儿子婚礼上的父母赠言
文章来源: 混迹花草中的灰蘑菇2023-09-15 03:18:02

N年的爱情长跑,儿子决定要结婚了。原本计划2022年婚礼,但因为疫情导致许多人的婚礼延迟,他们心仪的酒店不能在他们想要的日子让他们包场,所以就延到了2023年。我们因为这一延期蒙福:不再受疫情政策影响,国内的亲友团得以成行来参加婚礼。

婚礼在阳光明媚的6月1日,在英国南部一个国家森林公园中的城堡酒店举行。这是酒店的入口和外景:

多了一年时间准备,喜欢设计的花儿就精心考虑了每一个细节,从场地布置、摄影团队选择、程序和流程、用餐等等,精致到连饮料的搅拌棒都是用她的猫儿照片特制的。两年前定的日期,万事都可以计划安排,唯有天气不是人能预备的。在连绵阴雨从四月延续到几乎是5月的时候,婚礼前后两周都是蓝天白云的完美天气,不仅让婚礼美丽感人,更给了我们陪伴家人们游览英国景色的美好时光。

上几张酒店和婚礼场景照片吧。酒店外面的花园:

婚礼现场的一些装饰:(在回复林兄的时候问小儿子婚礼那天晚上他们一帮年轻人起哄喝的什么,他说Tequila: 按传统的庆典场合的喝法,在手背上放上盐,取一片lime,先舔盐、喝酒,然后吃lime. 难怪下面右上角的图中他们拿着小盐瓶子呢:))

正式婚礼仪式在花园尽头举行:

那天晚上,嫦娥也来送上祝福:

和家人们在一起的10天时间,我们用尽洪荒之力分享我们在英国几十年所独享的美景和美食。一切的美好与幸福,都因为能与亲爱的家人们分享而成为完美。

可爱的小甜心当了小花童.

家里人有来过英国的、也有没来过的,因此除了经典的几个城市和我上篇介绍的七姐妹白崖,还去了美丽的英格兰乡村 (Cotswolds):

一般英国的婚礼是新娘的爸爸致辞,但花儿的爸爸放弃这一特权,让我们占了‘便宜’。两儿子对爸爸致辞有点紧张,因为爸爸的幽默比较天马行空,难保不会爆出让他们难堪的儿时囧事、或让客人不适的什么政治不正确的调侃,不过我保证全程参与稿子的准备,这让孩子们松了口气。我和教练一起用心写了下面的言简意赅的致辞,赠言是给孩子们的,其实何尝不是给我们自己的。

考虑到来宾的中英文背景,致辞是中英文一段一段地交替的。爸爸在开场白中调侃孩子们不放心,致辞是他和我一起准备的,并且他签了‘不脱稿协议’(引起哄堂大笑)。除此之外,他的确遵守‘协议’,没有脱稿~~为阅读的连贯,我先贴完英文再贴中文。

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Dear friends and families, 

We are gathered here today, in the sight of God, to celebrate the union of Huaer and Shaner. Together with Huaer’s parents and on behalf of Grandpa in China, we welcome and thank all of you who have come to witness the promise that these two young people have made to one another. You come from different parts of the UK and the world, with some coming from as far as HK, mainland China and Australia. Grandpa, Grandma, uncles and aunties, those in China who couldn’t join us today, have also sent their blessings. Thank you all so much.

In particular, we would like to thank Huaer’s parents, Mr and Mrs X. Because of your hard work, our dream has become true: we finally have a beautiful, intelligent and kind girl as our daughter. (don’t worry, S (水儿), we still love you~~).

We have known Huaer for more than 10 years. We may be allowed to say that we have seen her grown up. We are so grateful to her as she has always been there for Shaner in his journey from a student to a doctor. 

We wanted to thank Shaner as well. As our eldest son, Shaner has followed us from China to the UK. We have been very proud of him. He has not only kept in touch with old friends, (we have his primary school friends from China today), but also made new friends and has become well established in his career. Today, he and Huaer have opened a new chapter in their lives. Shaner has always been, and will always be, a dear son close to our hearts, and a dear brother and role model to S.

Taking this opportunity, as parents with 30 years of marriage, we would like to offer one piece of advice to Huaer and Shaner, that is, Be Kind to Yourself and to Each Other. We do not have to say that you should love each other, because that is why we are here. It is your love that we are witnessing and celebrating. There is no need for us to tell you that you should love your families and friends. I am sure the guests will agree with us that we have all enjoyed your love and friendship. We love you and are proud of you for that. 

However, kindness is something we offer generously to our friends, even strangers, but sometimes forget to our loved ones, especially in our humble daily lives. Huaer and Shaner, we hope you remember to be kind to yourselves and to each other, in your big days and happy moments as well as in your not-so-perfect days. 

May you always love each other, be full of patience and understanding, and be honest, loyal and kind to each other. 

This is only the beginning of a great journey for the two of you. God bless you! God bless all of us!

亲爱的家人和朋友们,我们今天齐聚在这里,在神的恩典中庆祝花儿和山儿的结合。和花儿的父母一起,也代表在中国的爷爷,我们欢迎大家,感谢各位舟车劳顿、远道而来见证他们俩对彼此许下诺言。大家从英国乃至世界的不同地方来到这里,在座的有来自香港、中国大陆和澳大利亚的。还有今天不能来到我们中间的爷爷、外婆、舅舅、小姑等其他家人们也都遥寄了他们的祝福。谢谢大家的厚爱。

我们要特别感谢花儿的父母,X先生和X太太,因为你们养育女儿的辛劳,我们今天才能美梦成真,拥有了一位一直期盼的美丽、聪明又友善的女儿 (水儿,别担心,我们仍然爱你~~)。

我们认识花儿也有10多年了,在一定程度上也可以说是看着她长大。我们对她心存感激,因为在山儿从一个学生到医生的成长历程中,一直有花儿的陪伴。

我们也要谢谢山儿。作为我们的大儿子,山儿随同我们从中国来到英国,我们特别为他骄傲的是,他不仅保持了和中国的老朋友的友谊,(今天在座的就有来自中国的他的小学同学),也在新的地方结交了新朋友,开启了职业生涯,而现在,他和花儿要携手开启生活的新篇章。山儿一直是,也永远会是,贴近我们心坎的亲爱的儿子,是水儿的亲爱兄长和榜样。

借此机会,作为结婚30年的父母,我们想给山儿和花儿一点建议,那就是,要善待自己、善待彼此。我们不用叮嘱你们要彼此相爱,因为那是我们今天为什么聚集在这里,我们在这里见证和庆祝你们的相爱。我们也用不着来告诉你们要爱家人和朋友,我相信所有的来宾都会同意,作为家人和朋友,我们享受了你们的爱和友谊。为此,我们爱你们,为你们骄傲。

然而,我们常常慷慨的善待朋友、甚至陌生人,在柴米油盐的日常生活中却容易忘记要善待我们身边的所爱的人。我们希望花儿和山儿记得,无论是在幸福、顺心的时光中,还是在不那么完美的日子里,都要善待自己、善待彼此。

祝愿你们永远相亲相爱、相互理解和支持、诚实忠诚的善待彼此。

这是你们两人携手共行的美好旅程的开始,愿神恩待祝福你们,愿神恩待祝福我们所有人!

谢谢读帖,最后以花儿的花儿祝大家周五周末愉快!(花儿戴上学位帽庆祝山儿提前通过住院医的所有资格考试,成为了英国皇家眼科医师学会(The Royal College of Ophthalmologists)的正式成员(fellow))(补充记录:要成为RCO的fellow,得在医学院毕业、全科医生两年后,再在眼科医生的七年住院医专科训练中通过四次大考,最后一次是一个两天的包括理论和实践的考试。每一次考试只有50-60%的通过率,而山儿四次考试都是一次通过,所以在住院医的第五个年头就通过了所有考试,非常傲人的成绩)