Marriage is hard. If you're married, you are probably fully aware of this, We all go into it starry eyed and naive, even though everyone has told us isn't always sunshine and rainbows. Marriage is messy. When two imperfect people pledge their lives to each other, things are bound to get that way. And while everyone tells you that marriage is hard, you never really realize how hard it is until you walk through the fire with someone. What no one ever told me though, is that some of the very best times come after you've suffered through something together. When you break a bone, after it heals the part that was broken becomes the strongest part of it. Marriage is a lot like that. Trials come, but knowing that you and your spouse made it through to the other side together, and are stronger for it, is a feeling that no one can prepare you for. Marriage is worth it. It is worth all of it.

That being said, I love vow renewals. LOVE THEM. People change, grow, and mature. And when two people go through all that and decide to reaffirm their love for one another? Well, cue the tears.

Ryan and Mae have such genuine love for one another. Love that comes from accepting another person fully, faults and all. Though they haven't been married long, I think we could all stand to renew our vows to our spouses, be it in a ceremony or daily as we choose to love them no matter what. And this particular vow renewal ceremony was just breathtakingly beautiful, and full of so much love.

After they exchanged vows, they took a piece of paper that had all of their past failures written on it, and burned it as a symbol of a new start, and then released balloons as a symbol of the hope they have for the future.

Plus, Mae MADE her own paper flower bouquet and Ryan's boutonnière out of sheet music and old notes that he had written her over the years. How cool/stinking adorable is that?! SWOON.