I was going through my old email account today and deleting emails when I came across my wedding speech. We didn't have speeches at the party, but when most people had left and it was a close group of friends left, we did a bit of a 'speech circle'. I was the only one with a prepared speech and our friend, T tried to get the whole restaurant to listen. Lucky he wasn't successful. How embarrassing!
"Not many brides give a speech on their wedding day….or engagement party day as the case may be, but since we are obviously not ones for tradition, here goes.
Firstly, I want to ask for the forgiveness of those who we lied to and who thought they were coming to an engagement party. Well, the original plan was for this to be an engagement party until one day I decided I didn’t want to plan a wedding and so here you are today – at our surprise reception. Steve and I always intended to have a small, intimate wedding and we thought by doing it this way you would all still be able to celebrate with us, rather than just see photos on facebook of a Vegas wedding.
The lies I have told should have seen my nose as big as Pinocchio’s, but who am I kidding – it’s almost there anyway!
Secondly, while you couldn’t all be there to see me marry my new husband this morning, I am so honoured and grateful to have you all here to celebrate with us this afternoon. It means a lot to us that you could travel her and give us your time today. Some of you have been on our journey from the very beginning and some of you have hopped on along the way, but whatever your part is in our story, we’re happy to have you here and thank you for helping us to celebrate.
Now let’s take it back 7 years to where it all began. Being the shy 17 year old I was, after we had met through friends and Steve had shown an interest, I came up with as many excuses as possible to avoid going on a date. There were two reasons for this: 1 – I was scared of telling my Mum a boy was interested in me and 2 – I was too shy to go on a date.
Persistent as he was, Steve never gave up and eventually I agreed to see a movie with him where I proceeded to tell him my life story over a hot chocolate. If you know me well (and most of you do), you will know that I go red in just about any circumstance, with the first date being no exception. Sitting there with my red chest and red face I was busy explaining that my seat belt had given me a rash while Steve was probably nodding his head thinking whattt?
In those early days of our relationship, I was drawn to Steve’s charming nature and good looks as well as his ambition, drive and determination. 7 years later and I can confirm he has only become more determined, more charming, more ambitious and more good looking and these qualities bring a lot to the foundations that our marriage will be built upon.
One thing most people know well about Steve is that he never gives up. Whether it be study, work, a project he is working on, or beating Tim in tennis - he will work hard to see it through. Steve has adopted the same values in our relationship and through our ups and downs, he has never given up.
As I stand here today, I am proud to call you my Husband, Steve. You have encouraged me when I thought I was not good enough, you have been there when I have been down, you have been there when I have been happy. You have stood up for me, you have trusted me and you have never ever put me down.
Steve, I can’t wait for us to begin life as a married couple, but also to continue living life as we have. My hope is for our marriage to be full of love, adventure, encouragement, support, teamwork and the occasional matching outfit (not on purpose of course).
I hope you have all recovered from the surprise we gave you and I would love if you could raise your glass to toast my new husband, Steve".
