Cody and Amanda,
The day you have both dreamed of is finally here. Today you will walk down an aisle as a bride and a groom, in front of your closest family and friends, and you will profess your permanent and undying devotion for one another. You will vow to love each other for better and for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for all the days of your life. It will be magical.
Tomorrow, you won’t be a bride or a groom. The excitement of your wedding day will be over, and you’ll eventually be forced to face a post-honeymoon hangover. You will simply be a husband and a wife, and will be expected by everyone you know to make good on all of your promises – even if the result of your vows is worse, poorer and sickness.
Marriage is not easy.
Many people will tell you that the first year of wedded bliss is the hardest – and we tend to agree. Regardless of the demeanor of your courtship, your marriage is likely to be a completely different relationship. For the first time in you lives, you are no longer independent. You are now a unit, the Parks’, and all of your future decisions will be made jointly. What is his is now hers, and vice versa.
You will fight, and you will cry, and there will be days when you seriously question if you made the right decision.
Despite all the challenges you will inevitably face in your marriage, you can both rest assured that the best is yet to come. Trust us old married folk when we say your whole life is about to change – in a good way. More than a unit, you are now a team. Together you will plant roots, welcome children, and create a world that is nothing but your own.
You will celebrate, and you will laugh, and you will actually wonder how you ever survived alone prior to July 12, 2014.
When we agreed to be a part of your special day, we didn’t make the decision lightly. We said “yes” because we, as your friends, truly believe in you two as a couple. We didn’t just agree to stand up beside you during your wedding, but we also promised to stand beside you in your marriage. We’re here when you need us, whenever that may be.
Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Parks. You are now official members of the “Old & Married Club.” We couldn’t be happier for you!
Love,
The Cotten Family
Courtny, Samantha, & Dorothy
Very nicely said. And thank you both for being their for Cody and Amanda. Not only today, but support them in friendship throughout their marriage.
I’ve read this post several times the and each time it makes me tear up. Such beautiful words we are all blessed to have you two in our lives.