Friends, today is our two-year wedding anniversary! I thought I’d celebrate by sharing a favorite photo, but who am I kidding – I can’t stop at just one :) I actually write Tanja Lippert a thank you note every year, because I am that to-my-knees grateful for these treasures. As if it needs to be said after those beautiful photos, but what a magical day. I feel so lucky to have absolutely no regrets, looking back – so thankful, in hindsight, that we took the time to do things our way, to do them meaningfully, and to do them with great love. I have absolutely no desire to do it over again; instead, I love looking forward to what is to come. The kind folks at Southern Weddings shared our marriage advice yesterday on the blog and in print in Volume 6, and I thought it might be fun to share it here, too: You know that saying, find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life? Well, we like to switch it up a bit: marry your best friend, and you’ll never work a day in your marriage. That, of course, is not entirely true — even the best marriages have harder days and easier days — but if you truly LIKE your partner, and love spending time with him or her more than anyone else, everything else seems to fall into place. Or, at least, that’s been our experience! Other tips that have served us well throughout our eight years together: forgive again and again, and don’t hold a grudge (easier said than done). Put your partner before yourself in small things — it will help to have that muscle in shape when bigger things come around. Take great joy in surprising and

Seven things I love about my Mom (in no particular order): 1. When I was younger, she not only indulged my (admittedly strange but) preferred activities, she enjoyed them alongside me. Some of my favorite memories from elementary school and younger include sneaking into our church’s balcony on Saturdays to spy on wedding ceremonies, and Friday picnics that included D’Angelos tuna pockets eaten in the back of our van with the liftgate open and then a trip next door to browse the Ethan Allen showroom floor. She knew at a young age that these things were important to me, and is probably the least surprised of anyone to see how they’ve blossomed into my career. 2. She is generous with her time. As just one example, from about sixth grade to twelfth grade, I had 4-5 dance classes a week half an hour away, and I had to be driven to every single one. Now that I’m older, that kind of time commitment boggles the mind. I never felt like she didn’t have enough space in her day to talk with me or read to me, and I still don’t. 3. She cries at the drop of a hat. My sisters and I used to make fun of her for this, and we still kind of do, but now I understand that she cries at commercials, movies, and people’s stories because she is a deeply compassionate person. 4. She is the warmest person you’ll ever meet. She has never met a stranger, and will make you feel welcome and included from the minute you come in contact with her. 5. Unsurprisingly, my friends love her, and she loves my friends. She is an “extra mom” to almost every one of them, and they often do things with her even when

Happy Monday, friends! I’m here with the final post in our wedding series — at least for now :) I wanted to share our budget breakdown, in the hopes that it might be helpful for those of you currently planning. A little background: Date of wedding: September 15, 2012 Location: Southeastern Connecticut Number of guests: 115 Contributors: My parents (43%), John’s parents (33%), John and me (13%), and my grandmother (11%) I know that pie chart is tricky to see, so here’s the breakdown, from most to least: 33.7% ON CATERING | Includes food, staffing, bar, and tip. 17.4% ON RENTALS | Includes our 32×70′ Sperry tent with string and onion lighting, a catering tent, 15 high top tables, 11 8′ tables, 4 6′ tables, 9 36″ round tables, 2 bar back tables, 45 black chairs, a 16×16 black and white dance floor, four couches, 16 linens of various sizes from La Tavola, 16 basic linens from our local rental company, and a generator. The generator was a last-minute expense (like, the day before the wedding) that pushed this category way up. 9.8% ON PHOTOGRAPHY | Includes Tanja and Tia’s travel but does not include any sort of album. 6.3% ON CINEMATOGRAPHY | Includes a highlight and feature film; Inkspot did not charge us for travel as described here. 5.9% ON LOCATION | Our ceremony venue was free, so this includes use of the O’Neill’s Sea Porch and Sunken Garden. 5.8% ON FLOWERS | Includes 1 bridal bouquet, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 2 small nosegays for our moms, 2 pin-on corsages for our grandmothers, 8 boutonnieres for the gents, 2 wreaths for the church doors, 21 small to medium centerpieces for the tent, 6 small centerpieces for cocktail hour high tops, and arrangements for the guest book, bar, and gift tablea

Y’all thought we were done talking about our wedding, but no — I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve! Since I’ve shared so many inspiration boards over the years, I think it’s only fitting that I show you my own. I know inspiration usually comes before fruition, but I think it’s kind of neat to see where everything started now that you’ve seen where it ended up. My vision for our classic garden party seaside wedding… I would describe our colors as a gray ocean blue, navy, blush pink, softest peach, black and white, and the green of our surroundings (yes, people looked at me like I had two heads when I gave that answer), and our style as classic elegance and tradition with a light heart. One of the hardest parts of making everything come together cohesively was managing the balance between the black and the navy, but in the end, I think it worked out beautifully. The words I tried to keep in mind throughout planning were easy and elegant. I wanted the end experience to feel effortless, but intentional. The Details: Tablescape photo by Jonathan Canlas via Snippet & Ink (this is the wedding that inspired my linens!); my favorite cake of all time from my favorite wedding of all time, via Martha Stewart Weddings; Sperry tent flags photo by Cramer Photo via Snippet & Ink Wine bottle photo by Jonathan Canlas from this wedding (inspired me to work with Magpie Paper Works!); anemone bouquet photo by Stephanie Williams; navy wedding invitation poster by I am Always Hungry via 100 Layer Cake; flowering boxwood bush photo by Katie Stoops from Southern Weddings Dapper groomsmen photo by A Bryan Photo; bow tie escort cards from Martha Stewart Weddings (these inspired our “belles and beaus” in part)