In my professional life I have devoted a great deal of energy to exploring ways of engaging with books–especially picture books. I’ve also found other ways to celebrate books in my life, most notably during my 2014 wedding. We chose a literary theme and found ways to incorporate it into each stage of planning, the ceremony, reception, and even our honeymoon to Nantucket.

I’ll add more content soon, but for now here is a photo of the favors my mother-in-law and her best friend made–artisanal soaps from Windy Crest Farm (https://m.facebook.com/WindyCrestFarm) wrapped to look like books–and the table runners and confetti made from pages of Anne of Green Gables.

My sister-in-law, Chrissy, and brother-in-law, Brian, also built an amazing book-arch for the ceremony. The shelves now stand in baby Jesse’s nursery, but on our wedding day they held family photos, and other meaningful items for the ceremony–including a little clutch purse that Chrissy made from an altered copy of Anne of Green Gables (yes that’s a favorite of mine!) and that I used to hold my printed vows.

The little table under the arch has a vase that my cousin Kevin and his wife Theresa sent to us as an engagement gift–it’s shaped like two books and we used it in the ceremony at one point when Sean and I and all of the kids each put  rose into the vase to signify our unity as a family.