I officiated a wedding and here's what I said to the bride and groom

One year ago, I officiated a friend's wedding. She's muslim, he's not. So they wanted someone who was not religious and also comfortable speaking in front of a crowd and, voila, I landed the gig. They had me say some stuff they had written and then I added my own bit. Not comedy but, well, you know. And I guess I did use the old comedy technique of commenting on the room (or, in this case, the hotel where we were all staying). Here it is:

So I was waiting for the elevator at our hotel yesterday and thinking what advice I could give to the two of you, two of the smartest people I know. And the elevator got me thinking.

For those of you not staying at our hotel, the elevators there don't have buttons. They have sensors. If you just push the button like you normally would, the elevator never comes. The sensor needs to feel your skin pressed against it.

And it occurred to me that maybe that's a lesson for the two of you as you move forward in life. See, smart people tend to rely on logic. In your life, when you face problems with each other, it's going to be tempting to try to solve them with logic. To look for a solution. To press the button.

But sometimes the best answer is to just let the other person feel your touch. To press your cheek against theirs and whisper in their ear, "I love you. No matter what, I love you." And when you do that, the elevator shows up. The doors open wide. And it can take you places that logic never could.

The poet Rumi once wrote:

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be.

So on this day I'd like to wish you a lifetime of being drunk, crazy, mischievous, and losing your mind. Remember, those are essential ingredients to any great love story.