Perfect.  Perfect is not a word that I like very much.  Growing up, I was the absolute worst of perfectionists and it seemed to haunt me at every turn.  My room always needed to be perfectly clean…my hair always had to be perfectly in place…my handwriting always had to be perfectly, well…perfect.  And frankly, it’s exhausting!  As Anne Wilson Schaef once wrote, “perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order”, and I couldn’t agree more!

Due to my rather bumpy history with this particular word, I’ve become hesitant to use it much in the present.  I’ve learned that progression is much more friendly approach to life than perfection and I’ve done my best to accept my perpetually imperfect ways!  It hasn’t been easy – especially when it comes to my craft – but it too, is a work a progress.

In the midst of learning how to let things be beautifully flawed, I’ve also come to have a great appreciation for things that simply can’t get any better {see what I did there?!?!  I didn’t actually use the word perfect…but I kind of implied it!  I can be sort of sneaky that way!!!!}.  They are rare but they are wonderful when they happen and in those moments, you have to just stop…take a deep breath…and take it all in.

When I drove the stretch of highway between Tilbury and Kitchener on the morning of Ileana and Ryan’s wedding, I remember feeling that way.  The world was only just waking up at that time and the sun was peaking just over the horizon.  It was warm.  Unusually warm for the beginning of October and all of the dew on the neighboring fields was glistening in the soft light.  Even then I knew.  I could just feel it.  Kind of like the way you feel on Christmas Eve or the night before you fly to Disney World…you just know that something amazing is about to happen.

And that excitement and anticipation is how I will forever remember their wedding day.  The bride and groom were radiant.  The wedding party was hilarious.  The light was – for lack of a better word – spectacular.  We coasted through what can only be considered a flawless day.  Or maybe I should just come out say it…a perfect day!  Because while I find perfection an awfully difficult standard to live up to, it’s just like I said…the moments do happen…moments when you wouldn’t change a thing.  And when they do, you just have to hold on to them and enjoy them while they last.

Ileana and Ryan, thank you!  Thank you a million times over for bringing me a day that will always make my heart happy just thinking about it.  Thank you for bringing me all that way so that I could share in this beautiful time in your lives and thank you for being the amazing couple on the other end of a truly perfect day!

I hope that these pictures help us all to hold on to it just a little bit longer…