This blog has technically moved, but I wanted a place to document a heartfelt speech I wrote for one of my bests on her wedding day on 12.31.16. It was a magical New Year's. Secretly (well, not so secretly anymore), I love writing wedding speeches for my soul sisters. Especially when they find a love that is oh-so-very-right.
Here goes...
Hi Everyone! I’m Gina Martini, and thanks to Mar and the Ousmans, I’m also referred to as Rose, Suzy Star, Suz, Stevie Nicks, and my personal favorite, Gina Ousman. One year Mimi even sent me my own version of the Ousman family Christmas card. On the front there’s a sibling picture of the four of us, and inside it reads ‘Merry Christmas & Season’s Greetings… Love, The Ousman Family (Mimi, Jim, Jamie, Gina, Maryly, & Nick). Now, I swear I have my own family (who are here), but I think for a while they were seriously concerned I wanted to disown them and become an Ousman! I tell you this just to share just how much I love them and how they’ve always been a second family to me.
I’ve known Mar since we were about 5 years old. Our friendship started carpooling to dance and grew over sour watermelons at Fudge Alley. We’ve been dancing, bump-set-spiking, walking, running, swimming, singing, road tripping, and laughing side by side to each other for nearly 25 years. We’ve truly been through every single life milestone together including our over-plucked eyebrow phase, which is a rite of passage, let’s be honest. Thank gosh that phase is over. When we were 16 we even made up our own secret word called ‘sakoosh,’ to describe a feeling that nobody else could possibly understand but us. (Yes, these were the weird things we did when we were young along with spend way too much of our free time at Linda Evans and eating Yogurt Park). Mar is the person I call about everything in life, good or bad. She’s the best listener I know and sometimes I think she understands me better than I understand myself! One of her many gifts is making life so much fun and I am so lucky to be on the receiving end of her friendship. She’s more than my friend, she’s my sister.
So, Scott, you better believe we’ve been waiting for your arrival for a LONG time. We also spent a lot of our free time choosing who our bridesmaids would be, what our kids names were going to be, and where our vacation houses would be long before a guy was ever in the picture! All I can say is, thank you for finally arriving!
I have one quick story I want to tell about Mar and Scott. I had the pleasure of talking to Mar on her way to meet Scott for their first date. It was a Sunday afternoon in February of 2014. I was living in New York City at the time and doing normal Sunday things like laundry and tootling around the house. Mar calls to chat and tell me that she’s, ‘Going on a date with this guy Scott Suiter that Miriam has been trying to set me up with forever.’ She tells me she’s going to get deli sandwiches and sit at Marina green. ‘Cute first date!’ I tell her, and that she has to let me know how it goes after. So I go about my business on that Sunday afternoon, and before I can even finish folding a load of laundry I get a call back from Mar. It can’t have been more than 45 minutes. ‘Mar?’ I answer. ‘Are you already done with your date?’ Needless to say Scott may have been a liiiitle nervous and they had literally ‘eaten and run.’ ‘I don’t know Gean, he didn’t say much.’
Fast forward about 3 months to June 2014. I did a little digging in the Gchat archives and found a very special conversation between Mar and I. Yes, this is documented. It’s from Monday, June 2nd 2014 at 1:38pm. Mar says, ‘I went to Bottle Rock with Scott yesterday!’ I respond in all caps ‘HOW WAS IT!?’ And Mar responds. ‘Good! I like have a boyfriend I think, Geans.’ Me again (in all caps), ‘STOP IT.’ There’s a couple more chats back and forth saying really sweet things about what a great guy Scott is, and then at 1:39pm on Monday, June 2nd 2014, Mar says to me… ‘And he doesn’t bug me at all!!!!!!!’ With count it… 7 exclamation points.
Scott, I knew you were ‘it’ then. All of us who know and love Mar know that these words had never been uttered from her mouth about any other guy before. It’s one of the biggest compliments you could have possibly received. I’m so glad you got over your nerves and that we’re here now at your wedding weekend and that I get to give this speech and say without a doubt that there’s no one more perfect for my sister, Mar.
You check more boxes than we ever dreamed up when we were little including ‘will drink wine with me on Monday nights while watching the Bachelor and be totally into it.’
I love you both so much and I’m SO happy you found each other. So cheers, to Mar & Scott, to a lifetime of happiness!
