I'd like to thank everybody for coming here.
Welcome to La Cantera, San Antonio.
Welcome to the state of Texas.
For those of you who've never been here before, we're very glad to have you here to celebrate
the wedding of Alyson Evan Walker and Tom Peacock.
This is really special.
We've got Evan's family from Mexico, as well as Evan's family from Ohio.
Evan's friends from Colorado, from college at Missouri.
We've got Tom's family from New England and we're all here at San Antonio and it's just
really a blessing and we're very excited about you being here.
I hear that rain on your wedding day is good luck so I'm going to go with that.
For those of you who don't know Tom, he is one of the most goal-oriented, determined
people that I've ever met.
I knew that Evan was going to be someone who was going to be in Tom's life for a while
because this determination, almost, reached a unhealthy level.
When you have to ask your younger sister to proofread your text messages for every single
message, you know that it is really important.
When Tom and I were thinking about moving in together, we got to the point where we
were looking at apartments and we had gotten so much into the details and logistics and
I was like, "Can we just, like, stop for a minute?
Like, just humor me and, like, why do you want to move in with me?"
And, so he pulls out his phone and I was like, "Tom, now is like a really bad time to be
checking your email.
Like, please, like, put the phone away."
For the past six or seven months, as we grew to know each other, I had maintained a list
of al the little quirks of things that I had grown to love about her.
It totally caught me by surprise and I'm just staring at this list and I'm bawling at the
table and I think the waitress comes up for a minute and she was like, "Do you ... Nevermind."
I think she's behind me.
Hi.
Gorgeous.
You look pretty good yourself.
Remarkable.
I think I'll marry you.
You ready to rock?
Let's do it.
Let's rock.
The first time that Tom told Evan he loved her, Evan felt that Tom had been acting kind
of funny.
He'd been distant and she was a little annoyed with his behavior at dinner and she had enough
and she asked, "Do you want to be here?
Do you even like me?"
And, Tom shot back with, "Of course, I love you," and Evan, in her shock and embarrassment
responded with, "Ah, good one."
So, she told me this story and I told my mom that night, "Yes, Evan will marry Tom one
day."
I, Thomas Richard, take you, Alyson Evan, to be no other than yourself.
I, Alyson Evan, take you, Thomas Richard, to be no other than yourself.
Loving what I know of you.
Trusting what I do not yet know.
With respect for your integrity.
And faith in your abiding love for me.
I accept you as my lawfully wedded wife.
Through all our years.
And in all that life may bring us.
By exchanging vows and rings, you have affirmed your marriage to each other in the presence
of this company henceforth each of you will see your own experience in a new light as
your life together unfolds to.
I now pronounce that you are husband and wife.
You may kiss.
In this family, we like to celebrate.
There are only so many times you get to dress up, you get all your friends and family together,
you get to use the good china or the nice plates, put on your nice clothes, and really
enjoy some special moments and try and make some memories.
We love ceremony.
We love to have a good time and we're going to have a good time tonight.
A common misconception about big sisters is that they're the built in best friend.
Evan has been my best friend but that's because she chose it and that's how I learned to value
relationships so deeply for the ways that they influence who and how we are in the world.
These two laugh together.
They play together.
They have dance parties in the car together and they just balance each other beautifully.
So, Tom, thank you for inviting us all into your life and thank you for choosing Evan
as your lifelong best friend the way that she chose me.