Molly & Matt

Family and friends, Molly and Matt are thrilled you're here. It means the world to them, so thank you. We know some of you came a long way, and they want to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts. So with that, let me say a prayer. If we all bow our heads: Heavenly Father, we thank you for Matt and Molly, and we ask that you would continue this journey with them as they move forward into marriage. Keep them surrounded by your love, and by this family and these friends who are here to build them up and create the legacy they are supposed to be walking while on this earth. We pray this in your name. Amen.

Okay, Jenn and I have a bet on who's gonna cry first.

Colossians 2 in the Bible says that we are to be encouraged and knit together strongly with the bond of love. And I've seen you both do that in your relationship up to this point. It's been fun to watch, in the ways you encourage each other in work dynamics, in parenting, and in what the future looks like for you guys. The other part of that is where we come in: supporting you for the rest of your marriage, and continuing to create that knitting and those ties of strong love.

So how do we do it? Do what you're doing. Be consistent. The key is to stay proactive. I want you to make choices on a daily basis, relationships don't work without us making those choices. Proverbs. Do you know what "Proverbs" means? Pro-verb. It means we're supposed to be proactive. So I want you guys to continue to be "pro" in smiling at each other, holding hands. I also want you to be building each other up in your character, that when you are away from one another, you are still silently and verbally building each other up. And listening: we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. Everything is ending in "-ing." It's proactive. You're making a choice to stay in a verb that is serving one another. Does that make sense?

So on that note, Matt, let's hear about your proactiveness, and your vows.

Molly, I love you so much. There really aren't the right words to describe it. You have a huge heart, and you care deeply about the people in your life. You're thoughtful, kind, and when someone you love is going through something difficult, you're always right there for them. I've watched you time and time again with family and friends, whether it's medical issues or personal tragedies or trouble, you don't ask if there's anything you can do. You just show up, and you find a way to help, to make things a little bit easier, and to be there when someone needs you. That speaks volumes. You truly believe that what you put out in the world comes back, and I love that about you. You have incredible instincts, and while I don't always listen to them, I'm learning to more frequently.

I also love that you don't take yourself too seriously. You're outgoing, you're fun, you're always willing to be a little bit ridiculous if it means making other people smile and laugh. Life is just more fun with you.

When I fell in love with you, I knew that I was becoming a part of your daughter's life too. But somewhere along the way, she was not your daughter, but our daughter. I love watching her grow, loving on her, and getting to be a part of her life. It's been one of the greatest gifts to me. The two of you have become my family, and today I'm not just making these promises to you, I'm making them to our family.

I promise to listen to you, especially when your instincts are telling you something I haven't figured out yet. I promise to love you, support you, and laugh with you. I promise to be there for the good days, the hard days, and all the days in between. I promise to keep laughing with you, being silly with you, and never letting life get so serious that we forget how much fun we're supposed to be having. Most of all, I promise to put our family first and keep building this life together. I love you, and I can't wait for everything that's still ahead.

Matt, you love me exactly as I am: the good, the bad, and the ugly. You support me in every aspect of my life, and somehow no challenge has ever felt too big or too much for you. You do everything with your whole heart, and when life feels overwhelming, you have never once turned away. You just show up. You are encouraging, funny, kind, passionate, and always willing to listen to my endless stream of random ideas and thoughts, even when I throw a complete wild card at you, and we both know I do that a lot more than I'd probably like to admit.

We found each other after so many years, when neither of us were even looking. I never could have imagined that your one-liner, "I would totally date you", would one day turn into me standing here saying I will spend the rest of my life with you. You continually show up for me in ways that still leave me in a little bit of awe.

In 2020, when the whole world felt uncertain, our lives were full of unknowns too. You bought your company. You decided to buy ten acres with your parents, and two houses, and create the compound, which, looking back, feels very much like us. And then you welcomed my daughter and me into all of it, not as an addition to your life, but as your family. You stepped up for her and continued to show up for her every single day. And with me, you gave me something I didn't even realize I needed. You gave me the space to heal and grow. You held space for me to feel safe. And you showed me a kind of love I had never experienced before, a love that doesn't ask me to be someone different, a love that just stays. You are my safe place. You are my person.

Today I promise to show up for you the way you have always shown up for me. I promise to be your person through the good, the bad, the overwhelming, and every wild idea I come up with along the way. I promise to stand beside you, encourage you, believe in you, laugh with you, and build this life with you with my whole heart. You lead by example. You push the people you love to show up, to do better, and most importantly, to believe in themselves. And Matt, I'm not sure you even realize how deep you really are, or how profoundly you have changed my life by simply being you. But I hope for the rest of our lives I can show you. I choose you today, and I will keep choosing you. You are my safe place, my person, my home, and I love you.

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to this beautiful evening. My name is Justin, and I'm here as Matt's best man. We've had the privilege of knowing Matt for a very long time, and I'm grateful to be here to witness this special event.

Matt and I's friendship started in high school, but we probably crossed paths much before then, through sports and various activities. Over the years, some of my greatest memories have been with Matt. Maybe someday we'll write a book about our history together: good, bad, indifferent, it'd be a good one. We've traveled together, we've been in business together, we've spent Christmases together some years down in the desert playing golf. And I thank you for your selfless and generous friendship. Our mutual love for golf has taken us to great places, and when it's mid-January or February, raining, blowing 30, I call this guy, we throw the rain suits on, and we go. Every time. One of the only guys who would do that.

When you're friends with someone as long as we have been, you realize the best part isn't really the golf, or the trips. It's having a friend who's been there for so many different chapters of your life, as we have for each other. After being good friends for 25 years, you get to see them go through different stages of life: the good decisions, the bad decisions, the successes. But the one thing I appreciate about Matt is that through all the years, and everything that has changed in our lives, our friendship really has not.

And then we have Molly, nothing but good things to say, of course. You bring an incredible amount of energy into Matt's life. You're fun, you're outgoing, you're very pretty, and you have a way of bringing people together, as we are here tonight, in a place we mutually love. When we see Matt and Molly together, we can tell there's something very genuine between them. And seeing the love that Matt has for Molly's daughter makes it clear that the three of you have built something very special together. I think the two of you complement each other very well, and I'm excited to see what the future brings for you both. All three. Maybe more, we'll see.

So everyone, let's raise a glass: to a lifetime of happiness, great adventures, great friends, and to this really good couple: Matt and Molly.

Hello. I'm Jenn. I'm not Molly, as some of you have mistaken me for, because we do look like sisters sometimes, and people mix us up a lot because we're exactly alike. So if I were to sum up this speech, in this moment, into one word, it would be: exactly.

This is exactly how I envisioned you getting married. Up in the mountains, of course, with a Jeep wagon as our rental car, just like the stories you would always tell me about the adventurous little girl coming up here with your parents in the back of the woody wagon. And that is exactly the type of guy I always hoped you would marry: kind, caring, and goofy enough to keep you laughing for a lifetime.

When we met, I didn't exactly know what to think of your wild stories, Molly. But you're exactly the best friend I didn't know I needed in my life. Obviously, when we met, the universe knew exactly what it was doing. From Mexico adventures to Switzerland, we are always on exactly the same page at exactly the right time. You know exactly what to do in an emergency, anybody in this room who's been with her knows that. You know exactly what to say to make somebody feel better. You would know exactly what to do if we came across a bear on a walk in the mountains. You are exactly the kind of mom that every little girl dreams of. And you know exactly how to bring together people from far and wide, and from all walks of life, to have a really good time.

Matt, you may not know exactly what your future looks like, but rest assured, Molly does. And there certainly will be a lot more chickens, many more rescued animals, and wild adventures ahead, because that's exactly what you can expect from Molly. Along with all of the joy she brings into your life, and all of the laughs. You two are exactly the type of loving people that everybody hopes would get married and raise a family. So, a toast to exactly the perfect pair: Matt and Molly.