The wedding is happening! We are getting married on October 9 regardless of whether it’s just us two, or with guests. We are not postponing again. However, in light of COVID we are having a more intimate wedding compared to our original plan of a 275 person event, especially because our reception venue is fully indoors. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to celebrating with you as Mr. and Mrs. Emery, whether on October 9 or all year long!
Because of the pandemic, we want to assure the well-being of ourselves, the wedding party, and all of our guests. No event is “zero risk” but we ask that guests follow mitigation measures below. We respectfully ask that you be either be fully vaccinated for this event, or be tested using a PCR-based test within 72 hours of the event with a negative result. We will be asking for vaccination status as part of your RSVP, and if unvaccinated or decline to state vaccination status, we will require proof of a negative test before entering the ceremony or reception. Furthermore, we ask that if you are feeling ill for any reason or know or suspect that you have been exposed to COVID-19 that you please stay home and not attend this event. At this time masks are not required if the above apply, but Estancia Hotel, the wedding party, and guests will be asked to abide by any California COVID-19 protocols in effect at the time. We will post any updates to the website.
The vast majority of our guests (~90%) have self-reported that they are vaccinated. That said, most guests are not local to San Diego and will be traveling from out of town/state. If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask especially while indoors and interacting with others outside your household, we’re in full support. If a guest is wearing a mask, please be respectful of their space and consider wearing one yourself while interacting.
We have a 2021 room block at Estancia (Friday and Saturday nights). The room block link is posted on the Travel tab (code: PAR2021C). We also have a very small room block at the Best Western Premier Del Mar and have listed some other nearby options in the Travel tab as well.
We do not have a shuttle service to or from Estancia. However, parking is complimentary for our guests on the night of the wedding and we encourage Uber/ridesharing especially if you are planning to indulge in an adult beverage.
Self-park and valet options are available at Estancia. These are complimentary to our guests on the night of the wedding.
The ceremony is outdoors in a garden courtyard setting, the cocktail hour is indoors with an outdoor patio for mingling, and the reception is indoors in a ballroom with access to the small outdoor patio. Ladies, please plan accordingly if you are planning to wear heels, as you will be walking on some grass for the ceremony and the hotel grounds are terraced with flights of stairs (elevators available).
Please try to arrive at the hotel at 3:30pm and find your seats no later than 3:45pm, as the ceremony will begin promptly at 4pm. If you are arriving in San Diego that day from Orange County, Riverside County, LA County, or otherwise, plan to budget extra time for traffic on the freeways, especially I-5 and I-15, as these are often congested on Saturdays.
Cocktail attire, please. For women, think knee length or tea length cocktail dresses for a classy evening. For men, a suit with any color tie would look sharp! For reference, groom and groomsmen will be in black tuxes, and bridesmaids will be in slate blue dresses. Whatever you decide to wear...please dress comfortably as we want you to be able to get down and DANCE. :)
Please see the registry tab of our website! We are registered at Williams Sonoma (and Pottery Barn), Crate and Barrel, and Macy's.
Yes, we can accommodate guests who have food allergies or other dietary restrictions. Please note this on your RSVP. We have also noted for you which entrees are gluten-free or vegan/dairy-free.
If your formal invitation includes the name of your significant other, then yes. Otherwise, we unfortunately cannot accommodate the extra guest. We appreciate your understanding, as we both have large families to accommodate and we are hard at work on navigating the ever changing COVID capacity guidelines.
The wedding is an adults-only event. We look forward to celebrating our marriage with our favorite kiddos another time!
Short answer: yes! Tag us with #JustEmerried so we can see them too! Long answer: we feel pretty strongly about “living the moment” but we get it - people are excited about having a memento of the day. So please just note our requests: 1) We ask that you respect our “unplugged” ceremony and do not take any photos or video. We would love to see your faces and not your phones, especially when we recess out as husband and wife! We promise that our photographer and videographer are awesome, they'll get the shot for us. :) 2) Please feel free to take candids all night during the reception, just use discretion during special moments like our first dance or cake cutting. 3) We would LOVE to get a photo with you, so we are planning on coming around to visit tables with our photographer. You can use your camera to snap an individual one with us too! Lastly, if anyone seems like they’re enjoying themselves a bit too much, please take many, many photos of them and send directly to us. ;)
Yes! There are plans for a hosted brunch for family and friends the morning after the wedding. Kate and Joe may stop by informally after a leisurely morning, and will be at the hotel all weekend, so you can definitely plan to see us around.
We sure hope so!
It depends on how much sightseeing you want to do. Uber and Lyft are very active in San Diego as a rideshare/taxi option. If you are planning on staying more than a few days and hitting some of the touristy sights, it’s usually more convenient to rent a car.
Usually beautiful! You can typically expect daytime temperatures in the mid 70s, although sometimes it does get hotter (up to the high 80s). In the evenings, it does tend to get cool by the coast (a "damp" cool), so bring a sweater or wrap to keep warm even if you don’t think you’ll need it!
This is hotly debated. Kate likes Torrey Pines State Beach and La Jolla Shores. Joe likes Coronado and for sunset, Sunset Cliffs.
French Polynesia! We are leaving late on Sunday night and spending 10 days on Raiatea and Bora Bora. We. Cannot. Wait. If you've been there before, send us your recommendations!