Weddingbee Blog

After dinner, it was time for some speeches. I know speeches at weddings often get a bad rap, but I was happy to find that at our wedding they produced some of the funniest moments of the night. My dad went first. He started off by saying that not just two countries (New Zealand and America) are united in Mr E’s and my marriage, but practically a whole united nations comes together. Between the two of us, our cultural heritages include German, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, Shetland Islander, Portuguese, Cherokee, Gypsy, French, and rumors of African. Not to mention that we both grew up in Indonesia! What my dad was trying to say by all this is that our children will be mutts.

He also mentioned that I “caught him off guard” when I began dating Mr E when I was 17. Because of that, my younger sisters are going to be off limits until they are 30 (he was kidding…mostly ).

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Dad thought Mr E might also benefit from knowing something about my notorious travelling habits: “Be prepared to travel light. No matter what your combined luggage allowance is, Mrs E will use all of it. If you are extra good, she might let you have a few kilos.” Pfft. If he is lucky! I sometimes say that I married him for his suitcase space…

Next up to speak was my sister, the maid of honour.

(guest photo)

MOH spoke beautifully. She is only 17, but her speech could have easily come out of the mouth of a thirty year old. I was so proud of her; she made an incredible maid of honour despite being so young. My sisters and I have always been good friends, and when Mr E came along, he fast became like a (much teased, but loved) older brother to all my siblings. I am very blessed by that.

You might remember that Mr E’s best man, who is also his older brother, couldn’t make it to the wedding. So instead he wrote a speech for Mr E’s honorary best man, Sam, to read. That smile that Sam was wearing as he read looks innocent enough…but it wasn’t. This was Mr E’s reaction to part of the speech:

Yup. It’s one of my favourite photos of the night for sure because it captured my “snickering at you” expression and Mr E’s “hey, what?!” face so well. Let’s just say the reaction was caused by a certain nickname.

The rest of the speech brought Mr E almost to (happy) tears though, with the words that Mr E’s brother sees us as a “triumph of love over all.” And with that, it was Mr E’s turn for the last speech of the night.

So many people helped us get where we were that day, and Mr E took his speech as an opportunity to thank all our loved ones for their ongoing support.

He ended on a silly note, and thus concluded the speeches—with laughter and some tears, and many warm fuzzies.

Anyone else enjoy the speeches/toasts at your wedding more than you expected to?

*All photos courtesy of Jane Sanders

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So far in our midsummer dream…

• We welcomed our guests with pizza on Wednesday, DIYed our flowers on Thursday, and had a nightmarish Friday
• The girls got ready, I shared some of my favourite details, and then I put on my dress!
• I posed, he posed, and then we had our first look
• We showed a London cab some love, and let you in on our garden romance
• I walked down the aisle
• Ceremony Part I, Part II, and Part III
• I showed you our Tea and Cupcake Hour details, and then we cut the cake
• We took some family portraits, our reception details took centre stage, and then it was time to relax and enjoy our picnic reception
• The kids had their turn to pose