i love the way weddings bring people together. and i’m not just talking about the bride and groom. i mean families, friends, long-lost cousins.. heck, even wedding crashers! seriously, for what other occasion can you get a couple hundred people to clear their calendars, get off work, make travel arrangements, put on their sunday best, and actually be happy about doing it!? only a wedding. you see it across cultures and across the globe. in the west, it’s all full of romance, which is a perk. but even where brides and grooms first meet to pledge their vows, weddings usually turn into tumultuous uproars of loud celebration. what’s it all about? i think one of the common threads is peace. think about it. we should expect peace when two people share each other’s burdens, practice compromise, and promise security and comfort to one another. a dedicated marriage is a picture of what we want the world to be! what better to celebrate?

no wonder sara and diogo’s wedding was such a spectacular party! quite literally, people traveled across the globe — largely from Brazil — to make much of this incredible couple and the unique pact they were stepping into together. to borrow a line from literature, it was a party of “special magnificence.” they were married in sara’s home church, the rather awe-inspiring peachtree road united methodist, and then carried over the excitement to the beautiful european-inspired ballroom of the piedmont driving club. visually, all the details were a huge treat. but even the architecture and thoughtfully arranged eye-candy weren’t half as sweet to behold as the unquenchable smiling, heartfelt laughter, joyful tears, and every other expression of peace that filled the day. it was good.

congratulations, sara and diogo. parabéns!