The Bride's speech
I’M MARRIED!!!
To be honest I never really imagined I would get here. I suppose every one who gets married thinks they are the luckiest person around, but I really do.
Having spent the last four years at university studying firstly for my degree and then for my Masters, I spent most of my time focusing on the study and not on men (not much anyway). My family were very supportive and incredibly patient with me especially when I was writing work right up to the last minute before it should be handed in and then throwing a fit when I couldn’t get the work done how wanted it or the printer to function properly. But part of being a family is that they will support you in whatever you do. It’s sort of written into their contract.
So when Nathaniel came into my life quite unexpectedly he was thrown into my world which consisted of work, study and more work. He (foolishly or not) chose to become involved with this person who was commuting back and forth to Bristol every week for the first year of the relationship and it really tested us and our abilities to allow each other space to pursue a chosen career. He was one of my proof readers for my dissertation and being there to watch me receive my Masters back in February made me very proud that I had completed it and with the support of him and my family.
If it wasn’t for these really lovely ladies, Anne and Clare, (who like a gossip) then Nat and I would never have met. It was just them being in the right place at the right time that brought Nat and I together for ‘the blind date’. Nat wowed me by bringing dessert wine to have after the meal. I thought ‘wow, he’s rather cultured’. Mike set the tone for the evening by asking Nat when he was carving the meat ‘was he a leg or breast man, so I had him sussed from the start. Nerve wracking though it was, I think our first meeting went well especially when I tried to explain about my group of pottery men who hug around a candle, by putting my arms around him (I think he thought his luck was in). Obviously he wasn’t too perturbed by it and decided that I must be worth the effort because he kept coming back and we kept seeing each other whenever we could, Bristol and coursework allowing.
6 months on from our first meeting we celebrated our first 6 months together by sharing a Chinese takeaway (which is my favourite, so he knew he was onto a winner) with the people who’d got us together in the first place. Nathaniel decided to propose in front of our friends, which I thought was very brave. Obviously I accepted. I think that we both knew very early on that this was the real deal, although after our first meeting I wasn’t too sure about him and was encouraged to give him chance without the pressure of a blind date scenario. We knew that any relationship was going to be long term, especially as neither of us is getting any younger and we’d both like to settled down with someone who wants the same things. We are very lucky that that is the case.
So just over 1 year from his proposal here we are celebrating the fact that we have promised each other that we will love each other and stay together forever. I am so incredibly fortunate to have found Nat and for him not to have been frightened away by my ‘occasional’ tempers and sometimes strange sense of humour. We have spent the last year sharing our lives together and sharing many funny moments including quite a few involving the redecoration of Nat’s house. Him coming home to a hallway stripped of paper was his introduction to the Joanne way of decorating…might as well start now. He didn’t show enough resistance like Sue did. Our greatest test was the fitting of the new bathroom and the tiling of the walls, thankfully aided by Richard at the back and Rachel who is upstairs. Nat wonders what I will be asking him to do next. He did go away for his stag do with the knowledge that I was decorating his, now our bedroom. With a small army of people invading his home he went away rather apprehensively. He’s a very trusting person and it was done to his satisfaction I think. He’s glad now that the decoration is complete and he won’t have to worry about anymore upheaval. So the next thing is the garden. If anyone fancies a barbecue in June just make sure you bring your spade, shears, rake etc and there will be a burger in it for you!!
I think I’ve been a bit of a whirlwind in Nat’s life but only for the better (I hope). We have taken Ballroom dancing classes together and managed to get through 2 terms unscathed and have really enjoyed learning something together. There have been moments when I’m sure Nat could willingly have throttled me as I tried to lead the dance, told him he was starting on the wrong foot (when it was actually me) and generally falling about laughing over something entirely unrelated to dancing and not being able to dance properly.
Thankfully I haven’t been put off by his ‘liking’ of Star Wars and in fact he was most welcoming when I brought my life size 3d cardboard cut out of R2D2 to live at his house. Finally, there was a piece of Star Wars memorabilia that Nat didn’t own. I am glad though that we have finished the mountain of breakfast cereal we needed to get all the little light sabres for the favours. I don’t think I ever want to see a box of rice krispies multigrain ever again.
Fortunate, ecstatic, overjoyed, lucky, happy, delighted. Any of these words could describe how I feel about meeting Nathaniel. I really am all those things and more. I’m sure that like everything else there will be times when we have to work extra hard at out marriage but if something is worth it it’s worth working for.
Tomorrow I will move into 21 Burges Place as Mrs Joanne Reed and I am so happy to be doing that so I can spend my life with Nat. Thank you Nat for coming into my life, asking me to marry you and agreeing to be part of my life forever.
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