Brooke + Charles
Brooke + Charles FEBRUARY 26, 2021 T H E W I N E H O U S E , Q U E E N S TOW N
Words from our celebrant For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Caroline, and for those of you that do but are wondering what on ear th I’m doing up here, let me explain. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Brooke for the past 14 years and Charles for the past 12, where we met through ex-par tners. After introducing the couple, I’ve watched Brooke and Charles’ relationship begin with flir tatious nights in Ponsonby and strengthen through ups and downs to the couple standing in front of us today. I have known you both with and without each other, and can honestly say you bring out the best, and complement each other perfectly. When I was asked at their Engagement Par ty if I would make their relationship official, I had to check in the next day that they weren’t joking as I wasn’t a celebrant! However, one Celebrant Licence later, it is beyond humbling and my absolute privilege to be leading the ceremony today.
Brooke’s Vows Charles, you are my best friend, my other half and I cannot wait to be your wife. Life on the other side of the world together has been the best experience in my life so far. Together we have travelled to many amazing places, made great friends, ate a lot of food and drunk even more. There is nobody I would have rather shared those times with. I would not be where I am today without your sense of adventure, encouragement and love, instead I would defiantly still be lost in Milan with Lauren, looking for our bus stop. Charles, I choose you to spend the rest of my life with and I promise to love you today, tomorrow, and forever I will laugh with you, cr y with you and suppor t you through the good days and the bad. I promise to say please & thank you and to attend to any insects when they creep their way into our home. I promise to tr y to understand your taste in TV shows, and to love you when you leave dishes in the sink, rather than in the dishwasher. Charles, marriage lets you annoy one special person for the rest of their life and I am so happy that you picked me. We have already had many life experiences together and I look forward to continue on the path of life with you as Mr & Mrs.
Charles’ Vows Brooke, thank you for saying yes. You have given me direction and purpose and I consider myself ver y lucky and happy to be standing here today to marr y the love of my life. I promise not to to make fun of our chonky dog and not to make up hilarious songs about you constantly. I will always put my dishes away and keep the lid down. I promise not be “the most annoying person you have ever met” but most impor tantly, star ting right now, I won’t make promises I can’t keep. I give you all that I have and that I am and dedicate my life to making yours better. I will always be there to protect you, comfor t you, share in the good times and the bad and love you unconditionally now and forever.
Maid of Honour’s Speech My beautiful baby sister- You stood next to me 9 years ago as my maid of honor and I couldn’t be happier to have bought you to the alter alongside your gorgeous friends Lauren and Alisha to marr y your Prince Charles today. It has been such an amazing day, filled with so many laughs and happiness. What a handsome husband you have. The groomsmen are looking bloody great too- I am sure if Charlie ever turns gay he has a few good options… just send them off on a yacht in there chinos and they will have a gay old time. It was a close call whether I would actually get the call up to be maid of honour tonight, with brooke and chalies first baby girl Stella looking like she could take the title at any stage, Brookie I admire your incredible mothering to date. Jesus I’m scared for when you bir th a human you are going to find it hard to live up to being that perfect mother you are all the time… I admit I am pretty hopeless with your four legged friend but don’t worr y aunty Jamie will be right in there when your actual baby arrives. There is one thing for sure these island boys produce great looking babies! I am so proud of my Brookie, how beautiful does she look tonight… her dress is ever ything she ever wanted and I loved being apar t of the process of having this made alongside Mum to make sure she was the best version of herself for her man tonight. Charlie you can thank me for the amount of leg you got to see down the aisle! You can rely on her crazy older sister to spice things up!! I have had some amazing times travelling with Brookie and Charlie we had an amazing trip to Morocco where Charlie was treated like a king and us girls were basically looked at like slaves… us girls don’t plan on going back to Morocco anytime soon, so it looks like it’s back to reality from here on in. From a man who has lost his father at a young age and being a single child I would like to take this chance to officially welcome Charlie into our family… you have unfor tunately landed yourself into a whole bunch of crazy good times. You couldn’t fit in better if you tried, we absolutely love you and there is no escaping us now. Brookie, I love you more than ever, I am so proud of you, you are the most loyal sister and friend. if you ever need anything, just ask. I wish you both a long life together of love, laughter and happiness ever after.
Best Man’s Speech My name is Kieran Carr and out of all the thousands of men that have touched Charles in his life, I’m glad I finally get the recognition that I am the best one. My job as best man tonight, is to say a few things about the most wonderful, caring man in Brooke’s life, but today isn’t about me, so I’ve written a speech more about Charles instead. Firstly I’d like to thank Peter, Tammy, Charles Snr, Colleen and ever yone else who had a hand in raising these two Amazing humans. A thank you, to ever yone who has travelled from all over NZ & the world, it’s truly amazing how far people will travel for a free meal and a bar tab. There’s a cer tain bit of wedding etiquette we guests have to follow. No woman should look better than the bride. And no man should look better than the groom. And while the bridesmaid looks absolutely amazing, no one has come close to how bright you shine Brooke, you look beautiful tonight. And Charles, well what can I say, if you wanted to be the best looking man in the room, you shouldn’t have chosen such a damn good looking set of groomsmen. Finally, Brooke, on behalf of Charles I would like to thank you for actually turning up today. I know it must have been a tough decision but I know you’ve made the right choice. I have known Charles for 20 years now, since Auckland Normal Intermediate school aka ANIS, but got close after High school. Charles was looking for a Job, so being an amazing friend I put in a good word for him at a restaurant in the viaduct called Pontoon. Working together in those early days was great, many shifts ended with Charles and I walking home, stopping to have rap battles in bus stops while eating Wendy’s chicken nuggets. I should have known that getting Charles this job, with his incredible work ethic & intelligence, would result in him quickly becoming a manager, and I also should have known that with his new managerial powers he would exploit them and order me to unclog a number of blocked toilets at 2am after a 15 hour shift. We have lived together, we have travelled together far and wide. To exotic locations like Croatia, Norway and Poland. We have even travelled to dangerous locations, like Manurewa & Papatoetoe. Through so many years we have laughed together, and we have cried together. Tears of joy, and tears of sadness. Charles has always been there for me, even when I pooped my pants. I could go into all the funny stories that include some of our stupidity, BUT IM NOT ALLOWED. We fight like brothers, compete like rivals, argue like a married couple, and I will always forgive him, even when he referred to himself as the Harr y Potter of our friendship group, I still managed to move on, eventually. And I have never had any doubt that Charles will always have my back. When I first heard of Brooke, Charles described her as the “female version of himself ” which prompted confusing images of another slightly tanned, curly hair afro guy who couldn’t grow a beard, but loved to dance. What is clear Brooke, you have made Charles happy in ways I never could. Brooke, when we met though, you accepted me from the first moment, I Never had to impress you, and never had to tr y to be anything but myself. You give people the benefit of the doubt, that if they are friends with Charles, they are amazing people. Tonight I see a room full of these wonderful people that share the same deep love for you that you have always given to others. This is also proof that even from the star t of their relationship, Brooke was always right about ever ything. A notion no doubt that Charles will continue to familiarise himself with as time goes on “Brooke, you are a wonderful, caring woman who deser ves a wonderful, caring husband. And luckily for Charles, he married you first before you could find that guy. Brooke, day by day you become more of a loving, caring, honest person, you have become more confident and self-assured. And Charles you have become more caring and empathetic, and more comfor table in your own skin than I have ever seen you. What I love the most though, is how you are together. The pure authentic love that you hold for each other is inspiring. You know you have met your soulmate when you bring out the best versions of each other for all to see. With that I would like ever yone to charge their glasses. To two of my best friends, the new Mr and Mrs Chute, wishing you all the wealth, health and happiness in the world which is nothing shor t of what you both deser ve. To the bride and groom.
Groom’s Speech Welcome ever yone. I hope you are having a good time so far and following in the good example I have set when attending weddings. For those who haven’ been to a wedding before here are Charlie’s top tips to sur viving a wedding: 1. Don’t star t a boat race with the entire table. Grow up. 2. If you find someone just as fun as you that you haven’t met before, stay away. You have enough friends 3. Don’t fall out of the bus 4. If you do all of those things anyway, make sure you can back it up the next day. To the groomsmen, thank you for all of your help, not only through prepping me for today and returning me in one piece after the stag, but for all of the years of friendship. Bridesmaids, you all look fantastic! Thank you for being there for Brooke and helping her down the aisle. I know she really appreciates all of your love and suppor t. A toast to the bridal par ty! Would also like to thank our celebrant and more impor tantly good friend Caro who not only married us but also initially introduced us. Thank you for the beautiful words today! Also like to say thanks to the winehouse team, for taking care of us tonight. Thank you to ever yone who travelled to get here today, which is all of you in this instance. We truly appreciate you all being here today to celebrate with us and so happy we could share our day with you all. Apologies for the Friday wedding but really we were thinking of you and wanted you all to have an extra day off work. You’re welcome There are a lot of guests who can’t be here today, most are stuck overseas due to travel restrictions and some who have passed on. My Uncle Simon who was like a second father to me and my father Brooks, who unfor tunately never got the chance to meet Brooke but he would of loved her, especially how happy she makes me. A toast to absent friends and family! Thank you to my mum Coleen for ever ything you do and for always being there for me. You have been my mum and my dad for the past 14 years and are always proud with what I have achieved both at work and in my life so far. Tammy, thank you for all the great meals, trips to Whanga, looking after our pup and for taking me in when we first came back to NZ. Unfor tunately your cooking skills never passed on to Brooke but keeping a home tidy and feeling comfor table and welcoming cer tainly has. Peter and Sarndra thank you for the boat trips, lion reds, good times and sharing your homes, time and advice with me. You all have contributed to not only raising a strong and beautiful woman but have also made today possible for us. Thank you. I appreciate the acceptance into your family and thank you for making me feel welcome. Brooke and I have been lucky enough to travel to many places together and spend 2 years of our life in London, something I may never have done if I didn’t follow her over. We decided to settle back in NZ and returned home and in those 2 ish years bought our first home and brought Stella into our lives. Yes, of course the dog gets a mention. We have shared many bottles of wine, stories, sadness and laughter with friends and family and though that is not the full sum of our lives together we are truly grateful and now after all of that I get to call her my wife and the next chapter star ts! And what a stunning wife you are! I am ver y lucky to be living my dream. Thank you for all the time and effor t you spent organising our wedding, you have done an amazing job and continue to show that you can do whatever you want. For those of you who were asking yes, the signing pen was all me. Brooke you take care of me ever y day and put up with me and my job when it takes it out of me. You challenge me, excite me, annoy me, love me and you make me a better person. You make me truly proud and I am so excited to continue living by your side as your husband. Charge your glasses and share in a toast to my beautiful wife!
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