I just want to take a quick moment to thank all of you who posted a comment on my last post. I still haven't heard back from the photographer but I fully intend on a re-shoot - even if I have to break contract, lose our deposit, and switch photographers.
If I can't trust him with our engagement pics, how can I trust him with our wedding pics?
And speaking of weddings; today is finally Megan's wedding day!
I woke up early this morning and finished all the laundry, cleaned and vacuumed so that when we come home tomorrow (with monster hangovers I'm sure) we can just sink into the couch and watch the Bengals continue to stomp some booty!
So today I leave you with my finished speech a tribute to my best friend. If you've got some time- settle in and enjoy:
Megan and Kenny's Wedding Speech
October 17, 2009
Hi everyone! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Amber ; bridesmaid and childhood best friend of our FABULOUS bride! I of course would first like to congratulate Megan and Kenny on their marriage and thank them for allowing me to share it with them in such a special way! I am honored first that they asked me to be a bridesmaid- I am even more honored that they thought enough of my speaking and writing abilities to entrust me with giving a speech on their big day!
So thanks you guys – I hope I do you both proud.
I don't know about the rest of you guys but to me it seems like it was just yesterday that Megan and Kenny were announcing their engagement and today we're already here at their wedding.
Wow, time flies.
As I stand here tonight I have to admit that I am filled to the brim with emotions for my best friend and her new husband.
To start I am ecstatic that Megan has found the one her heart loves in Kenny and could not be any happier for her than I am right now.
I am reverent for the special lady we lost just a few Decembers ago, who was so dear to us all and I ache -as so many of us in this room do - because she can't be here in body to see how beautiful Megan looks tonight and how happy she is seated here beside her new husband-
Your mom would be so proud of you Meg – so proud and even though she can't be here in body with us tonight- I know that in spirit she has been beside you every step of the way in your journey to the alter and she is here wi
th you and Kenny and all of her loved ones right now.
I am also feeling heavy hearted as another chapter in our life long friendship comes to a close but also I am so excited as the next chapter begins to be written starting right here, right now – tonight.
But before we jump forward – I would
like to to take a look back.
Most of you know that Megan and I have been friends since we met at Beechwoods in second grade what most of you don't know is that the first time we met was also the first day that Megan hauled off and slapped me across the f
ace- just because she felt like it. She was the new girl in school, she claimed she didn't know the rules and begged me not to tell the teach
er. I'm not sure why- but I never tattle
d and from that day forward our history was made – also from that day forward anytime this little brat would hit me – I'd hit her right back but also any time in the future if she hit me- I probably deserved it.
Soon after that first meeting we became regular parts in each others families. My mom knew to expect Megan to show up on her bike out of the clear blue on a summer's day. Dave and Diane knew that if there was a full pitcher of iced tea in the fridge I wouldn't be far away. We took vacations together, played sports together, were in band together, went to dances together, worked at Mcdonalds together and maybe- just maybe dated the same guy a time or two.
Among our classmates in school we began to become interchangeable with one another . Because we were always together- most people never bothered to get to know us separately and back then we looked an awful lot alike. To this day if I'm out and about and someone calls the name Megan- I look around expecting them to be confusing me with the girl I spent so much of my time growing up with. And Megan it was a blast growing up with you!
Without you: Who would I have wrestled with in Marcus Gray's backyard?
Without you: Who would I have tried cigarettes with for the first time?
Without you who would I have ridden my bike with for hours and hours longer than we were supposed to only to get hunted down by both of our parents- miles away from where we were supposed to be and grounded until I don't even know when?
Without you: Who would I have screamed my lungs out with at The New Kids on the Block Concert---this past June?
Without you: How would I have ever become the me I am today?
When I was preparing to write this speech I pulled out an old journal I kept early in college to look for material to use. Megan probably doesn't remember this but what I found was one small yet significant entry dated July 7th 2003 that detailed a phone conversation that Megan and I had while I was visiting my sister in Florida. In a rare moment of complete candidness Megan commented on the recent events in my personal life and told me that she admired my strength and didn't know how I had made it through the things in my life that I had.
Now 6 years and many of life's ups and downs later- I want to turn the tables around and tell you Megan how much I admire your strength – I don't know how you've made it through the things that you have with the grace and poise that you have- but here you sit a lovely, grounded woman who I am proud to know and love and who Kenny is so lucky to have.
Ya know its hard to believe but I've known Kenny just about as long- although not as well as Megan. When I met Kenny in the second grade I thought he was loud, obnoxious, and crazy. Now that I've really gotten to know him: I think Kenny is loud obnoxious, and crazy. But I've also come to know that he's loud because he's passionate, he's obnoxious because he's fun and he's crazy over Megan.
And she's crazy over him too.
In the past two and a half years I have watched them grow together. First as friends wondering if they could be more, to a brand new couple learning about one another: Kenny learned that Megan sleeps wrapped in a blanket like a Megan burrito and the only way to get any sleep with her is to have separate blankets.Megan learned that Kenny
All of their friends and family learned that together Megan and Kenny make the loudest couple on the face of the earth but also the most fun!
Then in what seemed like no time Megan and Kenny were engaged and planning their dream wedding and just like the years before- their engagement passed in the blink of an eye bringing us to today- the day that Megan and Kenny vowed to love and honor one another until death do them part. And looking at them together now after making this promise before God and all of us- I could not be more certain that theirs is a love that will last.
Kenny I want to tell you how lucky you are to have Megan as your wife but even luckier that you get to have her as your best friend. I can't tell you what she'll be like as a wife but I can tell you without a doubt that as a best friend Megan will never let you down. She'll comfort you when you're feeling blue, party with you until the sun comes up, Make you laugh so much it hurts- and Kenny I'm certain that you will do the same for her and that's how I know that you have the foundation for a wonderful marriage: not just as lovers but as life long friends.
And if there is such a thing as a good marriage it is because it resembles friendship rather than love. So this is to you Megan and Kenny, and a wonderful life together.
Ladies and gentlemen to friends, lovers, and soul mates.
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