# Wedding Speech

Friends & family,

We have waited for this moment for such a long time. When we came back and visited in Feb 2020, we thought it would only be a short couple of months before we would be able to celebrate getting married in front of you. Well, that didn't go to plan, nor did any of us expect what was to come.

Today, it's even more special. The last few years have been hard for everyone and to be with you all today, is a blessing. Thank you all for taking time away from work, coming all the way here to be with us for this special day. Unfortunately, not everyone could be here today. And i want to take a moment to remember our friends that we wish could have been here today. Firstly, to my good friend Laurie, who originally was going to be also celebrating his birthday here with family had our dates not changed. Laurie, unfortunately, passed away after a long battle with multiple cancers in late 2020. Secondly, a friend that Selena had also spent a lot of time with since we met. We loved hanging out with him and had always planned that he would bless us all at this wedding with his exceptional musical abilities and presence. Jay passed away surfing in Bali in early 2018 and is missed by us all. We wish they both could be here with us.

Thank you to all the people that helped tremendously with the challenging task of coordinating a wedding from a different continent. A huge thanks to Selena, who like always, does the bulk of the work and takes care of every fine detail. She amazes me every day, even though most of the time it appears more like frustration and resistance rather than thankfulness. Special thanks to Jess who helped with many of the items on our todo list, our gorgeous MC Mel, Cristi for being our celebrant, Elaine for helping make sure Selena was not overloaded, for Bella, our flower girl and to all the friends Nat, Josh, Kieran and family who took the time to make speeches. Most importantly, all of you for attending.

SELENA:

I think most of you know our story by now from either, the wedding website or the many times we have laughed with friends talking about the somewhat hilarious differences between the both of us. We are on the outside and, from a conscious perspective, an unlikely match and had only met through serendipitous circumstances. But at the core and with, our values are incredibly similar, and we share the same life goals.

We value family and friends, constantly strive to learn more, enjoy the same pastimes like snowboarding, food and being outdoors. While the two years that have passed since our original date have been hard. it has also been eye-opening, and we feel blessed. Selena and I lived in a small one-bedroom apartment working from our living room/kitchen/office while she was pregnant, and we would have our desks next to each other in 2-metre sq space. This time being around each other constantly ultimately taught us more about each other and ourselves, making us more robust and aware of each other's needs. Of course, our most significant achievement and blessing over this time is to be able to bring our beautiful daughter Sierra into the world and have the luxury of being able to see her grow every day in these early formative years.

WADE:

I also want to share with Selena and you all that she means the world to me. She is beautiful, ambitious, structured, kind, loving, thoughtful, and just an all-around amazing person, but you all know that. I feel so blessed to be able to call her now my wife. She has made my life 100X better and shown me what life should be about. The way she values friendships and makes time for others is selfless. She doesn't do these favours or give these gifts because it's the right thing to do. She acts from her heart which is instinctively from her core. It is not a trait that can be learned but is part of the soul. Her drive to make everything perfect around her truly impresses me. I learn from her, she guides me in my decisions and always supports my crazy ideas. She trusted me when we moved to another country and believed in me even when others didn't. I saw more recently with motherhood her ability to adapt to whatever is presented in front of her and thrive. My dad often says to me,' you are more ass than class ', suggesting that luck is constantly on my side. Meeting Selena IMO is the luckiest thing to happen to me and aligns with that statement. Selena wouldn't be the person she is today without the guidance of her parents, Martin and Lyn. You have done an amazing job bringing up your daughter and teaching her the values she holds close to her heart. I am forever grateful for that, and I hope to provide the same for my daughter. Seeing Sierra run around your place calling po po and gong gong with a massive smile on her face melts my heart.

Lastly, thank you, Mum and Dad, for bringing me up to be someone Selena would say yes to marrying. You have always provided me with a loving, supportive environment. My actions don't always show this but I strive to make you both proud.

I asked Selena if she had any nice works to say about me but she declined. Let's all have a great night, and cheers!!!!!