When Your Proposal Isn't Picture Perfect
/CARISSA PLUTA
It seems like there is a lot of pressure nowadays on the proposal to be just as photo-worthy as the wedding itself.
PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURENTINA PHOTOGRAPHY
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love seeing photos from that special moment and the story attached to it. I love hearing about how he asked, and I love celebrating the couple’s love for one another.
But I also know the temptation to compare your story to someone else’s can sometimes feel overwhelming.
My husband asked me to marry him while sitting on a bench in a graveyard (yes, a graveyard). Without any fanfare or extra words, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
I had seen the proposal coming from a mile away so I didn’t gasp like you see in the movies, and I barely cried. My answer was simple and straightforward.
We didn’t go home to a huge party with all of our loved ones, instead we went home to get ready for work.
And while I wouldn’t have changed a thing about our proposal, I was tempted to wish it was a more glamorous tale whenever another engagement announcement popped up on my news feed.
Thanks to social media, it is far too easy to feel discontent when your life and your relationships don’t fit perfectly into those curated little squares.
Maybe you dreamed about that moment since you were in high school and set unrealistic expectations that your finance could never live up to. Or something about it fell short of what you hoped for.
Maybe, it was quieter. And maybe, that bothers you a bit when you scroll through your feed.
But your proposal story (or your wedding for that matter) doesn’t define your marriage. The highlights reel doesn’t make up for all the messy or hidden moments that purifies and strengthens a couple.
The private and intimate moments throughout your life contain a sweetness that a quick shot on your iPhone can never contain.
Don’t give into the lies sowed by comparison and discontentment.
Whether it began on a gorgeous, picturesque mountain top with a photographer or in the summer stillness known firsthand only to you and God, your season of engagement will see many of these hidden moments.
Profound moments of growth and change, sorrow and beauty, joy and forgiveness--this is where you’ll find yourself becoming the person you were meant to be.
And in these moments, God dwells.
