[Image: Live It Out Photography]
Marriage is AWESOME. It should be CELEBRATED.
This quote appears on the website of one of my favorite DC wedding photographers, An Endless Pursuit and when I started to formulate today’s post in my mind, I kept coming back to this. You see, today is my 4-year wedding anniversary and I wanted to write some sort of reflective, personal post on marriage to celebrate that milestone (without just spending 500 words gushing about my amazing husband). I wanted to share real insight into what 4 years of marriage has been for me and I think this quote perfectly sums it up. Because, while our wedding was the best day of my life, marriage has been nothing short of AWESOME and I think it’s important to re-emphasize that.
[Image: Tim Riddick Photography]
It’s important because (I know I’ve typed this here before) marriage is the REAL reason for a wedding. While we all continue to get caught up in the details of a weddingday – the look, the invites, the attire, the music …. it’s really the wedding ceremony, your vows, the MARRIAGE, that is the most important part. I think I was probably guilty of this a bit myself when I planned my wedding 4+ years ago. While I poured over my vows, and really couldn’t wait to marry Andy, I know I spent just as much time (maybe more) fretting over the shades of pink we incorporated, finding the perfect pink pump for my bridesmaids, painstakingly making each ornament pomander by hand, and so on and so forth.
[Image: Live It Out Photography]
And while I still love every single detail we put into our wedding, the 4 years of marriage that have followed have far exceeded every single one. To know that I have someone in my life that supports me, helps me, loves me, and is accompanying me on this journey called life …. well… it’s just nothing short of awesome. I can say without any reservation, that I absolutely LOVE being married. It is indeed the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt and something I hope to never take for granted.
When I sit here and think about these past 4 years, I can’t help but be a little shocked at how much Andy & I have accomplished together. We sold our condo in Arlington, and made the move to Washington, DC. We took a chance on a neighborhood in Northeast DC and bought a flipped rowhouse that we’ve spent (and continue to spend) lots of time and money, customizing it to our design aesthetics. We’ve traveled to some amazing places (Chicago, Mexico, Boston, Arizona, Seattle, Portland, Paris, London, Amsterdam …. and probably so many more that I am forgetting). We’ve celebrated new lives being born into this world, and we’ve lost some important lives too (ones that live on in our wedding video, wedding pictures, and memories). We’ve watched (and been lucky to actually be a part of) friends and family take their relationships to the next step, joining us in the married world. All of these things making our wedding day feel simultaneously SO long ago, yet only yesterday.
[Image: my phone(?) haha]
I think the thing that might be the most important reflection I have on these past 4 years is how much our lives have grown (both individually and together). I’ve watched my husband grow personally and professionally and enjoyed the ability to not only witness but get to share in his growth. I, too, have grown personally and professionally and realize that there is NO WAY I could have grown Capitol Romance to what it is now, without Andy’s help.Whether it’s coming along to my weddings to be the notorious hanger of things, or staying home and cleaning the house because he knows I’ll be too tired after working a wedding all day, Andy has supported me in ways I could never truly re-pay him for.
[Image: Love by Serena Photography]
So why is marriage awesome to me? Marriage is awesome to me because of all the immeasurable little things that come with it. The staying up late in bed, laughing until we cry, probably about the SILLIEST of things, like two 5th graders at a sleepover party. The long car rides together made bearable by our mutual love of Andrew W.K. The trips, the concerts, the dinners, the milestones, the happy, and even the sad – all shared together. The way we often say things at the exact same time, or finish each other’s (sandwiches) sentences. The understanding of commitment and partnership that we have in this thing called life, and the unending desire to make our marriage work, and to make our marriage awesome, and to keep the love we found in highschool …. over 10 years ago … alive.
[Image: Live It Out Photography]
So with this last image, one of my favorites from our wedding day, I’ll just end it the way I started. Marriage [truly] is awesome and it really should be celebrated.
