An Open Letter To My Best Friend On Her Wedding Day

Dear best friend, my person, my partner in crime.

It feels like we’ve been speaking about this day since we first met. When we were two young twenty-somethings with the whole world at our feet, not knowing where it would take us, not knowing where we would end up. We didn’t even know, on that day I spoke to you outside our first seminar together, you with your dark purple hair and smokey eyes, that we would spend the next seven years navigating the chaos that this decade of our lives continues to bring. We didn’t know we would lean on each other for so much more than just physical support after two many $1 shots at the student bar.

But over the years, despite the miles wedged between us after graduation, we have spoken every single day, whether through voice notes, WhatsApp messages, social media memes, or phone calls late at night when our hearts felt heavy and the world felt cruel. We have laughed so hard tears rolled down our faces, and we have held each other and cried. We have spent Sunday mornings cuddled up in bed and Saturday nights being the last ones on the dance floor. We have celebrated our successes and mourned our failures. We have been each other’s support system, and we have never given up believing in each other when believing in ourselves has felt like the hardest thing in the world.

And so today, standing here beside you, watching you marry the man of your dreams fills me with so much joy. It’s always been my duty as your person to spot red flags before you, to tell you when the guy you’re dating is never going to be good enough for you. It’s my job to ensure that you never settle for even a fraction less than you deserve. But with this one, all I have ever felt for you is absolute certainty that he will make you happy for the rest of your life. I have pictured your future children with a mop of strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes, I have imagined play dates and family gatherings and the two of you napping on the sofa with your dogs, aged 80 and still blissfully in love. I have never had to worry with him, never had to question his morals or intentions. I’ve simply felt hopeful that one day, I’ll find a love like yours.

So today, my beautiful best friend, enjoy every single moment. Forget about the guests, the food, and the flower arrangements and simply be there with him. Forget about the world and let your love for each other be the only thing that guides you through this day. You spend so much of your time worrying about everyone else in your life, ensuring they’re happy, being there for them, and today, it’s all about you. Everyone in that room is there for you and for him, to share this once in a lifetime moment with you.

And me? I’ve accepted that he’s your person now too, and unlike Meredith and Cristina, I am okay with that—more than okay. Because it means that when all of these miles exist between us, you have someone there to love you and support you and eat pizza and garlic bread with at midnight when the wine has gone to your head. It means you have someone to listen to your secrets and hold your hand when life gets hard. It means you get to be the little spoon and crowd his personal space in bed without being told to move over. It means you have someone to make you laugh that infectious laugh of yours and someone who can handle you at your sassiest. It means you will always be taken care of; it means you have a teammate, a partner in crime. It means your life is not limited to just one person and you deserve a universe of love.

So I can’t promise I won’t cry today. I can’t promise I won’t pull you onto the dance floor to dance to the million of songs I requested from our university days. I can’t promise I won’t make stupid jokes about how you should have married me instead. But I will promise that I’ll remember this day forever, the day my person married the love of her life. Her McDreamy. I promise I’ll be smiling like a fool in all of your photos. I promise I’ll be by your side throughout it all. I promise to support you both for whatever adventures this new life as a married couple brings you.

I promise you this is just the beginning, and I am so excited to watch you grow into the kickass, wonderful wife I know you’ll be.