As the sister of the bride and the maid of honor, I have the privilege of giving this speech.
On behalf of the bride’s parents Bernie and Susan and sister Ana Sarah, I would like to start by giving a warm welcome to all the relatives and friends who have joined us to celebrate Ryan and Ana Suzette’s wedding. This has been one of the most momentous celebrations in our family and we are more than grateful to all of you for sharing with us this important day.
I am also pleased to formally welcome Ryan into the family, although, as far as I know, he is a member of our family already.
Now, let me describe to you…or rather try to describe to you the love that my sister and Ryan shared based on what I’d witnessed in the past few years.
Their love is a work of art. It is not just any painting or sculpture. It is a masterpiece even greater than the ones etched in history. The way they look at each other is like looking at a fine art subject with meaningful thoughts and truths. Every gesture seems like it is taken from a sweet romantic poem.
You can compare them to the greatest works in history. You can use silly poems, cheesy metaphors, and hyperboles. But all the colors of the world are incomparable to the vividness of their emotions nor the extremities of the language is inferior to describe what they have for each other.
I would love to say it’s a bed of roses for them. That everything has been a breeze. But it is not. An artist undergoes a series of challenges that hinder him to pursue his artistic dreams. In love, couples go through a lot of problems. The same goes for our lovers. They also went through storms that test the strength of their relationship. But their love, like a historical piece of art, stood out the test of time and thrived to be the obra that it is today.
You have finished one true masterpiece and starting today, you are going to start with a new slate. The process will start again. There may be unexpected turns and revisions and it will require a great amount of effort and hard work to go on. But I know that the two of you, now together as one, can do it. And never forget that we are here for you – always.
Speech delivered during the wedding reception of Ryan Untalan and Suzette Angeles, the author’s eldest sister last November 2017.
Photos by Blues Brothers Photography