2020

Hello friends. It’s been a while. In a year that was a seismic shift, blogging every week, just like before, didn’t feel warranted. There were bigger things to do, more important discussions to be had, more severe realities to tend to, and more life to live outside of a computer screen.

We survived 2020. For that we are grateful. Our lungs still breathe oxygen in and out on their own, and our business is as strong as ever. We are more than grateful, truly.

And so here we are, at the close of a calendar year with hearts full of hope, and minds still reeling from the last 10 months. The end of 2020. The clock will strike midnight, a new year will begin, and the reality of our lives will remain the same. There will be no seismic shift back at midnight. Nor should there be.

If the experiences of this year have reminded us of anything, it’s that the cadence of our lives should not be measured in years. 2021 won’t change anything. The way we view our lives will change everything. None of us need a new year on the calendar to feel the hope of a new day. We need only to wake up, and begin. In 2020, we muscled up the strength to find the little joys in every day. It’s not always easy. Some days it’s awfully hard. But we do it anyway. 2020 really strengthened those muscles.

The days of 2020 have been incredibly difficult for many people. The days of 2020 were perhaps, the most trying days many of us have ever experienced. We’re not here to downplay the tragic, heartbreaking days of the last year. That’s not our place. We too have experienced heartbreak in the days of 2020, and that pain and hurting deserves to be recognized.

So does the joy.

So where did we find joy in the days of 2020?

We learned to rest. To physically, sit down, be still, and rest. This is not something we had properly done for 10 years, and we mean that. The shut downs, the rescheduled weddings… this forced us to literally, physically be still. We needed it. We had no idea, but we absolutely needed rest.

We found a calmness in less. Less spending, less stuff, less waste, less clutter, less pressure, less impact.

We deepened our gratitude. Gratitude for being 10 years into this business, established, financially stable, and capable of weathering this storm. Gratitude for our ability to work from home, not only ourselves but also our spouses, brothers, and children. For that we are so incredibly grateful. Grateful for Maggie’s decision to homeschool 3 years ago. What seemed to be the hardest change for many working parents was something we had worked through years ago.

We found joy in a new baby! Caroline Jayne Mudd came into this world during the pandemic, and the days since her birth have been sweeter ever since.

We grew into new hobbies, new interests, and deepened our passions. Betty spent her free time working tirelessly with social justice organizations and political grass roots groups. Maggie had never run a mile before, but put on running shoes one day in April and now she runs a half marathon every weekend.

We found clarity and peace in the affirmation that family means everything. Something we’ve known forever, but this year really made it more clear than ever.

We found hope every single time one of our couples chose us again and again. Out of 32 weddings, 25 were rescheduled to next year. Twenty-five. We’re amazed at how smoothly we were able to rearrange schedules, and ensure that we will still have the privilege of working with every single one of those 25 couples. There is so much hope for the days ahead!

And the most astoundingly joyful thing we found this year? Love. Love was everywhere, everyday. We saw it in the couples who loved the idea of a big open dance floor enough to postpone their wedding plans. The couples who know that their love will last through these hard days of 2020, and were willing to wait for their big days. We saw it in the couples who just wanted to be married, who also knew their love would last but just couldn’t wait any longer to be a married couple. We saw love everywhere.

So when the clock strikes midnight, we know nothing will change. The seismic shift has to happen within us. Tomorrow we’ll wake up, the calendar will say 2021, but our hearts and minds will continue to grow each and every day just as they did in the days of 2020. We’ll find the joy, we’ll live through the heartache, and then find the joy again.

May your days be filled with love and light, no matter the year.

Now sing along with us as we indulge our Scottish hearts… “we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for days of auld lang syne!”

P.S. We have a series of 2020 recap blog posts coming your way! Plus an entire post with our thoughts on small, mini, and micro weddings and how much we have come to love them. Look for that topic specific post soon! Plus we’ll recap our engagement session favorites from 2020 as well! Stay tuned. Much to come.