Tom had been best man at exactly one wedding before this one, and that time he'd given a safe choice — a nice bottle of wine and a gift card.
This time felt different. These were his closest friends. People who'd been together for seven years before finally getting married. People who, as Tom put it, "already have everything and also don't need anything."
He spent two weeks trying to think of something that wouldn't feel like a placeholder.
A friend mentioned Printale in passing — she'd ordered one for her anniversary and described it as "the best gift I've ever given." Tom looked it up that same evening.
The idea landed immediately. A custom movie poster for Jess and Daniel. Something that told their actual story — not a generic romantic print, but something that only they would understand.
He knew their story well enough to fill in every detail. The city where they met. The bar where Daniel had finally asked Jess out (after two years of being just friends). The trip they'd taken when they both knew it was serious. The inside joke that had become their thing.
The tagline he landed on: "Seven years in the making. Worth every scene."
He gave it to them at the reception, after the speeches.
The room had been loud and full of people. When Jess pulled the paper away and held it up, everything went quiet for a moment.
Then someone at the back shouted "Frame that immediately," and the room laughed, and Jess was already crying.
They hung it in their hallway the same week they moved in together. It's the first thing you see when you walk through the front door. Every single guest asks where it came from.
Tom gets the credit every time. He takes it graciously.
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