Photo by Mike Cassimatis Photography
Like most brides, I love our wedding photos. But not one of the others really captures the magic of that day quite like this one. This image is everything good I remember about our wedding day–that thrilling realization that we are actually married, the feeling immediately following that being married to Will is totally normal, the sparkly snow, my messy hair from dancing our reception away, and smiling friends and family surrounding us. (And sparklers! If our wedding had a theme, I would say it was SPARKLY, so naturally sparklers were a necessary send-off.)
Today we celebrate one year of marriage. It’s crazy that an entire calendar year has passed since our fairy-tale day, but we feel so much joy and peace about it. 2015 was an insane year, so we are happy to be settled into a calmer routine, and we both agree that this marriage thing just keeps getting better.
When Southern Weddings asked me what the most surprising thing about marriage was, I didn’t know what to say. I think it’s hard to remember what I thought marriage would be like before, but if I’m being honest, not much has surprised me. We’ve grown SO much closer, and we love being a team in every aspect of our lives. If something is stressful for Will, it’s stressful for me. If something makes him happy (that I wouldn’t normally care about), gosh darn it I’m happy too. That’s not surprising, but it’s really fun.
I’m also not surprised that there have been hard days, communication failures, and growing pains while blending our lives. It’s still hard to remember that we have different perspectives on life and to listen well. But I’m also not surprised that marriage requires self-sacrifice. That’s all part of God using our marriage to make us better people.
So here’s to a perfect first year, because it was our first year. And here’s to a lifetime of anniversary cake! (yum.)
