Speech by ‘Hangar’

Speech Type: Best man
Speech Creator: ‘Hangar’
Speech Date: oct 2003

"Ladies and gentlemen, I had thought of making this a short one but then I remembered, Henry the VIII used to say the same thing during his weddings and since I don't want to give Elizabeth the wrong impression, I shall just get on with the speech.

Friends and family, my wife and I .. would like to thank you all for coming and sharing this very special day with us. Most of you have come a long way to be here and we appreciate all the efforts and re-adjustments you have had to make. But I'm sure you'll all agree this day have been long overdue.

Elizabeth and I met at University and we have been together for almost six years now. A long time to get to know each and plenty of time to drift apart but fortunately, time have only enforced our joint belief that our path lies together, companions on a long journey and soul-mates till the end.

I still remember the very first day I laid eyes on her, we have just started University and during one of our Induction lessons she was sitting opposite me. Now I don't think she noticed me on that day but I certainly noticed her, after all, how can anybody fail to notice such vision of dread and anxiety etched on her face as if her life was about to get complicated. Of course, not wanting to prove her wrong I came into her life, a mix of immaturity, cheekiness and inexperience all rolled into one desirable package.

Since then our road have been full of curves and surprises, ranging from good to extreme idiocy, one such example of foolhardiness was near Valentine's Day of last year. It was a couple of days before and I wanted to surprise her in Worcester for she was coming down to London for the weekend. I had this brilliant idea of traveling down here, ordering a bouquet of flowers to be delivered on V. day at Elizabeth's work place and then surprising her at the train station. IT was all very clever and the whole thing was shrouded in secrecy. So, on that Friday afternoon, everything happened as planned, I came, bought and ordered the flowers, then came back to the Station to await her arrival, everything was perfect .. Up to the point where she was supposed to have caught the train in time, I called her several times on her mobile to make sure she was on her way to the station but to no avail. The train eventually came and still no Elizabeth, I was getting anxious by this time so I walked down the platform, searching each carriage, thinking she might have gotten on without me seeing. Minutes later of fruitless searching, the train departed and as it passed me by . who should I see, sprawled and sweaty on the seat, inside the train on her merry way to London .. Without me!!!!

I of course called her immediately and it took us 2-3 hours to get back together again and understandably, we weren't a happy couple on that night and she made me swear not to plan such a surprise again, which I was only too happy to agree with.

Thankfully, event's like that are few and far in between and regardless of my sporadic romantic gestures, which often backfires, I'm glad to say she still calls me her own and I cannot stand here today and not admit how lucky I am to have found Elizabeth. I'm sure you will all agree, she is charming, caring, witty, beautiful and never fails to tell me what to say on occasions like this.

Seriously though, I'd like to thank John and Heather for bringing up such a captivating daughter whose presence has completed my own and for their patience throughout the years. A trait that I'm very glad they have for their acceptance of me has not only made me part of the family but I felt very welcomed indeed and I wouldn't want to loose that. On behalf on my wife, and myself we would like to extend our warmest gratitude to John and Heather for all their support and for organizing such a great and eventful day. We would also like to extend our thanks to my parents whose love and support have been stretched to the limits during my school and University years and whose money will never be returned again. We've got gifts for you here …

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Wendy for organizing such a beautiful arrangement of flowers that far surpasses our expectations. To Bob for kindly offering his services in doing the wedding photographs, our guest who has been kept most busy the whole afternoon, we cannot thank you enough. Our thanks also goes out to Maureen and my Mom for sacrificing their evenings to do the favours, although I've been told that Maureen mainly did all the work as my Mom was too busy eating them, still it's the thought that counts and we thank you both.

Now we come to the ushers, well .. what can I say about them?! Allan and Wilson, short of buying us something really expensive you have lived up to your positions and I couldn't have asked for better servants, so thanks for making this day go smoothly. The money will be in the post on Monday.

Charlotte and Michelle, my wife's bridesmaids whose moral support and guidance in making sure Elizabeth don't suddenly change her mind and looks her best have I'm sure been pretty invaluable and appreciated. Such roles and yet they still found time to nearly best my wife in look and in appearance for you will all agree, they do look lovely. To show our appreciations, we have some gifts for you too ..

I now ask you to be upstanding to toast the bridesmaids ..

To finally end, my wife and I would like to thank you all again for coming, for your best wishes, for the cards and for the presents which we'll probably open right after our honeymoon in heaven. Lastly, our thanks go to the MC for a job well done – thanks Brian.

With that, I would now like to pass you over to my brother, my best man and his highly embellished speech – bro, all yours."