Speech by Andy Waumsley

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: Andy Waumsley
Speech Date: 22/04/2013 11:23:15

Good evening everyone, my name is Andy and I have the honour of being Clare's father and the privilege of welcoming you all here this evening.

Firstly my wife, Jane and I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Stewart's parents, John and Helen along with all the relatives and friends of both families, many of whom have travelled long distances to be here. (I think France and Spain are the furthest). As I look around the room I realise just how many friends Stewart and Clare have and I hope you all have a wonderful evening.

Sadly I am not a very practised speaker and obviously this is my first Father of the bride speech so I thought I would consult that font of all knowledge, the internet. When you have looked at 20 or 30 speeches and seen the same jokes time after time you realise how much plagiarism goes on so I determined that I would not stoop to plagiarism. However being a humble Derbyshire lad, I have copied a few bits.

I think first of all we should give a big thank you to Clare and Stewart who had very definite ideas on how they wanted today to be. Through their imagination, thoughtful planning and tireless efforts they have made today a tremendous success so far. Although I did feel it was a stitch up making me wait until 150 guests were here to make the speeches instead of doing them earlier.

I should warn the men of a Macho disposition amongst you that there will be tears. I have always been quite emotional and I regularly used to cry at films like ET, now since they put me on the tablets, I even cry when the Andrex puppy can't reach the toilet tissue in the adverts.

In fact some of you will have noticed the tears as I lead Clare up the Aisle earlier today and some of you will have put it down to the occasion, some quite rightly down to the fact I was so proud of how beautiful Clare looked, whereas Mick and Kelvin would have been saying ‘Typical Waumsley, never did like giving anything away’.

No, today, I believe, Jane and myself, Helen and John can take a well-deserved pat on the back for helping create, mould and influence the lives of two special people whose love for each other we are here to celebrate today.

Clare we have watched blossom from a lovely baby daughter to an independent, intelligent teenager and into the loving beautiful woman and gorgeous bride we see before us today.

Mind you her independence started at an early age and caused panic. I remember approaching the lifts in main centre, Derby going to Sainsbury's. While we were getting the trolley the doors opened and Clare dived in, the doors shut. The lifts came back down. No Clare, panic stations. We finally got up to the next floor to find a kind lady holding her hand. Clare has always been wary of lifts since that day.

Stewart you will notice that Clare has inherited the Waumsley trait of always getting involved and helping to organise, whether it be social events or clubs, but there is no need to worry. Why, well when she was 2 maybe 3 we went shopping in Milton Keynes and drilled into her that if she got separated she needed to know her name so it could be announced over the Tannoy. Before we set off we asked her once again, what is your name? The answer came back “Wonder Woman”.

You will note the abundance of references to real ale and know that Clare likes a glass of wine, unfortunately, hands up; this was our fault and started at a very early age, about 18 months. We were visiting Auntie Aileen and Uncle Howard at the Blue House in Bedford. We had finished our evening meal and had settled down to watch television and so we were not taking too much notice when Clare actually went around finishing off the dregs of wine from the bottom of our glasses. In a very short space of time she was even more wobbly on her little legs than normal. Some might say very little has changed there then.

During the time we have known Stewart we've come to realise how much he means to Clare and vice versa. He is thoughtful, kind and generous, too hardworking but knows how to have a good time and has a dry sense of humour. He had obviously thought long and hard about his marriage proposal and asked permission first before proposing on the pyramids in Egypt, so he has a romantic streak in there as well. I would like to thank Stewart for inviting me on his stag do which strikes me as a very brave thing to do, and I was most impressed by his attempts to limit his alcohol consumption despite severe provocation. ‘He failed’ but not for want of trying.

I am now supposed to give the happy couple some advice on how to make a marriage work. All I would say is that success in marriage is not about finding a person you can live with, it is about finding the person that you can't live without, and I am sure you have both done that.

Finally going back to Clare's qualities, the most important one is ‘loving’. 27 years ago, aged 3 she entered a Mother's Day competition at Woolworths. We had a knock on the door and there was Phil Hughes, the manager with a bottle of Mumm Champagne. Clare had won the competition.

I have saved that bottle for a special occasion and think this is that special occasion. We have tested it so don't worry that it is past it's sell by date Jane. The question for that competition was ‘My mum is the best mum in the world because?’ And Clare's answer was “I Luv Her”

Well Clare you are the best daughter in the world because ‘we luv you’.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a radiant bride, we have a handsome groom. Please be upstanding and join me in a toast to the new Mr and Mrs Baker, Stewart and Clare!