If there ever was a blog post that mattered to me, this would be it.
If there ever was a blog post that I was intimidated to write, this would also be it.
For so long, I’ve tossed around the idea in my head of writing a really heartfelt note on this topic to future brides and engaged girls, and I just haven’t done it yet. Why? I’m not 100% sure. But today, I want to finally share my heart with you future Mrs’s out there. Here we go, ladies!
First of all, let me start here: I get it. The very moment Luke and I got engaged, I understood all the feelings our brides must have been feeling during this season of life! ????
After you can finally squeak out a shaky “YES!” to that question when your guy is down on one knee, reality doesn’t sink in for a while. You stare at the new sparkle on your left hand all the time, the Knot’s app is quickly downloaded on your phone, you go all Pinterest-happy, and most of all, you know you’ve never been happier in your whole life. You catch yourself feeling stunned that you, you, get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend, and it about makes you tear up each and every time.
Then, at some point, you become a little overwhelmed at all the tasks and decisions that go into planning a wedding. This is so normal… weddings are NO small task! Eventually, you get through those months of selecting your bridal party, deciding on your color scheme and theme, saying yes to that dress, and carefully choosing the vendors who have such an incremental role in your wedding. All of a sudden, after all those days of waiting, planning details, and checking your countdown app, you’re sitting at your rehearsal dinner, and it hits you: That best day ever is tomorrow.
That’s where I want to step in and whisper something to you and to your heart today: love well on your wedding day. I personally know and understand how crazy being engaged, planning a wedding, and ultimately living through a wedding day is. But when you wake up and realize it’s your last day waking up as a “Miss,” that you’re about to have every single person you love most in the world in ONE ROOM in just a few hours, and that you are committing to a lifetime of loving and serving the love of your life with everything you have…
Decide to love well on your wedding day.
We’ve shot so many weddings now that I believe we’ve almost seen it all. 😉 And what I admire above anything else in our C&L brides is the way that they carry themselves, handle situations, and walk through their wedding days. It never ceases to blow me away.
I watch as our brides look their bridesmaids in the eye and tell them how gorgeous they look in their bridesmaids dresses. I see the long letters they have written to their parents and their future in-laws. I witness our brides gifting their parents with carefully selected items designed for them to remember their girl’s wedding day.
Most impressively, I watch as things beyond our brides’ control go wrong. Maybe the flowers arrive late, dress zippers get caught, something tears or shatters or spills, bugs get inside the tulle of their wedding gowns, and others involved in the wedding day panic about situations. But it warms my heart to see our brides just smile and say that it’s okay, and that all that matters is that they’re getting married today.
Our brides think of others before themselves on a day that culture says is supposed to be all about the bride. Our brides are NOT the center of their own wedding days… their marriage and their love is. And they invest every possible moment on their wedding day in making sure other people are happy and comfortable and feel loved.
My encouragement to you brides-to-be is to try your hardest to do the same on your wedding day. Even if your flowers arrive late, a dress zipper gets caught, bugs get stuck inside the tulle of your gown (it will happen), and everyone around you thinks this means you should panic: love people well on your wedding day. You won’t regret it.
