This weekend I will be shooting my last wedding of the year - a perfect finale to an incredible year for my business. I'll be writing more about that soon, but what I'm thinking about now is the time this last wedding will bring to my life. After I finish working on all the images from the last few months - and before a new year begins (filled with more incredible people and celebrations) - Peter and I will have some time to plan our wedding. I don't think it has quite hit me yet. In the next few weeks I'll be trying on wedding dresses with friends, which will be strange and fun - and I wonder if I'll begin to get it then.
While photographing weddings Peter and I have commented on parts of a couple's ceremony that we liked, or just a general feeling that we'd like to try and capture, but as far as planning goes not a whole lot has been checked off yet - and we're both fine with how things are progressing so far. We have the place, the date, and the photographers - which all pretty much happened simultaneously. The place and the photographers being the most important elements for us we needed to make sure they could both happen on the same date. So, truth be told, we actually met with our photographers before we were officially engaged...well before our surprise engagement party we had all of the important elements booked.
We'll be figuring out the rest soon, but as I've been told by Rebekah, one of my bride's next year, "planning a wedding doesn't need to be stressful...and as long as we keep perspective on the event we'll come out unscathed." And just like I've always envisioned - it will be a fun party celebrating not only our love for each other, but our love for everyone who is there that day...and a few who will be there in spirit. Although my mom won't be there, I'm incredibly lucky to have some of her closest friends in my life.
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We surprised everyone with our engagement partly to avoid everyone feeling the need to buy us a gift. Don't get me wrong...I love gifts, we just weren't ready to create a registry and send out invitations to an engagement party . We just wanted to celebrate with everyone! So, imagine the excitement when I arrived home a few weeks ago to a box sitting by our door. I waited for Peter to come home to open the box, it being addressed to both of us. Inside we found a beautiful clay dish that my mother's friend Pat and her husband John found at a gallery on the Cape while they were on vacation. The dish now sits on our kitchen table and has held mostly bread (from Clear Flour, of course) and cookies. This plate is our engagement gift - and it is becoming a part our lives - our life together.
The arrival of this plate brought back all of the objects in my home growing up that I came to know as gifts my parents had received for their wedding. One in particular was a wooden bowl. I can't remember who gave it to them, or where it is from, but it became known as the "chip & dip" bowl. It has an area for chips, and an area for dip, and my cousins and I devoured much of both from this bowl growing up. (On my last trip home I looked for the bowl to show you all, but no luck. I'll look again when I go home next month.)
All of this then made me realize that Peter and I will (most likely) have children who will also grow up with certain objects in their lives that they will know as "mom & dad's wedding (or engagement) gifts." This beautiful plate, found on the Cape by two wonderful people, is the first in our collection. I can't even imagine the conversations this plate will hear and the people who it will share bread with. I'm looking forward to it all.
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