Jodie & Paul

The Tiles

I’d like to tell you a little about the gift you’re holding.

It’s just a small piece of oak… but it has a story.

That tree grew about five hundred metres from where we’re standing tonight. Years ago, I cut it down, milled it into lumber, stacked it, and then… waited. For almost ten years it sat drying, waiting for the right purpose. When the time came, I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it.

Every one of these tiles came from that same tree. They all share the same roots…
…but every single one is unique.

The grain is different.
The colour is different.
The knots are different.
The edges are different.

Just like the people here today.

I decided not to square off the edges or sand away all of the imperfections. I wanted them to stay honest. Because that’s how life is.

As I was making them, some of the corners broke away. At first, I thought I’d glue them back on. Instead, I kept the pieces.

If your tile has a missing corner, there’s a good chance the matching piece is waiting for you in the little box over there. But not every missing piece is in that box. Some disappeared into the sawdust. Some were lost forever. And I decided to leave it that way.

Because that’s life too.

None of us gets through life without losing pieces of ourselves. Sometimes we find them again. Sometimes someone helps us put them back where they belong. And sometimes they’re simply gone.

But those missing pieces don’t make us less beautiful. They don’t make us less valuable. If anything, they become part of our story.

Marriage isn’t about finding someone who’s perfect. It’s about finding someone who loves you with your rough edges, your repaired places, and even the pieces that can never be replaced.

So if your tile is missing a corner, I hope you’ll go looking for it before you leave tonight. And if you find it… Maybe wait a little while before you glue it back on.

Sometimes it’s nice to remember that we’re all works in progress.