Our bargain wedding photography package came with two enlargements, and my husband and I chose one image each. R doesn’t like having photos of himself around the place, much less staged lovey dovey shots of us, so of course he picked the photo that’s practically a Where’s Wally of the bridal couple. It’s like ninety percent greenery, and sixty percent foliage. The greenery isn’t even that green.
This photo hangs in our dining area. We don’t use the dining table much, but occasionally, if I’m eating alone or just need a different workspace to brainstorm or write, I’ll sit there.
It was on one such occasion, as I was having breakfast, that I contemplated the wedding photo my husband had chosen. While it wasn’t the first time I had looked at it, this time I saw it afresh.
It occurred to me that it was fitting, and beautiful in its own way. That we are not the main subject of the photo. That we blend into the background. In that sense, my husband’s favourite photo is a truer representation of our marriage than the other more staged photos. Our union is a small matter relative to the enormity of the world, let alone all of human history or the universe.
Both of us like being in nature and my desire is that together, we would both enjoy and bless the world around us. But quietly so. Neither of us are the kind of people prone to drawing attention to ourselves. We want to have a positive impact on the world but you won’t see us profiled in Time magazine or Forbes as movers and shakers.
The magic and beauty of our love for each other is in many tiny details stitched together over time. Our families and closest friends know something of this, but not the entirety. No photo could do our story justice, however skilled the photographer.
And yes, it could be any couple depicted in that photo. R told me once that we knew the significance of the scene and that’s what mattered. Kind of like our little secret. Now, you’re in on it, too.
PS: Above is my choice. It hangs in the bedroom, away from public view, of course.
Read about my wedding (dress) stress and our COVID-ridden wedding day.
