Are you ready for this?

Your life together will not be magical.

This love, that you have found, it is real. It is beautiful, and it is raw. It is unedited, ungussied up, undignified and undeniably what the world needs more, more, more of.

But here's the truth: you will be disappointed. You will disappoint. You will be frustrated. You will frustrate. You will wish you could do things your own way again, just this once. You will be angry. Tired. Annoyed.

Hear me out.

So much of a wedding day, and the days leading up to it, is focused on the magic, the charm, the beauty, the... perfection. Damn that word. I'll say it again. Damn perfection. Perfection isn't real.

Do you know what is real? You are. Your love is. The life that you are beginning together is. We, those loved ones that surround you, celebrating this new life, we are real. That feeling in your chest, like your heart may burst out of your body because it can't quite contain your joy, that is real. That is why you're getting married after all.

Isn't it?

Life is not sunshine and rainbows. Marriage is not easy. In fact, it's totally hard. It takes a lot of work, daily. It requires humility, oodles of patience, and just the right amount of stubbornness. And it really sucks sometimes. You know what else? That's totally okay.

Here's another truth: marriage, partnership, whatever you choose to call it, is incredible. It is a powerful force, uniting us, bolstering us as we walk side by side through life. And mixed in with those challenges, there will be so many more highlights. Bright points. Shining joys that, when you are old and gray, will warm your heart and ease your aching bones. Hey, you'll think, as you look back. That was hard. But it was totally worth it.

I am, as always, in love with the life that Andrew and I have been blessed with and have worked our asses off to create together. These thoughts came rumbling into my mind after shooting one of my all time favourite weddings. The 8 of us stood around the archway, just after the ceremony, and we talked candidly about marriage. We talked about how it's incredibly challenging, but absolutely worth the fight. You get my drift.

kisses hugs and unicorn eyelashes,
tasha