Teresa Giudice arrives at New Jersey wedding venue ahead of nuptials

Dressed in white, and looking every inch the bride-to-be, Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice and soon-to-be husband Luis ‘Louie’ Ruelas Friday joined members of their bridal party to rehearse their hotly anticipated wedding.

Seen in these exclusive pictures and video obtained by DailyMail.com on the eve of their New Jersey nuptials Giudice, 50, and Ruelas, 46, arrived shortly after midday Friday for a run through the closely guarded ceremony that is destined to become a multi-episode special for the network that made her a reality star.

Bravolebrity, Giudice laughed and exchanged embraces with fellow cast-member and bridesmaid Jennifer Aydin, 45, there with her husband Bill, 42.

Her three younger daughters Gabriella, 18, Melania, 17, and Audriana, 13, dressed casually and looking happy and relaxed, were also there to support their mom. Gia, 21, was expected to join the party later.

Cast and crew congregated at East Brunswick’s lavish Park Chateau Estate the venue for the weekend long celebration.

Covid tests were administered before the group moved through to the immaculate, Versailles inspired gardens where the ceremony is due to take place Saturday evening.

White chairs were set out in serried ranks Friday morning, on lawns facing a raised rotunda where a microphone was set up in anticipation of the couple’s exchange of vows.

At one-point Ruelas’s sister, Veronica, dressed in flowing white dress and wearing a heavy silver cuff on her wrist stood at the microphone, apparently rehearsing her own role in the ceremony.

Giudice’s brother, Joe Gorga, 42, and sister-in-law Melissa, 43, were notable by their absence. The always fractious relationship between the siblings has grown increasingly tense with Giudice confirming that Melissa will not be one of her bridesmaids.

Speaking recently, she stated, ‘It is what it is. I’m not her best friend, she’s not my best friend. We’re family. I loved her. She’s my sister-in-law, and vice versa. And I’m sure she loved me because I’m her sister-in-law. But do we hang out like best friends? No, we don’t, and I’m okay with that.’

A chapel, its aisle strewn with petals when DailyMail.com visited Friday, is also on the site as a fallback venue should the thunderstorms that are forecast for Saturday break.

Giudice wore a white Chanel tank top paired with a thigh-skimming skirt embellished with ruffles, her husband-to-be wore white shorts and a white T-shirt. With ‘FREE MAN’ emblazoned across the front and ‘Lions Not Sheep’ written across the back it was perhaps a tongue-in-cheek reference to his impending marital state, or a thinly veiled dig at his predecessor, Joe, 50, who spent 41 months in prison for fraud in 2016 and was deported from the States on his release.

He is currently living in the Bahamas where his daughters are frequent visitors.

Joe has insisted there is no bad blood between him and his ex. For what it’s worth, he said, he has given the couple, ‘his blessing.’

Meanwhile all four of the fiercely loyal daughters he shares with Giudice have welcomed Ruelas into the family despite eldest daughter, Gia, once expressing concern that the relationship was moving too fast.

Giudice got together with the man she now calls her soulmate in July 2020 – two months before her divorce from scandal-ridden Joe was finalized. The couple didn’t go public with their relationship until later that year.

Even by the standards of reality television Giudice’s love-life has been turbulent embracing as it has her own stint in prison when she was found guilty of mortgage fraud alongside Joe.

She served 11 months of a 15-month sentence in 2015 with the judge staggering her sentence and Joe’s allowing one to remain with their children while the other did their time.

But while she was initially determined to stand by her man, Giudice’s 20-year-marriage to Joe quickly crumbled on their mutual releases, with hotly denied rumors of infidelity on both sides. They separated in December 2019 and their divorce was finalized in September 2020.

By then Giudice had already found romance with Ruelas. The father of two sons, Louis Jr and Nicholas, has had his own brushes with controversy in the form of allegations of domestic violence against his ex-wife Marisa DiMartino.

On one occasion he allegedly pushed DiMartino into a metal pole. DiMartino refused medical attention and declined to press charges though a police report was filed.

In another report filed by DiMartino on New Year’s Eve 2010 she claimed that a ‘verbal dispute’ with her then husband had forced her to leave the family home. Again, no arrests were made, nor charges pressed.

For her part, Giudice had no hesitation in saying ‘yes’ when Ruelas popped the question on a vacation in Greece with former housewife Dina Manzo, 50, and her husband David Cantin, 42.

Speaking to People magazine when news of their engagement broke in October 2021 a source said, ‘It was absolutely exquisite. The choreographed fireworks display illuminated a ‘Marry Me’ sign as Louie got down on one knee. Teresa was completely surprised.’

The group celebrated until 5am drinking champagne and dining on lobster, sea bass and lamb chops in the Amanzoe Resort in Porto Heli’s restaurant, Nama.

As their Friday afternoon rehearsal came to an end Giudice and Ruelas shared a tender kiss before hopping in his G-Wagon together for the quick spin round to the on-site hotel, the Grand Chateau, where they and other members of the bridal party, all in high spirits, checked in.

On Saturday, between 150 and 200 guests are expected to join them to celebrate their marriage with the after-party expected to last into Sunday morning.