This personal project recently published on Utterly Engaged represents so much for me. It’s the story of a marriage–an honest one. It is my story, and it may be your’s too. A great marriage requires an intimacy so deep and raw that it is one of the riskiest commitments you can make. It has potential to be full of rich joy as well as inexpressible heartbreak, and even a good marriage, because it is a combination of two broken people, is a mix of both. I wrote this piece for a dance-inspired wedding styled shoot to represent the beauty and brokenness of marriage. It was thoughtfully designed by my new friend Lara Kreutner of SWAK Events with so many other talented friends on board (listed below). Enjoy, friends!

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Fear. Fear to give of myself and to receive another fully–this is how my marriage journey began. I liken the relationship to a complex dance. Will I leap and fall or will he catch me and be able—no, willing—to hold my weight?

Sometimes we synch into an elegant cadence; intimate, vulnerable, beautiful. 

Other times the steps are awkward and unsure. It takes courage; courage to enter the darkness of our brokenness.  It takes trust; trust that the Light will find us.

There is a Music so rich and utterly pure that guides our way. Sometimes we meet it perfectly, moving along with rhythm and grace; other times we miss it entirely.

There are missed cues that result in falls, with pain as a result. We push through with endurance to find the Music again. There it is. Sometimes it’s quiet and requires stillness to hear. Other times it is loud and clear, joyful and wild. We move to it effortlessly and somehow, find ourselves moving along as one…again

Marriage is a never-ending dance filled with sorrows and celebrations. We are refined as we refine the other; and the Music refines us both as we submit to its rhythm, bringing forth LIFE.

Event Design: Sealed with a Kiss Events | Florals: Sarah’s Garden | Makeup and Hair: Mariana Marie Studio | Calligraphy and Paper Goods: Graceline Art | Dress: Rebecca Schoneveld | Linens: La Tavola | Ribbon: Silk and Willow | Models: Matthew and Rochelle Anvik (Ballet Arizona)