With only six months until my wedding day, I must say, I am pretty damn excited. The dress is ordered, the rings have been picked out and the hotel is confirmed. I still remember the sweet words of the wedding coordinator, ”Just show up and look fabulous.” As I reflect on the many years my fiancée and I have spent together, none are as precious as these last few months—the anticipation and jitters I get each day waking up next to the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
Photo from Cap Maison in St. Lucia capmaison.com
Jagged Edge, an R&B group in the 90s, made a song entitled, “Let’s Get Married.” The chorus went like this: “Meet me at the altar in your white dress. We ain’t gettin’ no younger we might as well do it. Been feelin’ you all the while girl and I must confess, let’s get married.”
My sentiments exactly, I am ready to do this! In the words of Jagged Edge, I am ready to “take this chance to make our love feel relevant.”
Okay, back to the blog, marriage is a great social institution in which two people come together as one in matrimony. And yes, many have added under the eyes of God, or a religious sacramental ceremony. But the fact of the matter is marriage is a unification of two people vowed to spend the rest of their natural-born lives together. That’s music! When two people can stand up amongst all their peers and vow to be together forever, forever and ever, big props for believing in the institution of love. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you reside on, love is patient, kind and does not envy, boast or is too proud. An old proverb says hatred stirs up dissention, but love covers up all wrongs.
I look forward to making our love relevant, spending the rest of my life with my fiancée through patience and kindness and never being too proud to say I love you! After all, there are a lot of wrongs in my life to be covered, right?
And not to detract from the importance of marriage with a bunch of marketing talk, but I think the reason that the institution of marriage has stayed so important—why some people spend a year planning their wedding and thousands of dollars on one day, why people are still fighting for the right to get married—is that marriage is such a clear, powerful statement. Get married, and you’re saying, “I love you and want to be with you always—even though I can’t predict what will come, I want to experience it all with you.” Isn’t that what we’re always trying to create: simple, strong statements that resonate?
Photo from Cap Maision in St. Lucia capmaison.com
The simple, powerful message of marriage is also why we decided to go with a destination wedding—a dream wedding on an island with room service and a balcony overlooking the ocean. Marriage doesn’t need all the bells, whistles and huge guest lists—just the two of us and our commitment is a clear, moving statement all on its own.
So we wake up one morning and decide we want a destination wedding. We discussed all of our must-haves and enlisted Jennifer Yokum with Say Hi to Everyone to turn our dream into reality. It took her a week to find Cap Maison in St. Lucia. We both fell in love all over again….with St. Lucia and Jennifer, our family has doubled! A fairy tale wedding in a botanical garden with an ocean backdrop…..ohhhhhh….the finer things in life! No stress on our backs, we are looking forward to showing up and being fabulous. However, most importantly, we are ecstatic about spending the rest of our lives together.
I love you honey……let’s get married!
