“I am honoured to call her my best friend” – Maid of Honour Speech by Sarah

Speech Type: Maid of Honour
Time to Read Aloud: 12 minutes
Our Favourite Line: “I’m pretty sure the reason why I’m so bad at maths is because I sat next to Vikki. All we would do is sit and write notes to each other in the backs of our exercise books, who needs algebra anyways!”

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for all being here to celebrate Vikki and James’ very special day! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sarah. I’m the maid of honour and the best friend of the bride.

Firstly, before I say anything, I have to say how absolutely stunning Vikki looks today. She’s the most beautiful bride I have ever seen and James is one very lucky man. Of course, James is looking very dapper himself – go on JimBob.

My two favourite things at a wedding have to be watching the groom’ face as his wife-to-be walks down the aisle and I am a MASSIVE sucker for speeches! At every wedding I go to, I can’t wait for the speeches and I’m usually the one filming and sobbing with the tissue. Hopefully not on this occasion.

When Vikki asked me to be her maid of honour, I knew it meant I was giving a speech, mainly because I made her do it at mine and she probably wanted payback, but mostly because I knew how much it would mean to her. I have to say I am completely humbled and honoured to be a part of their special day but most of all to tell you what an amazing person and couple Vikki and James are.

I’ll set the scene for you guys, so the story begins, every once in a while two people meet and you know it’s meant to be. You know instantly that the stars have aligned and their paths would bring them together regardless of what the world may throw their way. This was clearly the case 16 years ago when Vikki and I first met!

I bet you thought I was going to say James then… no Vikki and I met in year 10 science class whilst we were running away from Mark trying to slap us with rulers. School was definitely a learning curve for Vikki and me. We had some amazing times and holidays when we weren’t getting ourselves into trouble.

Vikki and I were actually having a chat about a month ago about what I could and couldn’t put in this speech… I think the words she used were ‘Munchkin, I hope you use your own personal judgement’ to which I laughed and then I think she realized that was a mistake. We ended up reminiscing about a couple of moments in our lives. From getting chucked out of judo at school cause she would constantly knee me in the boob, even to this day she’ll scream ‘Karate chop’ and give me a dead leg and I still don’t know how she does it!

If you knew Vikki when she was younger, then you’d know she had a proper monobrow.  Sorry Munchkin but you did. I had the privilege of plucking that bad boy before attempting to get in an over 18’s club at the age of 15! God only knows how we managed it because we still get ID’d now!

My favourite time from school was when Vikki came back from Canada on an exchange trip. I don’t know what possessed her but she let her Canadian exchange student cut her a fringe… When she turned up to class looking like something out of dumb and dumber, I took one look and said what did you do?! I honestly think I fell off my chair laughing. Poor Vick, bad times, wish I had a photo. I’m pretty sure the reason why I’m so bad at maths is because I sat next to Vikki. All we would do is sit and write notes to each other in the backs of our exercise books, who needs algebra anyways!

We did end up getting ourselves into a little bit of trouble… especially when Vikki’s 15th birthday party got a teeny tiny bit out of control. I’m pretty sure it took Gil and Jackie a couple of years to grow the grass back in their garden (I’ve written on my notes don’t look Gil in the eye, he may still be angry!) But the good news is Sam survived the foaming from the mouth. How long did you get grounded for again Vikki? And we’re moving on.

Things Jackie and Gil probably didn’t know about were the times we used to climb over the park gates in our PJs to eat Ben and Jerry in the park around the corner from her house. We really did love that Phish Food.

Vikki and I have had some very interesting holidays. The first holiday we went on was to Benidorm at 18 and I think that’s all I have to say about that holiday, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Our more recent holidays together have been slightly more civilized with James and Mirko, we tend to meet up in random places around the world, Bangkok and Vietnam. Funnily enough, we always manage to leave with a massive hangover. But at least we were never mugged or robbed, eh?

When Vikki told me she was going travelling, I felt like I was losing my right arm and my left leg. We would have our crazy nights-in playing scrabble, Wii and Rummikub with a good old cuppa and that was soon to be no more.

I have to say, Vikki has made me cry in some really random places and I’m sure she can probably say the same. It would be amazing when she came home having my best mate back and having adventures but then when she left it would result in tears and a hell of lot of them. Some of the places, to name a few, are Goodmayes station, Bond Street station, a Vietnam sleeper bus and, my favourite, the central line underground train with no tissues. She had to get off at Oxford street to go shopping and I stayed on the train to get home. Nice one Vikki, wow did I get some strange looks!

Seriously though Vikki, we probably know more about each other than we probably care to. We’ve laughed together, cried together, laughed until we’ve cried and have inside jokes that only we probably find funny. We’ve been there for each other through some of the hardest times in our lives and have been grateful to experience some of the best years of our lives together. I’ve had the opportunity to watch her grow, change and evolve into the magnificent woman that sits before us today. I am honoured to call her my best friend. She is a beautiful person inside and out and I’ve had the pleasure of being Vikki’s friend for many years. Vikki, I want you to know that you’re like a sister to me and I love you very much. I’m so happy that you’ve found your ‘nashing out’ partner, Jim-bob.

I think on numerous occasions I would tell Jimbob, ‘If you ever hurt Vikki, I will hunt you down and I will hurt you. I think, at some points, he was slightly scared because he would go and tell her. I stopped threatening him when I knew his intentions were good. I could see then and even more now how much he dotes on Vikki and would do absolutely anything for her. He did run a half marathon for her after all, that’s commitment right there!

I can honestly say that Vikki and James are soulmates. They fit like two peas in a pod, they even came up with their own terms. One of them being ‘nashing out’.  I just need to say, this isn’t a real term and I would definitely not google this either. I can only describe ‘nashing out’ as when you have a massive burst of energy, go a bit crazy, get a bit weird and dance like a loon. I remember Vikki telling me that, after a Halloween night out, her and James came home pissed, put the TV on and the Thriller song came on. They broke into dance and did the whole thriller routine in their front room. Her crazy definitely matches his crazy.

So James here’s some advice for the future:

No1. She is always right

No.2 She always needs new clothes and shoes

No.3 Follow these rules and, for happily married life, check advice no.1

I was doing a little search on the internet for perfect marriage quotes and I came along this one which I feel summed it up perfectly: “Love is a partnership of two unique people who bring out the very best in each other and who know that, even though they are wonderful as individuals, they are even better together.”

This is utterly true in Vikki and James. They complete each other, best friends, soulmates, and the perfect partners in crime. You are one lucky man Jim-Bob. Thank you for making Vikki so incredibly happy. I’m so happy to know she has a man who’s caring, loving, spontaneous and supportive by her side.

I’ll leave you two with a little advice. Love isn’t perfect. It isn’t always a fairy-tale and it doesn’t always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go, so as you embark on this new journey together, I wish you all the happiness in the world.

Everyone please be upstanding and raise your glass to the fabulous and unstoppable couple.