Happy Spouse, Happy House

It's not easy finding the right words for a Best Man speech, but here was my attempt for my brother's wedding this past Friday. 

Friday, December 1, 2017

Good evening everyone. My name is Jesse. I am the best man and brother of the groom. To be clear, I’m his actual blood related brother; we share the same parents. I just wanted to clarify in case you thought we’re frat brothers. I know there are some here tonight. And some people think we look alike. But I don’t see it.

Anyway, we know many of you have traveled from near and far to celebrate the bride and groom, and on behalf of the happy couple we’re thankful you are all here today.

For those of you who were at my wedding, you know that my brother thinks that I’m pretty good at thinking on the fly or making an impromptu speech. For those of you who weren’t there, you’ll be amused to know that Dave conveniently misplaced my vows somewhere, so I had to really draw on my memory to find words similar to what I’d previously written more eloquently.

I thought about doing this speech on the fly too, but then decided against it because I wanted to share some insights that I thought would be helpful.

Now that I’ve been married for nearly 3 years, I’m going to offer you both 3 pieces of advice / insight.

1. Communication is a 2-way street. Learn to look both ways, proceed with caution, and signal when you decide to take a turn. Listening is equally as important, so don’t tune out the honking horn behind you or the wailing sirens approaching you.
2. You’re going to fight; it’s inevitable. But learn how to apologize when you’re wrong (and sometimes even when you’re not wrong), and look at things from the other person’s perspective to appreciate his/her reasoning.
3. Enjoy each other. Marriage is hard work, but find time to laugh, have fun, and be intimate. Your hard work together deserves some rest and relaxation. 

Dave – Most of the time, you don’t heed my advice. And I still don’t mind giving it to you. But try to keep these in mind. Melissa – take this as my first of many insight offerings.

You may wonder why I didn’t offer the typical “happy wife, happy life” saying as a piece of advice. It’s because I believe in a more equally familial mantra that goes like this, “Happy Spouse, Happy House!”

May you both share many years of life together of happiness and joy.

Cheers!