Brea Jones

I joined Golden Gate Toastmasters this spring knowing I would give a toast at my sister’s wedding. Two other people joined with the same mission, and all of us have definitely improved our public speaking.

Delivering my Maid of Honor speech.

Toastmasters even gave me an opportunity to practice before the event! When a speaker dropped out at the last second on Wednesday, I had a chance to deliver a speech about Jarma’s piratical wedding and finished the speech with my toast. I won Best Speaker for the first time that day, but more important than the accolades was that this opportunity showed me how people would react to the toast and ways I could improve it.

When I stood before about 150 people dressed as a pirate wench on Saturday, I was confident I could use the humor and poise I learned at Toastmasters for my 1-minute Maid of Honor toast. Here it went:

In preschool we learned:

“Make new friends and keep the old
Some are silver, others gold”

Jarma and Justin are the gold kind of friends.

When Jarma first introduced me to her friend Justin,
I never would have thought he would one day be my brother. [pause]

But after 14 years, she definitely knows what she’s getting into. [pause]

And he knows her loving kindness, her quick wit, and her devotion to him.

Every other member of Jarma’s bridal party has known her for more than half their lives.
We all watched as Jarma and Justin’s friendship turned into a marriage.

Jarma, left, and I before boarding The Gaslight in Sausalito.

So here we are, dressed in pirate garb to celebrate their nuptials.

Love and laughter
Meat and mead
Friends and family

May the joys of today
Be those of tomorrow
The goblets of life
Hold no dregs of sorry

Whether the waters ahead
Be smooth or rough
May the wind fill your sails
May your love be enough. [pause]

To Jarma and Justin! [pause]
Drink up me hearties!