As the families prepared for the wedding, the Moodicis invited the McDermott family to move in. It’s only for a little while, to make sure that everyone attends the wedding. We wouldn’t want the groom’s folks to miss this, would we? I have witnessed Sims behave ridiculously when it comes to weddings, so a little oversight seems warranted.
Holly’s midlife crisis dictated moving to a new house. There are still not many developed lots in town, so all that was available was a simple, bare-bones house near the school. The family had hoped that it would give them more privacy than staying at the Palazzo would, but those snooping helicopter news crews proved them wrong, as this aerial footage shows: 
The house had been neglected for so long (or construction so rushed) that plants had started to grow through the walls:
At least the green coordinates with Vita’s skilling bar and Holly’s moodlet and clothes. Nevertheless, Holly went outside to assess the damage and found the patio rather pleasant.
Just beyond the fence flows one of the rivers, and the meadows around it are full of gems and butterflies. It’s nice enough to distract Holly from the horridness of her burnt meal:
That building to the left is the school. Our lot is the one right next to the school. You’d think that that would make it easier to show up to on time to school, but Niccolo actually missed the bus and we had to remind him to rush over on his own. He made the honor roll, despite showing up late and with his Energy bar in deep red. Both he and Marquis fell asleep during class. Poor kids. I remember days like that.
With the McDermotts here, we get to know our new family members a little better.
It turns out Maximus (the groom) is a Kleptomaniac and has a Lifetime Wish of Becoming a Superstar Athlete. I think he and his father-in-law will get along quite well, as long as Nick can restrain himself from sneaking up on him and arguing at every spare moment. At least they’ll have interests in common…except when Maximus goes into “farm boy” mode. The urge to interact with plants often becomes so great that he (and his mother Ginny) must sneak off to the next-door garden to tend to the harvest:
Maximus brought along his little brother Marquis, an Excitable Friendly Loser. He is eating his tritip steak on the terrace. Hey, what a coincidence; that was my dinner, too! 
They have a middle brother, Travis, but he had moved out before the McDermotts joined the Moodicis and thus stayed on his own. He promises to attend the wedding, though.
Luke is their father. 
He is a Campaign Intern (Oh? So you’ve been working for Vita this whole time?), and his wife Ginny is a Shopping Music DJ (I guess Riverview has no Pandora, huh?).
…Hang on, I thought you guys were farmers! You both have the Lifetime Wish of having the Perfect Garden! How are you going to achieve that if you’re both away from the farm all the time? Life’s short, guys. Go grow some plants.
“We can’t. When we moved in with the Moodicis, our family got taken over! Must be those bandits. They’ve been running around terrorizing the farming towns ’round here.”
Can’t you buy them off? Just pay them to leave and get your farm back.
“Nope, no can do. We was robbed on the way here. Some more bandits.”
Why didn’t you mention this earlier?!
A “meta” note: So this is weird. Remember how we invited the McDermotts to move in? After they moved in, we no longer had enough funds to buy the farm back (meaning the McDermotts did not move in with the full funds they should have had). I should’ve used Edit Town mode instead. Hmm.
Don’t worry, guys, we’ll get you your farm back. Or at least find some new land. Or kick you out because I can’t handle four Sims much less a full house and we will eventually need room for Moodici progeny.
But for now, we have other things to worry about. This is the eve of the wedding.
The groom is getting his beauty sleep…without his bride, sadly, because she’s off running around town doing stuff. She particularly wished to visit the graveyard. Chalk it up to her midlife crisis.
Oh, she’s back home now. Then she starts painting on the dark terrace and doesn’t stop until she finishes:
Her mother Vita works on the second volume of her memoirs, Vita: the Middle. 
And then she heads to bed. Perhaps Vita is worried about the wedding. Next to her in bed, the groom’s mother doesn’t seem to share those apprehensions. The two mothers in bed, dreaming of very different priorities: 
Why is it Ginny next to Vita in bed? Because Nick for some reason went back at the old Palazzo when no one was looking:
The groom’s father, Luke, was also off running around town. First he collected some seeds in the graveyard, where he ran into Holly, and then took a late-night cooking class.
The two little brothers, on a crazily shifted schedule, sit together on the terrace outside long after the adults have gone to bed. Marquis chirps, “Hey, brother Niccolo! It would be so cool once we’re related. We could play football together all day!” 
“And we’ll take over the world, just like your mother Vita, the Madam Dictator!”
Uh-huh.
“And we’ll suppress the free press.” Wait—
“We’ll muscle all the other Riverview families into accepting our business terms…”
“and we’ll get rich from all the bribes and kickbacks our power brings!” 
O-kay…you gold-digging twerp. Your family’s so poor only because you couldn’t protect yourselves from some lousy bandits!
“…Niccolo? Are you listening to me?”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you, yeah, football. How ’bout them Llamas.” 
“Good night, Niccolo.”
“Hey, wait, I’ll read you a story.”
“Now good night.”
…
WEDDING DAY!
As dawn breaks, we catch a glimpse of San Moorco’s Basilica on the hill:
That is where Holly and Maximus will get married. Time to wrangle up the family:
Hmm, I see that only Niccolo has dressed appropriately. Just see that the rest of you change at the church or in the car, please?
On the way to San Moorco’s, Holly rolled a wish to flirt with the first guest, Yuri. That’s what you get for getting married in the middle of a midlife crisis.
Lots of hearts fluttering to kick off this wedding. Skip Broke saw Holly and Vita and was infatuated. Too late for you, Skip! Both ladies are spoken for.
But mother of the groom Ginny probably wouldn’t mind: 
Travis McDermott (younger bro of the groom) is also attracted to Vita. Wow, I hadn’t realized just how much Vita has gained in charisma points since moving to this town.
The parents of the bride take a look around the hall.
“Nick, this is nice, isn’t it? Oh my, are you crying already?”
“No. Allergies. Look at all the pollen and seeds on the floor! This is what you get for moving to a farming town!”
Still, the decorators did a decent job.
The view from the mezzanine as the couple and guests take their places:
The magically and suddenly-appearing cake. Oh yes, and the happy couple:
Happy guests:
A weepy Lorraine Cantina (“Hey, down in front!”):
Ginny and Niccolo, letting out sighs of happiness:
Vita, nostalgically pleased with her own wedding ring:
And Nick, glaringly happy:
And this is where it went wrong.
The couple got up to cut the cake.
And people froze. The wedded couple froze. Some of the guests froze.
One of the guests suspected that this sudden paralysis was brought on by some nefarious curse put on the cake by Madam Dictator. I dunno. Why would she ruin her own daughter’s wedding?!
After a few moments of confusion, a voice came on over the PA system: “Ahem! Ahem. This concludes the rehearsal session of the wedding. Please return to your seats. The main ceremony will resume shortly.”
When the guests started taking seats, it was suddenly clear that Luke had somehow gone back to the house. Luke! Your son is getting married! Get your gardening butt back over to the basilica! Come on, pedal, man!
The tension was too much for Holly to handle. She went off to a corner of the hall and started playing the guitar. She had the guitar case open for tips, but no one was really paying attention to this other than her mother.
Okay, everyone’s assembled now. Take a breath. This time for reals, please.
Hey! What’s Charles the Maid doing here? I thought he wasn’t supposed to be invited!
Holly: “Whatever. Can we just get through this, please? I’m starving!!”
Whoooo! Cheer and applaud, everyone! Applaud, and I’ll overlook the fact that barely no one is following seating protocol:
Holly: “Yay, cake! Feed me!”
It did not freeze this time. Thank you, San Moorco!
Congratulations, Holly and Maximus. (Meta note: That was quite possibly the most stressful wedding my Sims have ever had. This helps to explain why this post was so long in the making. The screenshots sat for a month before I felt up to putting this together.)
Maximus’ first act as a married man: work out in the church!
Don’t you have a honeymoon to get to?
Nick felt a little overwhelmed by all this, so he stepped out to the terrace.
“Wow, Nick, would you look at that view! We can see all of Riverview from here.”
Nick seems to be viewing more of his dishy wife. “Yes, yes, it is a great view. And the bride was beautiful, too. Congratulations, dear.” 
“I just hope they’ll be happy.”
Back inside, Niccolo wanted to ask Chelsea Broke to dance but she just stood there throwing rice in his face. Is this considered a proper rejection tactic in Riverview?
Chelsea and Charles the maid are two of the guests seemingly stuck at the wedding. The glitch will go on.
Show’s over, folks! Go home!
Just to wrap up the wedding, we had some late arrivals whose approach to “crashing the wedding” was rather literal:
THE HOUSE OF MOODICI 