If you’ve been around a while, you may have seen our Marriage Monday blog posts. This is something that started as a desire to share more about our own marriage and things we are learning. It turned into a desire to pour into other marriages!

We are passionate about photographing couples and weddings, of course. But we care even more about thriving marriages. We are here for our brides and grooms beyond the wedding day and we are cheering for your marriage! That’s why we have decided to start a blog series in an interview format this year called Marriage Stories. We will post every other week on Marriage Monday with an interview from couples that we look up to as well as our recent wedding clients. We will still be writing and sharing every other week about our own marriage too. 

So without further ado, here is the first marriage story! My sister Kristy and her husband Eric! We hope that you enjoy and are encouraged and inspired in your own marriage!

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How long have you been married?
5 years

Do you have children or grandkids? How many?
1 daughter, Charlotte Ruth

Tell us your love story!
We originally met in high school in band and shared a lot of friends. After high school we continued to be friends during college for a couple of years then fell out of touch. After college we both ended up back in Columbia, SC where we reconnected at a friend’s birthday party. A few short months later we were engaged and the rest as they say is history.

What’s your favorite wedding day memory?
The reception is our favorite memory. Everyone was dancing with the band all night and enjoying the food. It was a true celebration with family and friends.

Have you had challenges in your marriage? How have you overcome them? 
We initially had some teamwork struggles, specifically helping each other get things ready in the morning in order to get out the door. For instance making lunches, filling water bottles or coffee cups, getting things in the car. We overcame this through communication with each other about what our needs were and being consistent until we were able to anticipate what needed to be done. We also struggled financially early on. Kristy was in grad school pursuing her MSN, unable to work full time and like many in our generation we had a mountain of debt. Student loans, credit cards, car payments, etc. Through teamwork, communication, and Dave Ramsey, we were able to form a plan and work together to overcome those debts.

What have been some great joys of your marriage?
Getting to travel together, experience new things such as shag dancing, making new friends, and growing together as a family.

What is one thing that you’ve learned from marriage?
Marriage should reflect Christ’s love for the church as well as the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. From being married we have learned how to better show these traits in our everyday lives.

What’s your best piece of advice for newlyweds?
Communicate with your spouse. Have a “tech free” time each evening, date your spouse regularly, meet with a marriage counselor or pastor not because things are going poorly but to keep them going well, take advice from people who are older or that have been married for longer than you have.

Anything else you would like to add?
Teamwork makes the dreamwork!