My beautiful friends, Sarah and Brandon got married on March 26th. It was seriously the most beautiful traditional-non-traditional wedding I've ever attended. The wedding ceremony was short but not lacking in the sweet; the "in-between time killing" was lovely, since I was in the downtown area with my friend; the reception was relaxed; the food was delicious. Even though I knew how stressful everything was leading up to the big day, and even some details went overlooked or forgotten, everything came together almost seamlessly as far as I could tell.
And I had such a good time celebrating with them all night. In fact, we didn't stop celebrating until three in the morning! I've never wanted to stick around that long after a wedding before. Makes a difference when you're having blast with your friends. The atmosphere was so relaxed. Even the wedding photographers were in that frame of mind. They weren't the usual kind you sometimes have, that stand off, getting their shots. These guys were easy going, and you felt like you were among friends. After taking a few pictures with and of friends one of them approached me and pulled me aside. Adam started scrolling through his images giving me a lil peek at the pictures they had taken that afternoon. Breathtaking of course. I felt like such an inexperienced wannabe, but I loved taking to them about photography, hearing their advice on lenses, where they travel and the unanticipated conversation in general. Turns out these guys were based in Georgia, and I felt reconnected to my southern home away from home. Makes the world feel so much smaller and closer together.
They posted a blog about S+B's special day just yesterday and I'm dying over how completely beautiful the final photos turned out. Almost hard to believe that they were taken here in our city! And, not gonna lie, I'm excited that the simple little sign that I painted for the reception made the cut--made with her wedding invites in mind--and that I showed up in a couple of the pictures too.
Here are a few of my favourites from the lot, you can find the rest of them HERE.
Once again, congratulations you guys! Lots of love!
I've been feeling more than a little jaded about love the last few months. And every day I battle, longing for a sense of normalcy and balance. It's definitely a process.
I was thinking about my ideas of love and romance, of how you visualize some guy is to show up, sweep you off your feet, whisking you off into the sunset.
I've come to suspect Walt Disney and his animators as the culprit. I feel as though he lead me astray as a little girl. We all grew up watching story after story of how the prince comes to save the girl from a miserable, deprived existence. He fights the evil villain, and then they live happily ever after.
I spent years wondering when my "prince" would finally show up and rescue me and make me feel worthwhile. Then I became accepting of my singleness, forgetting expectations and just carried on.
Then, for a moment, it happened. I thought I found my prince. I was very happy. Doing the distance thing was awful but for a short time it was worth it to be together. It was a rather romantic notion from the beginning I suppose. It sufficed, but only for so long.
So yes, the end came sooner than the happily ever after I was anticipating--was promised, even. I'm still hurting over it but with every bad day, a better day comes after. I know I'll be back and forth on that for a long time to come, but eventually I'll believe that love can happen again one day. I'll continue to fight back that monster of bitterness threatening to rob me of the desire to try again.
As pathetically girly it is to admit it, watching "The Royal Wedding" this morning gave me renewed hope. I wasn't into watching all of the hype leading up to the big day, going gaga over the details, but I decided to tune in since it was a moment of history that people will talk about for years to come.
Okay, okay, call my BS. Despite it all, I'm a total romantic. I wanted to be up at 7:30am to watch it for the heck of it. (Thanks for the wake up call, Elizabeth!) Because I did, I got to witness the dreams of two beautiful people who love each other come true in such a spectacular way, and it made me love love more than I have in a long time. I was happy with them rather than bitter. (And she looked completely stunning.)
What captivated me most was that among all of the pomp and ceremony of the occasion, while all the world watched, they shared little "private" moments: when he first saw her after her walk down the aisle and you read his lips telling her loved her and that she looked beautiful (melt); when they dropped their guard for a second, looked into the other's eyes and smiled (adorbs); the way they looked like they were so happy they wanted to laugh outloud, but contained it. I die over people saying their vows no matter who they are and these two looked so deeply in love, so smitten.
Here are a couple of quotes from the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres' address. He was my favourite; not the least bit stuffy and presented with great enthusiasm (especially compared to the other leaders, sheesh):
"Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves."
"And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another. A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life. It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love."
"As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light."
How beautiful is that? To find someone that would make you want to be the best version of yourself possible? That's how it's supposed to be, right? I want that. I want to feel fully alive when I am with someone, to be my whole self without fear; that it wouldn't be a chore to be selfless in giving everything to them, because the other would have the same ambitions towards me.
Generous love.
And I don't want to settle for less. I know the strength of when I feel loved and the pain of when I don't--the latter is not so wonderful. I deserve to be loved in return with as much love that I give and more.
I'm inspired to wait for that kind of love and I'll stop being mad at poor ole' Walt.
One day my prince will come. And he'll stay.
But till then, I don't need to be rescued.
I'll be just fine.
I spent Saturday, Feb 12th with a bunch of people that I love. I got to go for a walk around Quidi Vidi lake with my good friend and old roommate, Tony. Later in the evening I technically went to a singles party at Janessa's haha, but it was just a few girls getting together to chat and eat yummy treats surrounded by lots of pink!
If we look like we’re having a blast, you’d be right! I had some quick business to take care of downtown on Monday and had invited Robyn to come along for company. I'm super thankful that the weather cooperated because we had sooo much fun running around enjoying the rare afternoon of sunshine while capturing a few of our favourite spots. I'm glad to have finally put the video option on my new camera to good use and Robyn took her editing skills up yet another notch on the uhhmazing scale. I get so mushy happy every time I watch it. Thanks for being silly with me, Robz!
I'm so ready for Summer weather. Here in Newfoundland, we only get glimpses of it here and there, sadly! These are just a few things I'm crushing on right now and I'm pretty sure the red bike would complete my life. I know I don't buy a whole lot of red things, but the Ralphs are known for being drawn to the colour, which I'm finding more and more lately. I did buy an American Apparel LeSac dress in red a couple of months ago, but I think I'm going to stick with more subdued pastel colours when it comes to clothes, for now. I may have to get me one of those Fuji Instax cameras. I love mall photobooth photos, and I wish I had a polaroid. This is somewhere in between maybe? We'll see.
So let me rephrase my first sentence: I'm so ready for Summer weather and a Summer job. Yeahh!
Also, last night I finally made time to put together the scrapbook page I’ve had in my head for the last couple of months. Its the lyrics to a song by Bosc called Evolve—one of the prettiest love songs I’ve ever heard.
