♥ local love
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EMILY and ERIK
May 1 , 2017 // Kelly Louise Photography
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It was so unlike me ,” emily says of her impromptu solo outing to see Parsonsfield — a band she had only heard once or twice on a local radio station , mind you — play a gig at O ’ Shea ’ s Old Inne , a beloved Irish pub in West Dennis , Massachusetts . “ None of my friends could make it but I thought , ‘ Screw it , I ’ m going !’” Emily had a great time watching the performance , but the night got even better when , while waiting in line for coat check , she bumped into the band ’ s cute drummer ( a . k . a . Erik ). “ I said something like , ‘ Hey great set , let me buy you a beer !’” she laughs . “ Looking back , I probably never would have done that if I had a group of people with me .” Luckily it did happen though , and you can probably guess what happened next : the two music lovers fell in love .
With him living in eastern Connecticut and her living in Massachusetts , the two regularly met in the middle ( a . k . a . Providence ) for dates before eventually moving in together and calling the capital city home — the same home where Erik proposed on a quiet night in . Wedding planning was then likewise low key . “ If I could tell engaged couples anything , I ’ d say , ‘ It ’ s just a day ,’” Erik reveals when pressed for advice . “ That was our slogan : It ’ s just one day out of a lifetime .” Between their busy schedules chock-full of classes and tour stops , they had opted to keep things simple for their Providence nuptials , inviting no more than forty guests to the outdoor ceremony at Prospect Park and the hipster-friendly reception at Milk Money that followed . But simple didn ’ t mean fool-proof ; the laidback couple are the first to laugh at various mishaps that occurred during planning and even on the day of , including invitation misprints , a notso-fashionably late officiant and a debit card snafu at the end of the night .
Yet , plenty of things went right , like purchasing a cost-effective , perfectly fitted boho-chic wedding dress from an Etsy vendor in Bulgaria ; incorporating details from iconic local institutions like PVDonuts ; showcasing their love for music with DIY vinyl guest books ; and even finding time to take family photos with their beloved cat , Kaz . “ The little things that went wrong didn ’ t matter at all . We still got married and we still had an awesome day with our family and friends ,” Erik says . “ So don ’ t stress . It ’ s all going to be fine .” So fine that , like them , you might just end up in a wedding magazine .
134 | RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY ' S ENGAGED 2018