With a rehearsal under our belt, it was time to greet our guests and kick off our wedding weekend! We knew more than a year in advance that we wanted to host our rehearsal dinner at Abbott’s, a glorified lobster shack in a tiny coastal town near our hometown. It is QUITE the local landmark. It’s also a favorite with John’s family, and definitely delivers an authentic New England experience. Some of you who know me may still be confused by this choice, as the great irony here is that I do not enjoy most seafood and do not eat lobster. But, I enjoy a beautiful coastline as much as anyone else, and Abbott’s certainly has that in spades. I also enjoy a good hot dog, which, FYI, is what I ate that night :) When they say waterfront, they truly mean waterfront. Arranging things with Abbott’s was simple and pleasant. I think they usually charge $100 to reserve exclusive use of the tent and the tables under it, but they actually didn’t charge us anything! We opted to have guests order off the regular menu, through the line at the window, and put everything on a tab, because their event menu doesn’t include crowd favorites like their lobster roll. Abbott’s not only agreed to stay open later for our guests (even though the rest of the restaurant would close at 6pm), but let us bring in our own drinks, alcohol, AND dessert. Highly recommended! We sorted out most of the reservation specifics in the fall, and I always intended to craft a few items to jazz up the evening over the ensuing months. Well, those items got tacked onto the to do list for sure, but projects for that other large event looming in the distance (ahem, our wedding)

Welcome to wedding week on Em for Marvelous! You’ve already seen our highlights film (and some of you may have seen our wedding photos!), but I am so excited to share more images and thoughts about our very special celebration, as well as a few nitty-gritty details. I very much hope you all enjoy! My last post before our September 15 wedding was on September 10 — the Monday before. We had pretty much unpacked at that point, but still had many things to check off the list. My sweet, sweet dad — he sat me down the day after I arrived home, piece of paper in hand, and carefully went over his personal to do list with me, at least twenty items long. As you’ll see in some of our photos, he had a bandaid on his thumb by the end of the week from all of his labors! My Mom came out less scarred (at least physically – ha!), but was a complete trooper, as well. I am so grateful for all of the help we received over that week! I am also grateful that the week stayed remarkably stress-free, and even fun! John’s extended family rented a nearby cottage, and it was almost like a mini vacation to visit there and socialize, play corn hole and card games, and venture to the beach. On the recommendation of our pastor/officiant, we also went out to dinner, just the two of us, on Tuesday evening. It was a wonderful time to pause, and something I would highly recommend penciling in to you engaged peeps! On Wednesday, John and I got our marriage license (whoo!), and while waiting for it to be certified or printed or something like that, we walked a few streets over for a snack at the

Y’all, I need some help finding a dress for our rehearsal dinner. I was initially inclined to choose something white and go with the whole bridal theme, but if I’m purchasing a new dress, I’d like it to be useful post-wedding, and seeing as I already have a short white dress, I probably won’t have too many opportunities to wear both in the foreseeable future. So no white – probably. Our rehearsal dinner is ocean-side, so something with a little nautical flair might be good, or I could see myself wearing “something blue” — Marget wore the cutest blue skirt and white top to her rehearsal and dinner, which I loved! In the course of my hunt, I’ve searched the following sites: Anne M. Cramer (nothing caught my eye), Anne Taylor, Anthropologie, B.B. Dakota, BCBG, Belk, Bevello, Gretchen Scott, H&M, J. Crew (nothing looked good), Kate Spade (too expensive), Kiribilla (too expensive), Lilly Pulitzer, The Limited, Loft, Madewell, Modcloth (either they were out of my size, the length was too short, or the fit+fabric had poor reviews), Nordstrom, Piperlime, Shopbop, Topshop, Trina Turk, and Zara. Whew. After searching those 23 sites, here are the seven possibilities I found: 1) Coral one-shoulder dress by BCBGeneration via Piperlime ($89.50) 2) Color block tuck shift dress via TopShop ($95) 3) Colorblock crepe dress via Nordstrom ($98.90) 4) Cotton pleated sleeveless dress by LOFT ($85 – not available in my size online, but I might be able to find it in a store!) 5) Colorblock crepe de chine dress by Eliza J via Nordstrom ($92) 6) Jacquard cotton dress by Taylor Dresses via Nordstrom ($92) 7) Tylar dress by Lilly Pulitzer ($298) Is anyone surprised that my favorite of the bunch is also the most expensive? I just adore the scalloped hem on the