May you grow old together- A Toast To my darling friends; Blessing and Tunji

It is 9pm in Dublin City. My first day on a new job and right at the bottom of a lovely bottle of White Casillero del Diablo (2021). I have decided to share the full toast I wrote for the wedding of my darling friends Blessing and Tunji!

Ladies, gentlemen and distinguished gentlepersons present. I would like to simply honour the love that brings us all here today.

My name is Joel the Friend of the Bride and Groom, and it is my privilege and great pleasure to welcome you all to this wonderful day to celebrate the wedding of Blessing and TJ. I would like to thank you all for joining us today to make this a very special and memorable occasion for them both.

It is really beautiful to see all of our Friends and Family assembled here today — kitted out in your finest and most distinguished wedding regalia — I must confess you all look awesome! Perhaps you will all look more wonderful at the bottom of this bottle of champagne I am already halfway through. A number of our guests have come from far and wide to be here with us today, taking time out of your busy schedule and leaving your daily activities to be here is a great sacrifice and I believe Blessing and TJ will always appreciate that.

I am honoured not only to call Blessing and Tunji my friends but to call them my very own family. If I were to choose three words to describe them collectively and individually, they will be magical, soulful, and kind. In all these years we have been friends, I have become closer to them and that has made me experience such amazing qualities that they possess.

We have shared so many good times and lots of laughter. I recall the first day I met TJ, I invited them to my house for dinner and I must confess, one of the bottles in my private bar had a tough run because we finished a whole bottle of Bushmills. Poor Tunji had a trip to Dublin the next morning.

I am proud of you my dear friends. The entire gang is proud of you. You guys are one of the most loving, caring and kind people I have been opportune to know. You both are driven, intelligent, and some of the most selfless people I have met, you put forth thought, effort and dedication into everything you do, and I know you both will approach your new journey the same way.

Now that love has brought you both together as one, I want you to know that Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go, so as you embark on this new journey together, I wish you all the happiness in the world”.

Finally, I would like to propose a toast to the happy couple, and I ask you to join me in raising your glasses in a toast to a very long, happy, and healthy future together. So Ladies, Gentlemen and all distinguished Gentlepersons, please rise!

It is said that a flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love. I have witnessed Tunji and Blessing blossoming and thriving in these past few years. I feel blessed to know you both. I am so happy that you, my friends, are now married and will face the future together, with hope and courage.

I love you both my darling friends and I wish you both a lifetime of joy and happiness together, and may this day be the beginning of many special memories you look back on in years to come as husband and wife.

I would like to end with this quote by novelist Emily Bronte: “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Let’s celebrate two souls that have found each other. So, please raise a glass to the happy couple. To Blessing and Tunji