Here it is…a shining moment, and also one of my favorite wedding pictures ever.
In this photo you can just see the bride’s forehead and the corner of one eye as I look on, but that’s all you need to tell you how much emotion was in that moment.
At my own wedding, after our kiss, my husband and I hugged…and hugged…and hugged. We didn’t plan it or talk about it; that long embrace was just where we needed to land together.
Since then, at rehearsals I’ve suggested to couples that they can also hug after their kiss: not as a directive, of course, but as encouragement to act on what feels right. Some couples do and some couples don’t, but what I love about a hug is the way an embrace seems to enfold them in a deeply quiet moment—a truly private experience in the midst of all their guests.
When a couple hugs, you can see and feel them turning in to their new union, toward their new togetherness, and know in that moment there resides such fullness of feeling…such joy and gratitude and love and fulfillment.
Whether your wedding day is approaching or you’ve been married 20 years, maybe today you will wrap your arms around your partner, remembering they are your beloved, and return to the connection only the two of you share.
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