Sounds familiar! My husband's (large) family originally traveled to the U.S. from somewhere outside Naples, while my forebears were English/Scottish/Irish. Not long after I met my future mother-in-law, she told him she didn't understand "why none of you boys will marry a nice Italian girl."

Family gatherings can get v. interesting indeed. The daughters-in-law tend to migrate to a different room after an hour or two.