perspective

we had some down-time on a photo shoot yesterday and i was chatting with one of my coworkers while we waited for things to start again. he's getting married in november, so the conversation naturally turned to weddings. he started in on how expensive everything is, how hard it's been to keep the costs down, but how much they've been trying to. they're in the process of buying a home so saving on the wedding was important. i was agreeing whole-heartedly, saying we're in the same position, until he casually mentioned two things. 1: the amount of money they've ended up spending, 2: the fact that they are not able to get the house they wanted because of it.

now i understand everyone has different priorities, and some people just have more money to spend. i don't think one can set some magic number that everyone should try to spend on a wedding. but the closer we get to our wedding day (we're at 9 days! it's finally a single digit number :) the more i realize that it is just one day. it doesn't have to be the-most-wonderful-day-of-my-life, though i'm sure it will be amazing. i don't have to look the-most-beautiful-i-will-ever-be, though of course i will put some effort into my appearance. most importantly, it shouldn't be a day that negatively effects our plans for the future. it should be a day that prepares us for our future. together. surrounded by our families and the people we love.

i guess what i'm trying to say is, my conversation yesterday made me so grateful for all the decisions we've made this past year. for the wisdom that our parents have given us. for the ability to focus on the things that last. because as amazing as our wedding is going to be, our marriage and our life together is the real goal of the day. i never realized until yesterday how easily one could lose sight of that.

so, thank you. to our parents, to our pastor and the great counsel he's provided, and to everyone else who's helped us remain grounded as we've planned for this day. we're ready.