we are husband & wife.

it's been one month since we got married.

what an amazing time - what an amazing day. it truly couldn’t have been more exceptional. i am so proud of the sacred space that alex & i created for our family to rejoice in. it was the essence of everything we believe in, and that was the goal of the day. to create an environment that showcases the ethos that we have built our life on.

we spent the week leading up to the wedding preparing the venue for our event, which became an incredible experience of bonding and teamwork for us. we rearranged, cleared, cleaned, and decorated alongside the owner of the schoolhouse. this time together, despite being an untraditional way to spend it, was a great way for alex and i to mentally prepare ourselves for the wedding. we loved seeing our vision come to life in the moment, and in many ways this felt like the purest and most genuine expression of our relationship and of our future goals. it felt like a small preview into the future, which gave me so much joy, hope, and excitement.

leading up to the day, we naturally received plenty of unsolicited advice from family, friends, and strangers about the wedding day. a few of our most notable favorites were:

-“don’t say too much and if someone asks how you are, say you’re very happy”

-“don’t lose your husband. if he wanders off you won’t see him for the rest of the wedding”

-“find some time to step back and take a mental snapshot. It goes by so fast and memories can become a blur, so try and take a mental picture in really special or important moments”

-"don’t get drunk“

overall, the day was a wild experience of being so present that sometimes it felt like i wasn’t there at all. when we were out taking photos, we looked at each other and said “are you even here right now?” it was a whirlwind of joy and sacred moments, of love being shared freely, and tears of happiness shed openly.

i also realized that rare is a day when we experience so many emotions and when we feel so truly and deeply touched by others. alex talked in his toast about how rare ceremony and sacred markers are in our current western society. we don’t celebrate much these days, and big life events are about the only excuse that families spread apart by miles have to come together. but it is events like these that serve as such a poignant reminder that, whether you are with your blood relatives or chosen tribe of friends, at a casual get together or a formal family affair, there is no greater joy than being surrounded by those that know you and love you.

togetherness is the core of happiness, and it is a privilege, blessing, and commandment to rejoice with others for sharing in others’ joy brings as much happiness as basking in one’s own. togetherness is what brings hope in darkness, and what elevates joy in happy times. the sense of community at our wedding is something that will stay with me. there is an understanding of openness and non-judgment; everyone talks to one another. people are themselves, without inhibitions - they feel safe to dance, to cry, to laugh - and, ultimately, be their highest selves. everyone brought their pure joy and essence to our day - they showed up in their fullest and full of life. the whole day buzzed with this untainted vitality and almost a sense of innocence - as if we had created a bubble to block out the rest of the world. what a holy space for 62 people to share.

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one month in, we talked about what we have learned in our four weeks of marriage. we both agreed that, above everything else, we feel a heightened gratitude for one another. there is a certain fortitude that lives between us that didn't previously exist. we have known for a long time that we would get married, so i don't believe that it's necessarily the declared permanence of it that created this feeling. but there has been a shift - a certain new comfort felt within each other's presence - that was not previously there. living through the wedding itself - an event that encapsulated everything that we want our life to be - emphasized our unity in a way that we had not previously experienced. it's hard to believe that one event can shift anything between two people so cemented to one another, but we are always intrigued by new experiences and new "levels" - and being married certainly has been both of those.

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