In lieu of a typical blog post I am going to share the Maid of Honor speech I gave at Kadie and Mandy's wedding day.

 

Hello. For those of you who do not know me, I, infact, am not Kadie. 

 

My name is Hannah. Exactly 741 days ago, I had the pleasure of taking Kadie and Mandy’s engagement photos… and I haven’t been able to get rid of them since. 

 

Back track a couple of months prior, I posted a giveaway for a couple's session. I “very randomly” selected Kadie to be the winner. Let’s be real, I just thought Kadie and Mandy were a super cute couple, and I maybe selfishly wanted to photograph them. Little did I know I would gain friends for life with that little giveaway. 

 

At their session, Kadie, Mandy, my now wife Leah, and I all hit it off and uhauled our friendship in true lesbian fashion. Kadie and Mandy moved 30+ minutes away from home to live at the end of our street. Honestly, they would’ve moved into our house if we let them. We are now to the point that the four of us are collectively known as the Botkins (the Bono-Watkins). 

 

I also recently found out that Mandy was reluctant to want to do their, FREE mind you, engagement session and if that doesn’t sum up my relationship with her I don’t know what will. 

 

Mandy. You are like my little sister I never wanted, we bicker and make fun of each other just like sisters but at the end of the day, we can feel the love. I don’t think our bickering will change anytime soon. I look forward to continuing our weird dynamic into both of our separate married lives until the point that our future kids learn the healthy bickering sibling relationship from us.

 

Now, Kadie. Looking all dapper in your green suit, copy cat. I love you. I love our friendship. I love having someone in my life who is just like me. Neither of us had that growing up throughout high school and college. Someone to share a closet with and figure out how to dress ourselves to match our femmes. Being your friend is like always having freshly grated parmesan on top of your chicken pasta. Being your friend has made my life fuller, louder, and so much better. I’m endlessly grateful for you and our friendship. 

 

When I started working on this speech, um well 13 days ago I asked them if they wanted to laugh or cry to which they said both. More specifically, Kadie said she loves sentimental things but knows I am a goofy goober. And that is what I love about Kadie, her sentimental side, and her goofy side (especially after a couple angries *cheers*). 

 

So now, in all seriousness, I hope you both know how special you are. Individually and together, you are absolutely amazing people, and I am so happy to be in your lives and standing up here today.

 

Thank you for choosing and trusting me to be not only your masc of honor but kind of still your wedding photographer. 

You both are the weirdest people that I know. My hope for you both in your married lives is that you never lose your goofiness and playful young mindset. But underneath all that goofiness is something really beautiful. There is a deep love for each other, a love that feels rock-solid. You can tell just by being around you guys, you are each other’s person, you are each other’s home.

 

Now if you can all raise a glass in honor of granola’s parents finally getting married! Cheers to the Botkins, I mean the Bonos!