It was pretty spectacular and a little surreal for me to be standing beside these two as they committed the rest of their lives to each other. During the reception, people were making speeches and then the mic was handed to me. I should've started my speech with a disclaimer: I am horrible at public speaking, and I tend to panic when I have to make decisions in the moment, especially if these moments only come around once in a lifetime (like giving a speech at my best friends' wedding). However, I didn't and people had to sit still and watch something similar to a plane crash (this could be an exaggeration, but I don't think so. You be the judge!).
I started out asking my table about 58 billion times (maybe 10), "can you hear me? can you hear me?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!!!" Each time more terrified than the last. [side-note: I guess you don't necessarily hear yourself in the mic like I previously thought you would.] I then followed up with, " I'm sorry... I don't do talking." Ya don't say... (This is what I imagine everyone was thinking by this time.) Then, as I was doing a balancing act of rambling and apologizing for my rambling, I thought of something I could direct my thoughts to! I made the announcement in full confidence, "Oh! This will make a great speech!" And in a split second, I realized that no matter how great my idea was, it would never come out the way I planned, so I immediately said, "oh, no it won't!" but began to tell it anyway. I think towards the end, I might have gotten something nice out, but at some point I'm pretty sure I stuck my arm straight out beside me. Who gives a speech like that?!
Once I sat down, my husband was like, "I thought you were going to talk about how they met or something like that." Oh that would've nice, huh Jakub, you should have told me that BEFORE I made an ass out of myself. Since I don't think I'll be getting a redo for them anytime soon, and I can't save this speech for their 50th wedding anniversary, I would like to offer up a little speech on here so Craig and April can know what I meant to say, and so that people will know I actually do have a brain! So everyone, imagine you're sitting around the tables, and you see the mic passed to me. I stand up and introduce myself...
Hi, I'm Rachel and I have known April for seven years and Craig for six. In this time, they have both been some of the best friends I could have asked for. I have known each of them separately and watched as they have each grown into the person they are today. A lot of times, people in love say things like, I wish we would've known each other sooner or, I wish we would've gotten together years ago. But I can say, over the years, I have seen them grow into the type of person that would perfectly complement the other. I have also seen them develop their relationships with God and learn to trust on him in the process of finding a suitable helpmate. This is something they both deeply wanted, and through God's perfect timing and creative order of things, they each found the one that would be able to stand next to them and help them through life.
They first met during our wedding shower in 2009. They both came over early to help get things ready and I remember Craig's reaction when he saw her. He would glance over at me and I knew exactly what he was thinking. If it were a cartoon, there would be hearts coming out of his eyes! Shortly after our wedding, they began to talk more and develop their friendship. It's amazing to me because I knew them both for so long and knew they were just like each other, but it never occurred to me introduce them until the situation presented itself. And boy, am I glad things work out the way they do because they both got what they wanted: someone special to share life with, to make it exciting, and to lean on when it's hard. Even though y'all have only been together for a short time, it's been a long time coming! Congratulations!
... Feel free to clap wherever you are, because that was much better than what happened last night and definitely closer to what I meant to say!
Again, Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Norred. Enjoy your first day as husband and wife today!
p.s. don't we make a cute couple?
Thank you so much! Both of your speeches were wonderful :) And yes you guys are a cute couple!
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