After a few years of  photographing weddings, I thought I was fairly familiar with the wedding process. But I can now say with some degree of certainty that up until two months ago, I really had no idea of the wedding process. Ignorance is bliss, my friends.

Being on this side of things is a little overwhelming. There are deadlines to meet, to do lists to write, decisions to make, tulle to conquer (strike that, this is a tulle-free zone, consider it conquered), flowers to sniff, colors to cross examine, cake to sample (mmm….cake), all within a matter of months.

We have but the skeletal structure of our own wedding in place. The big things, like a date and a venue, have taken shape. And with those things, a season. Autumn. One of my favorite seasons. We will be married this fall in (hopefully) warm, beautiful Colorado fall weather. Dan’s sister has kindly offered to design our invitations, and asked us to find some Colorado autumn photos that she could use for inspiration. I found the above image in my archive. It was a picture I didn’t remember until I stumbled upon it, one that was almost certainly a misfire of the camera, the shutter released by a small nudge as I tromped along. It’s really quite the accidental little frame (the tilted horizon, you see), but the colors are so deliciously warm it made me pause. And it made me happy. Even with all the rambling to-dos pinging around my brain, there’s this tremendous, beautiful thing ahead of us. A transition from one season to another. I can’t wait for this fall when the color of our whole world will change to something new and fantastic. A promise, a commitment, a marriage.

Until then, please help me to remember to pause frequently amidst the chaos and breathe the whole process in.

(Followed closely by sampling some more cake. Actually, let’s start the pause with some cake samples as well. In fact, let’s just never cease sampling cake. Who’s with me?)