Before we picked the date, place, or colors, we knew we wanted to make this wedding ours. A big step of it was to surround ourselves with people that had been supporting and loving what we had from day one. This is why we chose Burke, a close mutual friend who's been there for good times, serious talks, and a bunch of laughs. We hadn't been his first wedding and we were honored he accepted.
Below is his message.
Welcome everyone!
We’ve all gathered here for to lay witness to the marriage of Matt & Amanda. This in itself is a pretty exciting thing. Matt and Amanda have come a long way to make it to this day! But while we’re here we are also carrying on a longer tradition. Marriage, unions, joining of partners in some form or another can considered to be one of the oldest traditions that humans engage in. but why?
Close your eyes with me for a second and imagine a that you are sitting on a beach, the wind is blowing softly, the waves are lapping at the shore and up the beach the reeds of grass are swaying in the wind. Interestingly the shape that is created is that of the circle. The Circle, the symbol of unity, continuity, longevity. This image is one of the oldest representations of union that exists. We then find this evolve into ideas like ying and yang, the Enso, and one of my favorite stories, one that I feel is particularly appropriate for Matt & Amanda, that of Aristophanes speech in Plato’s Symposium. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it starts when the earth was young and the gods and humans lived together. But the humans in this story were slightly different than that with which we are familiar with. They were round, had two heads, four legs, twenty toes. To the eye it was a perfect joining of two souls. These creatures lived in perfect harmony, with love for all. The gods however soon became jealous and Zeus in his might struck the creatures apart with a lightning bolt. Flung apart the newly made halves suddenly felt empty. They yearned for the companionship which with they had lost. They felt a magnetic pull to return to their former state. Forced to wander the earth they searched and searched until they found their other half, searched and searched until they regained that former state of happiness, searched and searched for their true love.
This is why we come together to get married, we are searching for that other, the split form of our complete selves. We yearn for the companionship of our original state. Like ying and yang, the balance of life is complete. This is how I feel about Matt and Amanda, they can tell you the story of how they came together, but that magnetic pull, the yearn to find that other self, is right there in their story.
Their love is really something wonderful.
Please join me in wishing them nothing but happiness as they take this next step in life.
-Burke Gardner
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