Before Kel even got down on his knees (that’s right – he was so nervous, he got down on both of them), we knew that we’d be hiring a photographer for the big day. There was no question about it; it’s a given that there needs to be someone to take pictures at a wedding so that’s what we did.
We love our wedding photos in the “they are our wedding images” kind of way, but that’s about it. Unfortunately, we were so disappointed in how they turned out that they simply sit in a tote with the rest of our wedding memorabilia.
It isn’t easy for us, as photographers who place a lot of emphasis on displaying images, to admit we don’t have a single wedding image up in our own home. Not. A. Single. One. And it has always been our desire to have at least one beautiful, timeless image that showcases our comittment.
To remedy that, a few years ago, we began planning our very own “make-up wedding” photos. The challenge, of course, was that it had been 10 years. Even if we could pull off the task of faking the youthful appearances we boasted on our wedding day, there was little about us that was the same as it had been back then.
When we look back at our wedding images, of course we reminisce about that day. But then something strange happens. We start talking about that incredibly young couple. Young in years, they were. But also in life experience. We recall how they had been through ample ups and downs to know that sticking together through good times and bad wouldn’t always be easy, yet were filled with enough innocence to think that it would always come naturally (especially given how madly in love they were).
More than a decade later, we realized that although we will always be sorry we missed out on the opportunity for beautiful wedding images, there was something that our wedding photographer could never have captured, regardless of how much we loved our images…
The tender way a husband guides his wife
after years of navigating life together.
The type of bond made stronger
each time it’s forged through fire.
The comfortable embrace that’s been perfected
through years of refusing to let go.
People tell you that you will want to remember your wedding day. That it will fly by and you’ll long to look back at pictures that will help you recall not only the details and what you looked like, but who you were back then. They warn you that your kids will change every day, and the importance of frequently documenting that growth.
You don’t hear nearly often enough, though, that the same can be said of marriage. We’re in it for a lifetime, and that is easily taken for granted. But the years blur and a decade goes by without a warning. Along the way we face challenges and disappointments, as well as triumphs together. Along the way, we continue to grow and change.
And one day, we’re going to want to remember how young we were and who we were back when…
Hugs,
Kel and Mel
