Ali Hormann Photography: January 2016

Partnering with World Relief // #MarriedForGood

I have long believed that the kind of self-sacrificial love that marriage entails is exactly the kind of love that will change the world. I truly believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that marriage is the hardest and best work anyone will ever love to do. And in that, I believe that if you're in it for the hard work I'm here to work hard for you and with you and for the world that we all share.

A few years ago I started feeling the pull that I needed to do something more with my business and this year that something became perfectly clear as I struggled with the reality of the refugee crisis in the world and the close to home reality of it in King County. Did you know:

5% of all refugees in the United States are resettled in King County,
9% are children under age 3, just like my boys.
16% are children under age 5.
This year the United States is accepting 85,000 refugees from around the world.
Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their home country and who are unable to return because they are at risk for persecution due to race, nationality, religion or membership in a political social group or political opinion.

When these people flee their homes it means they are leaving behind everything they've worked their lives to build. I means they no longer have a place to call home, let alone the things that make a house feel like home. But there is hope. That's why I'm excited to announce that this year Ali Hormann Photography is partnering with World Relief and their refugee resettlement program here in King County.

How are we partnering? Initially, in honor of each of the weddings I shoot in 2016, a donation will be made to World Relief in the amount needed to outfit a kitchen for a refugee family. I thought since each couple gets to register for kitchen supplies, it be only fitting that their love make it possible for others to eat and cook and have time together.

I am convinced that marriages are about connecting to something greater than ourselves. And if we want our marriages to not only last but thrive, we need to connect with the love in the world. As my incredibly wise husband often says, marriage doesn't happen in a vacuum.

Because at the end of the day, if all you walk away from your wedding day with are some lovely images I have failed you. I want all my couples to know that their marriage makes a difference and that good marriages are the difference the world needs. The world is desperate for people to put true love above money or things or status or the number of "likes" on this post.

I am calling this movement #MarriedForGood. It will include blog posts about what World Relief is doing and how you can partner with them. There will be articles on marriage and the wisdom that has been imparted to my husband and myself over the years, advice we've been blessed to pass on to other couples. There will, hopefully, even be a chance for my couples to gather together and talk about marriage over a weekend getaway. Because, I truthfully think that my couples would all be really great friends.

I am hoping to use it as a way to encourage couples to do more with their wedding budgets and their big dreams. I am hoping to bring light to the real need in our own neighborhoods and trust that families who have lost everything can feel as safe in their new cities as you do in your spouse's arms. As members of humanity we are called to care for each other and I am fortunate to work with people who welcome me in with open arms. I pray you can welcome in these families, the team at World Relief and the next 70 years of your marriage with the same openness.

So if you're goal is a marriage that makes the world a better place, join myself, my couples and World Relief in being #MarriedForGood.

I hope to have a camera by my side at your 25th and 40th wedding anniversaries and then I will join you at your 50th but I think I might retire by then.

In the future, I hope that the remarkable team at World Relief Seattle and I can dream up all kinds of good in the world and that we can invite everyone to join in.

I hope you're with me.

With hope, grace, peace and a whole lotta love,

Ali & Fam