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Portraits Of Boston: Marriage Itself

“I’m getting married at the end of the month, but marriage itself doesn’t mean anything to him or me. People ask us, ‘Are you excited for this next step?’ but to us, it’s not another step. We’re doing it because it makes sense legally, but it’s not going to change anything for us. We’re not even doing our own vows — there’s nothing we’ll say on our wedding day that we haven’t already said. I tell people that we’re so committed to each other that there isn’t any ‘next level’ for our commitment, but people say, ‘Oh, things will change. You’ll see.’ I find that very condescending.”

“Do you have any other reasons for getting married besides the legal ones?”

“I also think it’s the best way to communicate to people what we are. I always struggled with words and didn’t know what to call him. I never liked calling him my ‘boyfriend’ because it sounds a little juvenile, and I don’t like ‘fiancée’, either. For a long time I didn’t think I would like the word ‘husband' — it sounds stale and traditional. But now I’m excited to call him my husband.”


Portraits of Boston is a project of independent photographer Ivan Velinov. He is regularly sharing some of his favorite portraits with WBUR. Visit his website to see the hundreds of portraits he has taken on the streets of Boston.

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