| Contributed
by Jamey This
is the Speech My MOH said at my wedding in September
Good Evening
For those of you who don't know me my name is Jennifer. Jamey
is my sister and my Best Friend. I would like to start off by
saying Congratulations to Jamey and Scott. I would also like to
thank you both for asking me to be part of your special day.(
not that I had much of a choice). It meant so much to me to watch
my best friend marry the man of her dreams this afternoon. This
day came so quickly and I hope you both take the time to enjoy
each moment.
As you both know, I have been extremely nervous to say my speech
So I am going to keep it short. I am going to break tradition
a little bit and not say a speech about you but rather a speech
to you both. That being said I am going to say a few words to
each of you.
Scott, first of all, Welcome to the family (you are a brave man).
Thank you for being such a great friend. I know that we have only
known each other for about two years but I feel as though we have
become good friends. Thank you for tolerating mine and Jamey's
hour long telephone conversations every night. I am sure it becomes
quite annoying after a while. You have made my sister so happy.
When Jamey first met you I knew you two were destined to be together.
She had such a sparkle in her eye and her faced glowed with every
word she spoke of you. So Scott I ask you from the bottom of my
heart- will you please take care of her and treasure each moment
you have together.
Jamey where do I even begin. There are so many things I want to
say and I know that there are not enough pages to fill. I have
thought about what to say for quite sometime. Then I remembered
something you said to me when we were leaving for college. You
had wrote me a card from North Bay and told me that I was your
mentor and you looked up to me. Well Jamey, I have to say the
feeling is mutual. You are a beautiful person, a wonderful mother
and I know you will make Scott very happy. You have taught me
to open my eyes to the world and see all the opportunities ahead.
You have supported me through good times and bad. We have had
many fights but yet so many more hugs. So to you my dear sister
Congratulations and enjoy each day of your marriage.
Be friends to each other. Share each others hopes and fill each
others dreams.
Thank you
Contributed
by Andrea
I don't have the full
speech here to type out, but it's really the idea I want to pass
on anyway.
My MOH (and best friend
since grade 4) sent me an email about two weeks before the wedding
asking for email addresses or phone numbers for my fiancé,
my mom, my dad, my brother, my aunt & uncle and my grandmother.
We live in different cities, and she was arriving for the wedding
a week later, so I was really wondering what was up!
I found out
during her speech that she had asked all of my close family to
describe me in a few words. Her speech was essentially a compilation
of all of their responses--and it was one of the most touching
experiences I have ever had. When my fiancé wrote her back
(they had never met due to the physical distance between she and
I), she actually read out his entire email in her speech ... at
any rate, it was a very special speech from a very special person.
Contributed by Mary Ann aka D_cipher
(Applause)
Thank you.Good evening.
First I would like everyone to join me in commending the best man, groomsmen & bridesmaids for their stellar performance today. You did an amazing job and I know that the Bride & Groom truly appreciate all your support.
Mary and I have been friends for about 12 years now and ironically I met Mary at her Aunt Cathy and Uncle Charlie's wedding. Our friendship grew throughout our high school years at Notre Dame. Can you guess what the school colours were? Just look around.that's right Maroon!!!!! Notre Dame is so embedded in Mary that she picked our school colours for her wedding. I still remember the first day of high school, looking around for Mary, and let me tell you.it wasn't hard. The only girl wearing her uniform (when we didn't have to), with a bright sky blue sweater (we called her smurf).and you know Mary, she's genuine and caring, but she's also loud and talkative.so I heard her from the other end of the hall.
Anyway, Mary, I've never told you this..but I've always admired everything you've accomplished. You were always active in school.cheerleader, on the badminton team, math club and more, always had good grades, got your college diploma, have a great job as an accountant, always taking part in charity events..such as Ride for Heart, Women against Violence, Crohn's and Colitis (just to name a few), and you have great friends who turn to you for advice..while all at the same time..raising a good-looking, smart, polite, adorable son, Jonathan (stand up). You're a great mother, Michelle, and I'm sure your husband can't wait to have more children!!!!! Right Mike?
Mike, what can I say but that Mary is the luckiest girl to have you in her life. When I first met you..I thought "Oh my gosh, this guy thinks he's Snoop Dog or something" but it's all good, at least he can dance!!!!! Mike, you taught Mary the concept of RHTHYM and dancing to the BEAT!!!! It was a scary sight in high school watching Mary try to do the Running Man or the Roger Rabbit!!!! Mary, you've done wonders for Mike as well. Who here ever thought that Mike would be rollerblading, rock climbing, biking on the DVP for charity, climbing the CN tower stairs, going to San Francisco for vacation and doing a marathon there on those streets with many hills..and last but not least..going to Sherkston for a weekend in a trailer. All I have to say is that you two know how to have fun together and that I hope you will continue to do all these things in your future.
Now, I thought I should offer some words of wisdom to the newly married couple about married life, but since I've never been married I can't draw from personal experience, so I had to go to outside sources. I found a lot of advice on the internet, one of which suggested that a good wife should always greet her husband pleasantly when he comes home from work and ensure that she listens to all his problems before she discusses her day with him --- but I didn't think that would work for this relationship---you wish MIKE!! So, I thought I could pull from some of my work experience. I teach a few parenting programs for parents with children from ages 0-5 yrs old and some of the key concepts I thought could apply to Mary & Mike's marriage. Remember, all you need to know - you learned in Kindergarten. So here are my words of advice, but I want you two to stand, face each other, look each other in the eyes, and swear you'll do all these:
Share everything (including the bedcovers), play fair, don't hit people, put things back where you found them, say please & thank you, clean up your own mess (aahhmm.Mary), say you're sorry when you hurt someone, wash your hands before you eat, and most importantly.FLUSH!!!
On a serious note, I would like to say that I am honoured to be your maid of honour and that I am still amazed at how your personalities completely compliment each other. You are perfect together and I wish you luck and happiness. Remember, your relationship was carefully built out of commitment and understanding, hope and love. May the same love and caring, warmth and sharing that has touched your lives from the start, always make your home happy, your life complete, and be the guiding light in your hearts. Congratulations on a wonderful future together.
Now it gives me immense pleasure (and relief) to invite you all to raise your glasses in a toast to Mary & Mike.
To love, laughter, and happily ever after...CHEERS!!!!
Contributed by Anne V.
For those of you who may not know me, I am Anne and I am so happy to be standing here as Lisa's friend and matron of honour. Lisa and I met 20 years ago in our first year at the University of Western Ontario. Leaving parents and siblings and childhood friends to go to a university in a strange city can be a harrowing experience. Although there is much excitement, the lonesomeness can be immense. I was lucky because I met Lisa a couple of months into our first year and the instant friendship that developed helped relieve my lonesomeness. During the course of our university years, our friendship deepened. Lisa soon became my closest friend, my confident, my support, my friend for life, the sister I chose.
After university, we moved to the GTA along with our friend Rose to embark upon our careers. I got an apartment downtown and Lisa got a car, we were young, we were hip (or at least so we thought) and we finally had our own money much to our parent's relief. Our lives couldn't have been better. In Toronto, our circle of friends expanded as there were reunions with Rina and Janice, Lisa's childhood friends, Lisa's sisters moved closer and new friends were made. The girls were gathered regularly just to hang out or to embark upon some social outing. Social outings could be in town or could involve a road trip - one particularly fond memory for me was our roadtrip to Montreal - 5 single, 20 something women on their way to Montreal to party.... singing church songs all the way. Our mothers have no idea what kind of an influence they had on us. There were many many ski weekends at Blue Mountain and in Quebec , cottage weekends up north. Lisa and I took trips to L.A. and New York to visit sisters. We travelled together to Europe, Jamaica , Mexico and Ireland. There were many shopping trips to Sherway and coffee liaisons in the village. It didn't matter what we talked about and laughing until our stomachs' hurt was the best. Golf, rollerblading, tennis, skiing, biking - was there any sport untried? Lisa's natural organizational skills and her subscription to Toronto Life proved to be invaluable as Lisa always knew what was going on in the city and she was arranging for us to be there. There were quite times and there were wild times. There were times for seriousness and there times for silliness.
Over the years, careers changed, apartments changed, boyfriends changed - some friends married and started families and others stayed single and continued the search - with all of the variables one thing was always constant - the deep friendship Lisa and I shared with one another and with our dear group of girlfriends. Lisa and I spent so many years together being single and we had a lot of fun doing it. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change that. The memories of those years with Lisa are precious to me. The years passed so quickly and although no one can give you back your youth, with an old friend you never lose it.
No major event has happened in my life in the past 20 years that Lisa has not been by my side. We've shared tears of joy and tears of sorrow over the years She has always been one that I can lean on and one that I can rely on. She is always there to celebrate the successes and minimize the failures. In the Jimmy Stewart movie It's A Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart is given the chance to see what the world would have been like had he never been born. He is amazed to learn what a positive difference he actually made in the lives that he touched. I once remarked to Lisa that I wondered what my life would have been like had she not been a part of it. My life path would obviously have been altered as every experience we enjoyed together has led me to where I am today. More importantly however, the essence of who I am would have been altered. Lisa's kindness and sincerity, her sense of style, her compassion for others, her generousity, her grace, her elegance have all been huge positive influences on me. Lisa's qualities are those I strive to emulate. I probably don't tell her often enough how much I admire and respect her. I hope my actions speak for themselves. Lisa is the first person I ask for advice and the last person I talk to before taking any action. (Although I don't know if I am supposed to admit that now that I have a husband?) She is a fantastic friend and John is so lucky to have won her heart. Not to say that Lisa isn't lucky too to have won John's heart.
The first opportunity many of our gang had to meet John was at my wedding last year. Lisa and I discussed whether she should invite this new beau. It was decided that he should come as it would be a good opportunity for him to meet our gang but more importantly it would be an opportunity for us to check out how he would fit into our gang. The decision was unanimous. John passed with flying colours as his qualities shone through so brightly. His kindness, his intelligence, his sense of humour, his sincerity and honesty and his easy going nature. John had it all and on top of that he was handsome and he was tall!!!!
Lisa, I would like to say that I absolutely thrilled that you and John found one another and are now husband and wife. Your personalities completely complement each other and the love you have for one another is evident. With every ending there is a beginning. While the end of our singles days may certainly have changed the nature and the frequency of what we do together, it has not changed the nature of our friendship. I look forward to all the new experiences we will share in the future as we continue our lives as married couples.
To conclude, I came across a quote that I would like to share with you. I particularly like this quote, Lisa, as it applies to you and John as a couple but it also equally applies to you and I as friends. "As you sit side by side through this roller coaster of life remember to scream from the peaks, hold hands through the dips, laugh through the loop-the-loops and enjoy every twist and turn for the ride is better because you share it together."
Please join me in a toast to my best friend Lisa and her new husband John.
As matron of honour, I still have one further privilege and that is to toast the groomsmen. Sean has been a good friend of John's for many years. Sean flew here from Vancouver , unfortunately without his wife and children, to be with John today. I know it meant a lot to John that Sean was able to be a special part of this day and that he also made a special trip to attend the stag. I've enjoyed getting to know Sean a little during the last few days and it is easy to see why they are such good friends.
Chris is John's brother and more importantly one of his best friends Chris gave a stellar performance carrying out his duties as best man .I am told the stag was a great success. After meeting John, I've overheard women in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's, asking if he had a single brother. Well ladies, the answer is yes and may I present the best man.
lease raise your glasses and join me in a toast to Chris and Sean. |
