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"Amanda and Abby thoughtfully chose two readings for their special day. I am honored to present those. From The Bible in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul is writing a letter to the early church of Corinth Greece. In the book of 1Corinthians Chapter 13, many recognize, known as the love chapter. I will read verses 4-7. 4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it [b]keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The second reading, I believe to be perfectly fitting for Abby and Amanda. It is from the Ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho of the Island of Lesbos. The name Sappho, her birthplace -her representation holds a strong resonance with this beautiful couple…in the choice of their new name and depicts the powerful love they have. I will now read a fragment by Sappho. O but my delicate lover, Is she not fair as the moonlight? Has not the god of the green world, In his vast tolerant wisdom, Filled the ardours of earth with her twenty summers? Well, did he make her for loving; Well, did he mould her for beauty; Come to me now once again and release me from grueling anxiety. All that my heart longs for… fulfill. And be yourself my ally in love’s battle.

Amanda, you are the funniest, smartest, kindest, most compassionate and loving person I have ever met. I could continue to list my favorite qualities of yours well beyond our allotted time at this venue, but they have little to do with why I am marrying you. It certainly helps that you happen to be my favorite person to be around as well as the person I look up to most, but I didn’t make a checklist or a list of pros and cons before deciding I need to spend the rest of my life with you. That decision was made steadily at every juncture of our relationship. From the day at the creek where neither of us knew the other had a crush, to the first time we said i love you, to moving in together, adopting our dog, traveling across the world, you getting into med school, seeing Sasha Colby IN PERSON, to now, standing here on our wedding day. Our commitment and love has grown with every moment because of the work that you and I put into loving each other well every day. I hope that calling our love work does not subtract from the romance and deep feelings we have for each other. I was and am profoundly drawn to you, and I count myself as incredibly lucky that you are drawn to me as well. I mean our love is work in the same way that creating art is work. It takes time and effort and attention to detail but, like art, it is driven by passion, it is necessary and vital to our souls, and it is a pleasure to create with you. The way you love is intense. You want to know me deeply, deeper than I know myself. I have had moments of fear while letting you love me because I didn’t know someone could see into the depths of my soul and still say they want to move in. To be loved by you is to be laid bare, vulnerable, scared, and ashamed, and then to feel the warmth and beauty of complete acceptance. So thank you, for showing me how to love and be loved in return. You are my ally in love’s battle and I will forever be yours. Before I’m finished I should probably make some vows.. so I vow to wake you up gently every morning when you struggle to get out of bed. I vow to pack every bowl… of ice cream or otherwise. I vow to wrestle every grocery bag out of your hands, as it is my purpose. And I vow to continue my life’s work of loving you every day.

Abby Sapphie, It feels like my life first fell into place when you found me. You are the best person i have ever met and the most perfect person for me. So I’m really glad you like me back! When life inevitably brings uncertainty, please remember these words: you are the love of my lives… and you are my home. I don’t ever plan to spend a night without you. I promise to treasure and nurture that wonderful mind of yours. You are so ridiculously good at everything - and I promise to support you in achieving anything you want to achieve (including but very not limited to sheet metal journeyman, tiny house builder, drag performer, regenerative rancher, fashion design, interior design, architectural design, therapy dog handler, sheep guardian and wool producer). The common denominator in each of your dreams is to spread love and beauty to others in your own unique ways. I promise always to be your biggest fan and fiercest supporter in everything that sparks your joy, and in all future goals you’ve yet to dream of. I vow to invest in our home and our family, and to take my job as your emergency contact very seriously. I vow to love you in sickness and in health and in therapy. I promise to invest in our secure attachment. I promise to help you feel secure and safe. I promise to comfort you, reassure you, and sooth you. I promise to support you to explore and be your best self. I promise to value you. I promise to ensure you feel seen and known. The sun and moon are less significant to me now that I want to always start and end my days with you. Today you are my wife but you’ve always been my soulmate forever. I love you i love you i love you. I promise to be myself, your ally in love’s battle.

Luke 10: 27 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 1 COR 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Abby and Amanda have that love today and we are all here to celebrate THAT LOVE! BUT As that wise philosopher from Game of Thrones Tormund Giantsbane says in the Scott’s lawn commercial: “feed your lawn, FEED IT!” We say feed your love, FEED IT! Raise a glass with me as we toast Abby and Amanda And THAT LOVE; may you feed it always. ___________________________________ “Well, I will just talk really loud…that happens to be something I’m really good at!” Abby and Amanda, we love you both! We are so very proud of you! As you both head off to medical school—yes, I know it is Amanda going to medical school—but believe me, we also got married two weeks before medical school, so we know what it is like for BOTH OF YOU. IT IS HARD! But we know the two of you can do it! Abby, know that Amanda will be overwhelmed. Everyone there will be overwhelmed. You have to be understanding and supportive. Allow her space, but offer help doing flash cards. [BTW, Karlton is KING of flash cards, if you want any tips!!] Amanda, study hard, BUT search for reliable friends in the class. Get into a great study group! But also, Amanda, do not forget, there is much more to life than medical school. SCHEDULE time together and take that time. [As Steve said, you need to feed your relationship.] To you both: It is often the SMALL things that are most nourishing—make the favorite dish, pick up the favorite flower or candy bar. Take a break to walk in the favorite park. REMEMBER: love is actually more of a verb than a feeling. It is an action TO DO, even when you are grumpy or tired. When you are feeling down, often the best way to feel better is to do something kind for your spouse—even just a tiny thing. Love each other. We love you, and it is obvious that many more here who have helped and withstood this heat do, too!"

My name is Paul Beuselinck and this is my wife, Charlotte…and Amanda is our daughter. Ohhhh…she’s not our biological daughter…but she’s our daughter here…in our hearts. Going from a complete stranger to the person I consider to be my daughter…some “F-words” come to mind. When Amanda was in college, I was an advisor for an organization where she was a member. That’s where our paths crossed. One semester, Amanda became president, and that’s where our paths merged. It was a large organization of college students and you can imagine the not-too-uncommon chaos. Amanda often sought advice on how to “herd those cats” , deal with the drama, and continue being a functioning organization.. And that’s when we became FRIENDS. After she graduated, I learned more about her. Charlotte and I opened our hearts and home to her; we became close…like FAMILY …and like FAMILY, our conversations included those about her goals for her FUTURE. Those conversations soon included Abby…as her partner…a vital part of her FUTURE…and another daughter And that brings us here…today. We’re all here to celebrate our daughters’ commitment to FOREVER. So here’s to all the special 'F' words I will remember when I think of Amanda and Abby: FRIENDS, FAMILY, FUTURE, and FOREVER.

for anyone who doesn't know me, I'm from the bride's side. Just checking that everyone's paying attention I'm elizabeth and I'm a big proponent and beneficiary of the concept of "found family". For those unfamiliar, found family refers to the idea that your ongoing social supports in life don't have to be people you are biologically related to, and can be "found" along the way, or chosen. I was lucky enough to be given a wonderful biological sister early in life, but I think i've been even more lucky to acquire another sister in my late 20s in the form of Amanda. I've gotten to see Amanda more or less every workday of the past 5 years, and I don't know if I would have made it through that time without her. Honestly. I've been working on this speech for a few weeks, and I think I've tried out every positive adjective I know, and all of them apply to Amanda. She's the type of human everyone should aspire to be. Amanda will not only remember your name and face, which is like, a GOOD day for me. She'll remember your coffee order and the sports your grandchildren play. Amanda loves and takes an interest in people like nobody else I know. I've gotten to watch Amanda make some big changes over the past few years. She's not only decided to go to medical school, and studied her butt off and wrote so many application essays while working full time, She's also, in order to achieve these goals, done the sort of mental and emotional introspection and labor that most people get to the starting line of and think "no I can just live the rest of my life without addressing this". It's been very inspiring to watch. And I know so much of it is because you had Abby by your side, inspiring and supporting you too. I think a moment that sums up who Amanda is occurred when you got accepted to the first of 3 medical schools. We were celebrating and I said something like "Holy crap, dude, you're going to be a doctor!" and your response was "I'm going to be able to help my friends so much better now" which was SUCH an Amanda response. I also remember the first time the concept of Abby was presented to me. We were still in urology, and you weren't dating yet. this was a "I'm interested in this girl and want to get to know her better, but she lives in st louis and it'd be hard to date" share. It was either a picture or a video of when Abby had neon green glow in the dark hair, and I remember thinking "wow that girl is cooler than anyone I've ever met in real life" And then you two started dating. and eventually abby moved to kansas city and I got to know her too. And I found out that basically every positive adjective I can apply to Amanda also applies to abby. and I did also confirm that Abby is definitely the coolest person I've ever met in real life. she's just also very humble and kind so she'd probably disagree with me, but it's true If I had to find fault with either of you, it's that both of you are way more driven to take care of other people than to take care of yourself. Normally, that's the type of friend I have to worry about a lot, but since you married each other, I know YOU'RE gonna make sure SHE eats and YOU'RE gonna make sure SHE eats, and Levi is gonna make sure nobody scary gets within 5 feet of either of you. I love you both so much and i'm proud to consider you part of my family. I haven't fully processed the fact that in a few weeks, I"m not going to live less than 30 minutes from you. But. Just like with my biological sister and brother in law to be, I"m going to just have to bug you a lot over the phone. And expect the favor returned. I need weird med school facts and pictures of things you cook. I need every drag look Abby creates, and any other fun craft endeavors. I need to know every time Mango is naughty, which I know will be frequently. You two are my family, and 588 miles (according to google maps) of distance can't keep us apart. I love you both. To my found sisters

Hi, for those I don’t know, my name is Emma. I consider Abby more than my best friend, she is my soul sister. I can so distinctly remember the first time I saw Abby and how intimidated my 12-year-old self felt by her coolness. Without even having talked to her, she radiated an energy encompassing kindness, creativity and authenticity, I could only hope to embody someday. The thing is despite being intimidated, when we were walking down a hallway next to each other and she looked over and smiled at me. I felt an extreme sense of calm and knowing. I truly believe that was our souls recognizing each other. Despite my introverted tendencies, Abby claimed me as a friend that day. I’m not kidding, she literally gave me no choice and glued herself to my side in the most dramatic way. But I will forever be grateful to her and her persistence. I could give you a list of all the way our lives hovered near each other and intersected before we ended up in that hallway. But I also believe people who are meant to be in our lives find us at the perfect time. And that my friends is also how we ended up here today. It is so rare to find that recognition in someone like I found in Abby. And now like Abby and Amanda found in each other. And I am blessed to be such a part of that and celebrate in the love they have already worked so hard for. Amanda, you are gentle, so fiercely loyal, and have the most incredible mind that I deeply admire. First and foremost, I want to thank you for actively loving Abby. Being a safe and understand place for her to land. You and I both know how soft and gooey her heart is, thank you for having the courage to hold it with care. Secondly, thank you for adopting me into your family. You have given me unfathomable support since Abby brought you into my life. I will be forever grateful for the friendship we have developed in such a short amount of time. I am proud to call you part of my soul tribe. Abby, this is the one part of my speech that I don’t think I will ever feel certain about because words aren’t enough here. You are my person. I don’t know know where I would be in my life without you. Thank you for giving me the privilege to love you. Thank you for dragging me into your chaotic fun, for locking me in a car when I’m spiraling, for holding me when my life shattered under my feet. You have taught me so many lessons through in the past 16 years. I admire you for your unconditionally loving heart, untamed spirit and your overall badass attitude to approaching pretty much everything. I hope to be more like you when I grow up and I’m proud you are my soul sister no matter the time or distance between us. To my beautiful soul family, I know you both will continue to grow in your love and face any growing pains together. I cannot wait to watch and support while your love further blooms. It’s an honor to celebrate you, your love for each other and the energy you pour into the commitments you’ve chosen. I promise I will continue to celebrate and support you both individual and your love every single day of my life. Cheers to the Sapphies!

After the wedding - The Sapphie family (Amanda, Abby, Mango, and Levi) will be moving to Milwaukee, WI! On July 1, Amanda starts the MD Program at Medical College of Wisconsin and Abby will continue to use her creative talents as an artist and sheet metal apprentice.

Historically, traditional surnames were given and shared to define ownership rooted in patriarchal values. We chose to have a new last name as two married women: Sapphie. The name Sapphie comes from the ancient Greek poet, Sappho (~630 BC). She is regarded as one of the oldest and most prolific writers in history - becoming especially well-known and admired for her love poetry. She was from the Greek island of Lesbos and much of her poetry beautifully illuminates the love and desire between women. The English words lesbian and sapphic derive from her home island and her name. We are so proud to have a last name that originates from history's most famous lesbian!