Sam and Otto's CryFest at Grey Silo

I’ve never cried more at a wedding than I did at this one. It was October 2019. I’m not going to optimize the SEO for this one, so don’t worry about me shouting GREY SILO WEDDING a hundred times just for content or bothering to write it “properly” because, to be honest, I only do that to attempt to get more hits for a venue search and I don’t want to go back to Grey Silo if I don’t have to. Nothing against the venue! It’s just far from home.

A few relevant facts:

Sam is probably the actual funniest person I know. I thought it was my friend Tristan but as of May 2020 he lives with us in our house and he has proven that he’s just ever-so-slightly below Sam level funny. Yeah, I said it. Plus he’ll never see this because he doesn’t care about me. So. Suck it, Trissycakes. Suck. It.

This is going to be the most controversial statement I will ever make (and I’ve been controversial): Sam is probably my favourite bride. Ever.

I cried at least 6 different times at this wedding, sometimes when Otto was speaking, sometimes when Sam was speaking, and sometimes when I was just watching them. I swear it was the most emotional and just the best.

Otto really reminds me of Mr Bean, if Mr Bean was hot in the face. Find a girl who can do both, they say. It Otto.

Sam has had a really difficult and traumatic life. Otto makes up for that.

Sam makes me feel good any time I’m sad. She probably does this for all of her friends. She also trolls the absolute shit out of anti-maskers and the far right, which makes me so happy.

I could talk about Sam for days; about how much I love her. I can’t actually say much about Otto, because he’s certainly the quieter of the two. What I can say, though, is that without Otto, I don’t think Sam would be Sam. And that would be an absolute tragedy. If you want to cry, please read this snippet from Sam’s vows. It’s a big snippet because I could hardly cut out anything without it feeling like sacrilege.

“It’s no secret that I’ve had a lot of challenges in my life. Before we’d met, I had resigned myself to the idea that I’d never really be with anyone. I watched movies and read books and fantasized about being swept off my feet by someone who loved me completely, but it seemed as though the trajectory of my life was such that that type of love was out of the question for me. I sat on the sidelines and watched others experience romantic relationships, with an ache in my heart that I thought would be with me forever.

Then, on a random Saturday evening in July of 2011, there you were. This person who, unbeknownst to me, would change everything about my life. 

Before we met, I thought I knew what love was. I thought the fantasies I had about it were exactly accurate–but I was so wrong. Loving you has been, and continues to be, the greatest adventure of my life, and has been better than anything I could have possibly conceived. You have made me a better person and you inspire me to want to continue to grow, change, and be better every single day. The day I realized I wanted to be better for me AND for you was the day I realized how much I wanted to be your wife. And how much I was meant to be your wife.

I used to wonder why my life was the way it was. I agonized over it and did not understand why certain things had happened to me. I couldn’t make sense of it. But now, standing across from you, it makes sense: All of it—every tear I shed and every difficult, painful thing I went through was shaping me into the person you’d fall in love with, and the person meant to fall in love with you. And I realize, now more than ever, that every single moment of it was worth it, because it led me to you. I used to spend so long looking in the mirror and hating what I saw, but now, I look into your eyes, my true mirror, and all I see is the beautiful person you see me as. You make me feel complete for the first time in my life. 

You are my one. My person. My first and only love. My best friend. You’re the person I cannot wait to come home to. The person I start to miss the moment we’re apart. The one I laugh hardest with; can bare my soul with; can be my most complete self with. You are my partner, in every single sense of the word. 

I love your kindness. I love how big your heart is. I love that you keep me in check and keep me grounded. I love your patience. I love your laughter and your smile, and the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh. I love the way you embrace me when I feel overwhelmed, and the sense of peace you bring to my world when everything feels impossibly chaotic. I love the feeling of your hand in mine, and that when I’m with you everything feels as it is meant to be. I love the way you love me, so unconditionally, and that you made me feel beautiful, worthy, and deserving of love for the first time in my life.

So, Otto, I vow to be your wife. I vow to be unwaveringly faithful to you. I vow to care for you when you’re sick, even if it’s from too much beer or going too many days without vegetables. I vow to continue to cook dinners, because it’s never been your strong suit (and not out of fear of you burning down the kitchen). I vow to kiss you every morning, no matter how bad your breath is. I vow to support you. I vow to keep laughing with you until our sides hurt and tears roll down our cheeks. I vow to celebrate with you in times of joy and comfort you in times of sorrow. I vow to try harder to let you pick the music more often on car rides. I vow to continue to work on bettering myself every day. 

But more than anything, I vow to love you. I vow to love you even when I don’t like you. I vow to love you every single day, even when things are hard, even when I’ve had a terrible day and misplace my emotions. I vow to love you, from now until forever. For all my days.”