Emily + Lachlan Proof 1

+ Lachlan

Emily + Lachlan

Emily’s vows

I, Emily Rose Woodall, take you, Lachlan Ross Neill, to be my husband.

Lachlan, I feel like I have been waiting for this day for a lifetime yet I also feel like my time in life with you has gone way too fast. I couldn’t be more grateful to be standing beside you today, respecting us as individuals, respecting our pathway so far but wholeheartedly stepping into our new chapter together as husband and wife.

In you I have found my home, my breath, my heartbeat and my future. I promise to help you come to know who you are and what you are truly capable of. I promise to help you chase your dreams, to make them our dreams and to sit with you under starry skies and dream up our future together. I will always believe in you and stand by you, ensuring I am bringing my best self to our partnership.

I promise to turn towards you, communicating openly and honestly, always with the intention of connection, respect and togetherness.

I am eternally grateful for the laughter and joy you have brought to my life, for the adventures and the kindness, for the dance moves and the cold swims, and your loving arms that are always there to support me when I need it.

I am so excited for the adventure we are embarking on. Together, I have no doubt, we will climb any mountain life throws at us.

Ka nui taku aroha ki a koe. My love for you knows no bounds.

Lachlan’s vows

I, Lachlan Ross Neill , take you, Emily Rose Woodall, to be my wife.

I join my life to yours, not merely as your husband, but as your best friend, your lover and your adventure buddy.Since the day I first saw you, I knew you were my soulmate, even if for you it took longer to realise. I love you for the way you make me feel when we’re together and I miss you so much when we’re apart.

You enrich my life and inspire me to continue to learn about myself so I can be the best person not only for me, but for us.

I will support you always, through the rough seas and the smooth waters.

I look forward to growing old with you, to adventuring with you, to laughing till my cheeks hurt and to falling in love with you more and more everyday. I hope you will always see the ring I give you today as a symbol of my commitment to you, for like the ring it is never ending and always beginning.

I promise to not only hold and protect your heart but to love you like no other, a promise I choose to keep and fulfill until my last breath.

Though the seas I travel

Take us apart

Longing for you and forever, You’re always in my heart

Words can’t express how much I love you, My love for you will never fade

The I do’s

Do you come here freely, without reservation to be loving and supportive of each other as lifelong companions, working together as a family towards all your future goals while always having each others backs?

I do

In-between the many times of joy will you remember to be patient and kind. To always keep communicating and growing in your experiences together. Promising to be honest and trusting of one another no matter what life may decide to throw at you?

I do

And above all will you strive to keep your deep connection, intimacy and laughter alive? Continue to go on and create many more of your treasured adventures and even when you are old and grey still on your swimming dates hand in hand, together at the beach?

I do

Molly’s speech

There are so many nice things I could say about who you are and the type of friend that you are. You are wonderfully adventurous and you love those around you in such a wholehearted way and our friendship is one where we can speak so openly and honestly together. We can bring all of who we are, the bad and the good to the table and I know that you will always, unfailingly, treat me with respect and positivity and 100% have my back. So that type of friendship is rare and I am so lucky to share that type of friendship, one that is rich, that is deep and that is fun as well.

So I know that you will continue to do your relationship with Lachie in such an integral way because you are such an integral friend. I also have gotten to watch, especially with your family, how you unfailingly treat those around you with so much love. Lachie I adore Emily but you adore her so much more. I am constantly blown away by the lengths that you will go to, to make her life rich and happy and exciting. Right from the beginning you have been that way, you have consistently been someone that she can trust and she can rely on. So I’m not the only one here who can see how wonderful and right you are together.

What I want to say to you both tonight is that I am so excited and thankful to be a part of your story. From the vows that you said to each other today, I get to continue to watch as you travel such fun things together. I get to watch as you are completely comfortable and truly yourself with one another. Your love is so beautiful and I am so privileged to be here today to watch you recite your vows in such a beautiful location where you promised to always swim together. A very important one. I’m just so thrilled that I get to watch you spend the rest of your lives together living out that love that you so beautifully described today.

Lional’s speech

Before I get started, you should know that I lack any real experience as a speaker. Having spent nearly 40 years living with 2 wives, 3 daughters and a son, there have been few opportunities for me to speak, let alone be heard. So, thanks for listening today. Here we are at the start of Matariki; a new year and the first day of a new married life. The stars have definitely aligned, and I am sure the Gods are smiling down on us as we celebrate this happy occasion. Collectively we have had the joy of watching Emily grow into the beautiful young woman she is today. We are so very proud of her and all her achievements. As a parent you often wonder how your children will turn out. What sort of life decisions will they make, especially those you have no control over? What friends will they choose? Who will they pick as a partner to share their life with? Will that person love and care for them as you have? Will you approve? Well, for what it’s worth Emily; we think you have made an excellent choice in Lachlan. He is a great guy, with interests, habits and values that align with ours, and he delivers us crayfish - it doesn’t get much better!

I recall the day Lachlan pulled me aside in a bar and asked if we could have a chat. We were a couple of beers in, and I thought he wanted to borrow the boat; not steal our daughter away. He nervously asked for Emily’s hand in marriage.This old-fashioned respect just shows you the type of guy he is. As they say, the rest is history, and here we all are today. We are so proud of them. We were lucky enough to recently walk the Routeburn Track with Gary and Tanya, Lachlan’s Mum and Dad, and most of our family. A baptism of fire for them, trapped on a 3 day hike with us, but a great chance to get to know one another and become friends. It’s easy to see where Lachlan gets his tenacity and life skills from. I don’t know if you believe in signs from above; but yesterday I was out in the garden when a ring-necked dove landed and sat on my shoulder for a couple of minutes before flying off. According to folklore the ring necked dove is a sign of monogamy and enduring love. Coincidence or a sign???

Lachlan & Emily, you have been lucky enough to find your soul mates in each other. Together you have had so many adventures already, and I know there will be many more to come. Your love for each other is obvious. You have aced so many obstacles getting to this day, but you just kept dealing with each and every issue as it arose. Together you made a plan and worked through it. This skill will serve you well through your married life. For what it’s worth, our advice to you is always put each other first; talk about everything openly and honestly; and remember that whilst neither of you will ever be perfect; with the strength of love, mutual respect and understanding you will be a perfect match for each other. Every wedding is special, but to see your daughter get married is something else. Emi, our walk down the aisle this afternoon is a memory I shall cherish. You looked absolutely beautiful, and I love you.

Gary’s speech

It is a pleasure to welcome family members from both sides of the marriage. I would like to pay special thanks to Lachie’s Nan Sonja, 41 years my mother in law, without whom this legacy couldn’t have happened, Lachie’s godparents Brian and Maree who have witnessed and supported the growth of a wonderful young man and to Tanya, my beautiful wife who bought this bouncing baby boy into the world. Also to Lachlan’s 3 sisters who I know love this guy to bits. He has been a loyal and loving brother. It’s great they have all made it here today. It’s wonderful to have Emily’s Gran here as well.

Having a son has been a great blessing in life. Over the years, Lachie has become his own person. Lachie is someone who really cares about people and he will always go the extra mile for the people in his life. Lachie, as your father I am very proud to know you. I have had the pleasure of watching you grow from a little baby into a wonderful young man. You cannot possibly know how proud of you and how much I love you.

Because of this, I have always wanted to see you happy. I always hoped that you would be successful in life whether it was winning a sports game as a kid or getting your dream job. No matter what, I always had your back and did whatever I could to root for you. Lachlan was a very talented rugby player in the junior grades. At one stage to have the record for the most tries scored in a season for the Marist Club Whangarei. To watch him gather the ball at the back as fullback and jink his way through the whole opposition and score was every dad’s dream.

Emily you are an exceptional person who means the world to Lachie and you hold a special place in our hearts too because you are the women who makes our son truly happy. We witnessed during our time with you walking the Routeburn track how well you work together and what a special bond you already have. Our hope for you both is that you find the same comfort in each other that Tanya and I do. If you ever feel lost, look to each other for support and guidance. When you are happy and have achieved a dream, celebrate with each other. This is only the beginning of a great journey for the 2 of you and we wish you the best of luck on this amazing adventure together. Hopefully you will surpass the 41 years that your mum and I have wrapped up so far. Just remember that’s 41 years of mother in law or in your case, mothers in law.

I have to say it never gets old, being married to the person that you love. Love one another, pay attention to each other, and learn to put the other first which sometimes may not seem necessarily obvious. Two people form an indescribable and inseparable bond that can stand the test of time. May you always love each other and be full of patience and understanding. Be honest and loyal, kind to each other, make each other laugh until you cry. Do these things and you will have a great recipe for a happy, long and successful marriage.

As Lachlan’s father, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Emily’s parents for raising such a wonderful young woman. She brings out the best in Lachie and makes him so happy and for that we are eternally grateful.

Emiel’s speech

First of all congratulations to you both. I’m glad you managed to finally get everyone together to celebrate the two of you. It’s been a trying time the few years to bring this together. Over the past 13 years of knowing Lachie we have become more like brothers than friends. So today I’m happy to welcome you Emily, not only obviously as the better half of Lachie but as a sister to the friendship.

Lachie is probably dreading what could be said with this. Theres an old saying about friendship that reads “ It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them’ and my god that couldn’t be more true for me and my boy, Lachie. I could go into all the stories that include some of the stupidity mentioned above but instead I’ll rather focus on all the smart moves he’s made.

His friendships, the relationship with his family, his career, it’s all a reflection of the incredible man he’s become.

But really, the smartest move he’s made is marrying you, Emily.

One of the best bits of advice I’ve heard at a previous wedding that stuck with and I’d like to share is..

The secret to a perfect marriage is just two sometimes imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other.

I wish you both a lifetime of love, happiness, adventures and sucess.

Hannah’s speech

Lachie you have made such an enormous difference in my life and the last couple of years watching you and Emily build this incredible romance, this incredible relationship together has been really super beautiful. I’m so happy that you finally found your person cause your pathetic and romantic and it was just so difficult watching you be heart broken by these people before, people that were unworthy of the insane amount of love that you have to give and all of this incredible integrity, and your charm and your wit and your fun and creativity. It’s really nice.

I just wanted to say thank you for bringing me along for the journey. You’ve been such an enormous part of my life and such an incredible friend, supported me over the years and you honestly changed my life. I wouldn’t be where I am without you, without your influence and without your encouragement, looking after me when I needed you to and generally understanding me in a way that a lot of other people haven’t.

We’re birthday buddies. So obviously because we share a birthday together it basically means we are twins. It’s really important to me to see how happy you are. I’m really sorry again that I can’t be there for you and Emily but I hope that this day is super beautiful and all of your people are around you to celebrate. I really look forward to coming over and making up for lost time and meeting your beautiful wife. I feel really excited. Hopefully that won’t be too far in the future but in the meantime you know that you have my love, you know that I’m here if you need me and same of course for Emily as well. I’m always here if you guys need anything just reach out and let me know.

Take care, have the best time and send me lots of photos. I love you.

Alf’s speech

I feel like I’ve always been an honorary Grandfather to this young lady. When I first met her she was 2 hours old and I could hold her in my hand. I’ve watched her grow into a beautiful bride. It’s very nice to see Emily’s grandmother here, Mrs Woodall. I think she’s the only person in the room older than me.

When I first met Lachie, it was at a picnic in One Tree Hill. He only had eyes for one girl. I saw in Lachie at the time a strong man, shoulders back, with a purpose in life. I could feel that. He’s done very well. He couldn’t have picked a better person than young Emily here. I wish you well in your marriage, may it be long, agree to disagree and don’t hold grudges.

I’d like to express my feelings when I was asked to do this, what a privilege. Thank you God for bringing Lachie and Emily together in such a happy way. In God our Father I wish a blessing on you two and bless everybody else in the place. As they explore their love for each other, establish a home and build a life together may they be strengthened by the love of those gathered here today. I’d like everybody to charge their glasses. I’d like to toast to these two. May their marriage be as happy as mine has been. I’d like to bless the food we are about to receive in this beautiful venue here. Best of luck to you all, love you very much, thank you.

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