Chicago Wedding Photographer » On Marriage

All things EJP

I’ve been thinking a lot about marriage recently. Well, this is probably true all the time but anyway. I am so blessed to be able to work with a lot of couples who are preparing for marriage. And couples who are excited to be married. Couples who, like my darling bride Hollyn commented yesterday on A Practical Wedding “are having a wedding because they’re getting married. Not the other way around.” (YES!!!)

Marriage is such a beautiful institution. I read this amazing quote yesterday on my friend Kristine’s blog.

We have been so preoccupied with divorce and crisis in the American family that we have failed to notice the good marriages that are all around us and from which we can learn. In today’s world it’s easy to become overwhelmed by problems that seem to have no solution. But we can shape our lives at home, including our relationships with our children and marriage itself. The home is the one place where we have the potential to create a world that is to our own liking; it is the last place where we should feel despair. As never before in history, men and women today are free to design the kind of marriage they want, with their own rules and expectations.

-Judith Wallerstein & Sandra Blakeslee, The Good Marriage

Kristine goes on to talk about how “There is no singular definition of marriage–it is personal, idiosyncratic, and intimate. My marriage means something different to me than your marriage means to you. That is the mystery of this institution. It is why it has lasted for centuries (because it’s adaptable and flexible), it is why it’s just as appealing today as it was thousands of years ago, and it is why it will continue to change (and yet remain the same) in the future.”

Brilliant, right? But as is true with any living thing (or relationship) you have to feed your marriage, or it will suffer. Quality time is high up on the list of both Wil’s and my love languages. Remembering this lesson is something we will have to do over and over. Like I said at the beginning of my video…the best parts of my day are the parts we get to spend together. Since we are both workaholics, quality time is sometimes hard to get (really it just doesn’t happen on its own). But I am really excited to say that we’ve both committed to carving out four whole days next weekend (my last free weekend until the middle of October) to go on a trip together. This will be the first trip since our honeymoon that isn’t for a wedding or to see or stay with family. I literally cannot wait. Wil and I exchanging rings :-D picture from Arlina Rose Photography