Getting Married in a Garden

As a young girl, I often imagined unlocking a secret garden, must like the one I read about in the novel and the necklace with the tiny golden key I received for my 7th birthday. In our backyard, I would step through our little garden, picking flowers and pretending it was a secret space that only I knew about - a space where anything beyond the ordinary could happen. 

Our family grew-up with bike rides and field trips and photos through the Chicago Botanic Garden. In high school, I worked beside a florist who adorned the aisles and tables of weddings in the garden and I would occasionally get lost in my own wedding dreams upon the tree-lined promenade. Upon moving out to San Diego and discovering a botanic garden here - a mile from the ocean and central to my favorite little North County town of Encinitas - I couldn't help but "put out some feelers" when Ben and I started talking marriage. 

Perhaps for these reasons combined - and the fact that Ben and I fell in love over sunsets, camping, and the beach - our first visit to the garden revealed it was the spot for us. The intimate space of the Walled Garden feels like it's reserved only for soft-spoken vows and the commitment of one's life to another. Surrounded by nature and 150 of our closest people, declaring our lives merging into one, only seems right in the environment of the garden. And to throw a party under the stars feels like it will be the most magical of evenings. Elegant, classy, romantic - these are the words I think of when I think about our wedding.

Just a few weekends away and we will finally be married! When I wonder if I should be "doing more" for the wedding these days, I remember that simplicity is key. Of course I want our wedding to be beautiful, but I also want it to be stripped down of the typical wedding frills so that only the raw + genuine love of Ben and I will be seen to the people we love. And that is what I am looking forward to most: the beginning of our journey ushered in alongside our favorite people. To celebrate what God has brought together and to mark the start of a daily commitment to this man He has given me... that's what it's all about. February 18th: we are coming for you!