Wedding speech examples sorted the way you’d look for them

For twenty-six years, Ellen kept a list on our fridge of things Abby said that made her laugh.

It started when Abby was three and told the pediatrician she was "mostly fine, but tired of everybody." By the end it ran to four pages, held up with a magnet shaped like a lobster. I'm Steve, Abby's dad. I brought the list tonight, because Ellen would want to be part of this, and this is the best way I know to bring her.

I won't read all of it. Just the last one Ellen wrote down, three years ago, from her hospital bed. Abby had been reading to her all afternoon, and when the nurse asked Abby if she needed a break, Abby said, "No, it's my turn."

That's our daughter. She takes her turn.

Sean, you've taken yours too. When Abby couldn't face packing up her mom's things, you did it with her, one box every weekend, for four months, and you never once asked when it would be done.

Abby, I'm adding one to the list tonight. This morning you told me, "Dad, don't make everyone cry." Sweetheart, I think it's too late.

Please raise your glasses to Abby and Sean. And to Ellen.

For eleven years, it was just Jade and me, and a green Honda Civic whose back window stopped rolling down in 2014.

We drove that car everywhere. To school, to her swim meets at six in the morning, to my second job on weekends, where she'd do her homework in the passenger seat. We had one rule in that car: whoever was sad got to pick the music. Some years, I picked a lot.

I'm Helen, Jade's mom. I raised her on my own, and the truth is, a lot of the time she was raising me too. The year I lost my job, when she was fourteen, she made a budget on notebook paper and taped it to the fridge. It had a line for fun money. It said two dollars.

Connor, the first time you came over, you asked if you could borrow the Honda keys. I thought you were leaving. You went out to the driveway with a screwdriver and a video on your phone, and an hour later, the back window rolled down. It hadn't moved in ten years. Jade cried. I cried. You pretended not to see.

Jim and Sheila, thank you for welcoming us so completely. Jade has never had a big family. She has one now.

Jade, tonight you get to pick the music.

Please raise your glasses to Jade and Connor.

Everything on your plate tonight, I made. All six pans of lasagna. Nico told me to get it catered. I told him I'd think about it, and then I didn't.

I'm Teresa, Nico's mom, and welcome to our family's dinner. Mike and Laura, thank you for sharing this weekend with us, and everyone who flew in, thank you. There's more in the kitchen, and I will be checking your plates.

When Nico was ten, he tried to make me lasagna for my birthday. He forgot the noodles. It was a very large pan of sauce and cheese. I had two helpings and told him it was the best lasagna I'd ever eaten, and he's been cooking for the people he loves ever since.

Alex, last Christmas I watched the two of you in my kitchen, and you were the one making the lasagna while Nico stood next to you and handed you the noodles. Every single one. Nobody is forgetting them again.

Tomorrow is the big day. Tonight, eat.

Please raise your glasses to Alex and Nico.