in a nutshell, men and women hire me to capture their love. that’s what i do. i try to find and capture love between two human beings in one single moment.
its pretty interesting (i’m ridiculously intrigued as the psychological side of relationships) how love looks as a child when you are handing out candy and cards in elementary school, how love looks as a single lady (gentleman), how love looks as a head-over-heels-in-love engaged woman (man) and how love looks as a married woman (man).
as i share some of my favorite romantic in-between moments that i captured during past shoots, i wanted to pose a question to whomever was willing to answer:
how has marriage changed your views on what it means to love someone?
“As a child love & marriage seemed imaginary, something you watched in a Disney movie. I didn’t know what love & marriage would mean when I grew up. Marriage changed my view on love in the sense that it became real and no longer imaginary. It’s a bond with a person who knows me better than I know myself. A choice, to share all the good and bad in me with another.”
Krista Leigh Hurst, Pennsylvania
“To love someone means choosing them. That love is a choice. It’s something that I knew about before marriage, but until you’re in it don’t realize the depths (read: difficulty) of it. Sometimes those choices are easy. Sometimes they’re hard, but I’ve noticed that thus far they are always rewarding and give a sense of accomplishment that I didn’t know existed pre-marriage.”
Samantha, Davis, California
“Marriage has changed my views on what it means to love someone because now I constantly have someone else to think not just myself. I love my husband more than anything. I would die for my husband. He is my everything, he will always be my valentine no matter if its a holiday or not.” Chyenne, Jellico, Tennessee
“Marriage has taught me that love is a commitment. It is a conscious choice to put someone’s feelings and concerns in mind when living life. When things are hard, we choose to work through it together as a team and when things are awesome, we get the joy of celebrating together.”
Haylee, Central California
“Marriage has taught me, through love, what unconditional forgiveness and what reconciliation looks like. No matter what conditions happen in life, you always have a partner who can share in the joy and the pain. Being married has taught me how to put someone else before me and, in that way, shows true love.”
Jason, Central California
“We fall more and more in love with each other on a daily basis. We never knew what the feeling was to sacrifice everything for one person, now we do. Every day we look forward to see what we can learn about each other and learn from each other about love.”
James & Jenn Smith, Colorado
“It may sound simple but I feel like marriage is teaching me to be more considerate of not only my husband but also to others. We spend so much of our lives on ourselves and the me me me principle- this relationship with my spouse made me realize its about us. It has taught me that love is about teamwork as well…It means sometimes not everything will be perfect right away, and it probably never will which makes it an adventure that’s rewarding and somewhat frustrating too. I guess that’s the for better or worse right?”
Lisa, Lomita, California
“It has made me learn to speak a different love language than my own. And love isn’t just an emotion, it’s hard work, commitment and so much fun. :)”
Rachel, Independence, Missouri
“It’s showed me that true love, proper love – is unconditional. My husband’s love for me knows no bounds and my love for him is limitless. Seeing the changes we’ve gone through and what we will still experience leads to believe in this truth even more and I am so happy and excited to see where our love takes us.”
Julie, Dallas, Texas
“I always thought being married would make me happy, but I’ve come to realize that it makes me want to make my husband happy. I look for ways to make him smile because at the end of the day he is everything I could ever need. I had always been very independent and didn’t think I needed a man to take care of me, but it has been such a blessing to submit to my husband and lean on him. I find comfort in knowing his arms will always protect me, his hand will always hold mine, and that his heart will always carry my heart.”
Megan, Virginia Beach, VA
Being married has shown me that love is a fluid thing. It changes with each of you and with circumstances. Sometimes it means doing the dishes and other times it means holding your spouse while they grieve. Marriage has shown me the depths of love that I could feel and that another could feel for me and has given me the chance to grow and learn to love more selflessly.
Kalley, California
“To love someone means that you always put that other person first. Loving goes beyond the initial butterflies & romance. It’s knowing that without that person in your life, you would not be the person you are today or the person God is molding you to become, with their support & love-together. It’s knowing that no matter what trials or joys you experience throughout your life, you always have someone to share them with and to hold your hand.”
Linda, Yorba Linda, California
“Being married for 4 months has taught me that love flourishes when you have a “how can I be a blessing to my spouse today? How can I be praying for them today? How can I take some of their burden?” mentality. When you stop focusing on what love isn’t, and let God work in you, love is.”
Jennefer
listening to: my love by celine dion
Such a special post. Thank you for sharing 🙂
what a beautiful blog Bethany..you could not have picked a better day to post this <3