The Last Word: Your Innermost Wedding Story

There’s a place inside of each of us where we we feel our most beautiful, thoughtful and brilliant. It is also where we are at our most loving, tender and giving. Regardless of the world we actually live in, this inner place is where we’re meant to be.

In the quiet of this sanctum, we hear our truest voice sharing what I call an inner story: the direction we see ourselves moving toward as we mature into the people we’ve always wanted to be. This inner story is the one we’re so often afraid or hesitant to share with someone else.

I’ve been a floral and event designer for 11 years, and it only occurred to me recently why weddings are so emotionally intense. More than any other occasion in our lives, weddings heighten the urgency to share our inner story. We are at our most everything on this day and so very vulnerable. We eternally promise a list of things specific and personal, trusted and true that give us hope we will live with one another as we do in that single, perfect moment. Weddings are experiences that define the rest of our lives; they tell the story of who we are at the time a new journey begins. Each inner story is unique and therefore dictates a special environment in which to be revealed.

For some of us, our inner story is spotlighted; for others, it’s glowing with moonlight. For others still, candlelight suits it best. Some stories might call for an overflow of family and friends dressed in their very finest, whereas others are best expressed intimately between two people beside a fireplace. Certain stories reach a compromise with a small group gathered at a long feasting table.

This place inside where we are at our most fulfilled could be decorated with lushly appointed candelabras, or perhaps set in a place fragrant with herb topiaries and wreaths. Maybe it’s where we dine elegantly on sushi and fillet or casually pass platters of pasta family style. Maybe we even dig in together on barbecued chicken and mashed potatoes atop red checkered tablecloths.

For some inner stories, a rocking night of revelry tells it best, and for others, a refined evening of classical music sets the perfect scene. Maybe a park at sunset with drums banging out a primal rhythm suits another story to an ideal “T.” But for every single person, one thing remains the same: When we truly listen to our inner stories and let our defenses down, we create a perfect outward place to honor our becoming most content.

Weddings aside, what if we made the resolution to be “at our most” in the everyday? What if we lived out our best intentions -- suiting up in our finest, sharing ourselves with our loved ones, eating our healthiest, creating inspirational spaces to live -- and celebrated the fact that we’re here with the people we love most every day instead of on just one special day?