily the best man, FM, and his girlfriend, Charlotte, who I now knight as an honorary bridesmaid, hopped in the minibus and went back to the hotel to grab those items despite my insisting it was OK and that I didn't really need them. I'm guessing the near tears in my eyes were a bigger indicator of what needed to happen more than my words. Meanwhile my 3 American bridesmaids said all the right words like "You're such a beautiful bride" so convincingly that I award them an Oscar for their performance. But, in my defense it would have been a federal offense to NOT accessorize myself with the GORGEOUS bouquet which consisted of a few white flowers (don't ask what type... I don't do plants) and a lot... like lots and lots... of different types of green leaves from fatter leaves to little whispies. Utterly gorgeous (and I don't give a crap about flowers or plants... don't tell my mother-in-law who arranged flowers as a hobby or LPZ who has spent so much on the gardens... hey I came around to the awesomeness of the boardwalk...well and more so the beer serving cafe alongside it...ah how I miss our volunteer happy hour(s...s...s)). I believe the word you're looking for is...anyway...

We played tons of games... it's both a french wedding thing and even more a Dimiccoli wedding thing. 1st of all everyone was wearing a sticker namebadge (yes, we forgot to take them off for some of the pictures so it will forever be immortalized). On the namebadge were little circle stickers of different colors: red, yellow, orange, pink, some with a dot drawn in the middle. There were also hearts drawn, etc. So each sticker meant you were part of a group and the task was to figure out what your yellow dot with a drawn dot in the middle, or your heart, or your pink dot meant. Some were confusing like a group I was in which was all french people and me. I was the odd link there. As Sesami Street would say... or sing rather: "One of these things is not like the other" (OK, well my generation will get it). Turns out the group was... drum roll... Parisians. That's me now! I totally forgot. Anyway it was a great game and really mixed everyone together.

Another game was, everyone at the table had to draw someone else at the table. We were given a regular blank sheet of paper and colored pencils and we all went to work... and this is wear I lost any mascara laughing so hard I cried. Turns out artists are rare or at least amongst my friends and family. It might have started some wars between couples: "That's what you think I look like?! I'm a cross between a Frankenstein head and and a linebacker body in heels!" or "Is that my pregnant belly or my fat?!"

2 more games:
1. Manu and I were called up to the front of the room and made to sit in chairs facing away from each other. We were then handed a sign. On one side: a picture of Uncle Sam doing his famous point and wanting you... on the other side... can you guess? yes, a mustache & baguette toting Frenchie in a striped shirt, beret, and well your imagination is doing a better job than my words. We then received questions about which is better, the US or France, for:
- Beer: winner - US (le duh)
- Raising children - France
- BBQ - US (but i wanted a picture of the country of Texas)
- Food - France
- Getting married - flipped the picture back and forth to indicate tie but it wasn't allowed.... so we weren't lynched, we said france, but...........
the idea was at the end, the country who won is where we should live. Winner? USA
2. This one was the most physically demanding and got a little down and dirty. It revealed our friends and family who are cheaters, that's for sure (*cough-marie celine&caline-cough*). Each of the 12 tables selected a representative to go to the front and sit in 1 of the 12 chairs. Marie and Muriel (my new mother & sister in law) read the table representatives an item, such as a pamphlet from the church ceremony, that they had to retrieve. It was read in English then French or vice versa and when they finished reading the item in the second language, all 12 peoples ran out of there chairs to search for the item from their tablemates and make it back to the now only 11 chairs remaining. As physics tells us that 2 objects cannot occupy the same space, you can imagine that 1 person was left standing. Alas, a loser. The 1st person who lost was then told what they had to do for us in September and the 2nd loser in October and so on until every month was covered and 11 people were out. One example of a loser's task was to have us for a picnic... which we will do with Alex and Simone in Zurich in November. Marie Celine will have us for dinner and she lives in the south of France so we'll go down to see here in March. Notice how we're doing all the traveling for our rewards (ok, this was voluntary). Finally the winner... we will invite the winner to celebrate our 1 year anniversary with us.

Eventually it was time for the 1st dance. We began the slow dance to a Jack Johnson song (he's like your typical acoustic guitar, love song singer). Manu and I don't have the moves so this rocking back and forth continued for about 30 seconds when the DJ came on and said (in French), "Guys, this is nice for y'all but pretty boring for everyone else. Let's get this going so how about each person who is going to have a dance comes up and does their own dance for a while... starting with the parents of the bride"
- My mom and dad came up and led Manu and I in their style of dance (a combo of disco dancing and basic bobbing and waving hands in the air) to the song Joy to the World by 3 dog night for about 30 seconds. Then the dj said, "Ok, now the parents of the groom."
- Marie and Pascal came up and led us to their dance (swing dancing... and they do it very well) to the song Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis. Then the dj said, "ok now the groomsman"
- The 3 guys came up jumping around like hooligans to a very famous french rock song of their generation. As the sour look on your face correctly indicates, it was bad. ;) Then the dj announced the bridesmaids
- The 3 girls came up and danced to "Miley Cyrus, Party in the Usa." After 30 seconds of that, the dj announced that everyone could join the dance floor as Miley kept singing and thus the dance party began.

Dancing was interrupted to cut the cake and by cake I mean a table full of like 10 cakes on different levels with sparklers coming out of it and my favorite song called Colors by April Smith (if you don't know it, listen!), was playing. When entwined our arms to sip our champagne which actually wasn't too bad considering neither 1 of us like champagne all that much. Plus when you drink too much of it, it gives you a wicked headache... I've heard.


A few last shenanigans... Manu rented about a polaroid camera and brought a slew of costumes so after some drinks and dancing people began to dress up as Manu walked around and photographed people in blonde wigs, stick on mustaches, Kanye glasses (I realize some of you won't know what that means... just ask someone). Around 4am the dj played 2 specific songs. 1 song was Zorba the Greek (yes, the French stole the greek tradition to call it their own) and everyone got in a circle with the hands on the shoulder of the person next to them and they kick their legs and turn in the circle and it gets faster and faster and faster until you're just kicking everywhere. The 2nd song was for Paquito. Basically all the guys sit on the floor with their legs spread and they're tucked into the lap of the guy behind him so it forms a line. They rock forward and backward shouting "HEY!" and the bride and groom run toward the line, jump, and hope the line of guys catches you. They did! And then they pass you backward till you reach the end. Ok, good imagination but now imagine it with a big poofy dress. It actually takes some talent because if you're not stiff you arms go 1 way and your legs the other and well you're like speghetti going everywhere. Luckily, this wasn't my first time at bat so I succeeded and so did manu.

Around 5:30am the DJ played the last song and we went to bed... for 4 hours... before waking up for the day after picnic with guests from the wedding...

Bref (It's French for "in summary"): It's good to attend a Manu & Jessie wedding.
Double bref (It's Jessie for "ps"): There will NOT be a 3rd... Thank goodness!