Speech by David Law

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: David Law
Speech Date: Aug 2001
The 24 August. This is a truly historic day. A day the earth moved. No I am
not talking about this year. Although it may move for Jackie and Austin later, I am talking about 24 August 79AD when the town of Pompeii was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. This catastrophic event however was just one moment in time that has been preserved by the ash from the volcano and is
remembered over the centuries

I hope that today will also be preserved and remembered by all of you here
today this special day when we celebrate the marriage of Jackie and Austin in this wonderful setting.

You have all come from various parts of the country to be with us here in
Cumbria on Jackie and Austins wedding day. Apart from a few local schoolfriends everybody else here has travelled at least 100 miles and most people have travelled two or three hundred miles to be here today.
It shows how much you love and respect Jackie and Austin that you have
travelled to be with us today.

Either that or you just came for the free meal.

If it is your first visit to Cumbria I hope you have been impressed with
what you have seen and will come back another time for a longer stay. It is a truly wonderful part of the country with plenty to do and see.

I don't want to steal Austins thunder but I have a few thank yous to say.

First I have to thank my wife Ann for doing most of the organisation of
todays events. Everything from the invitations to the cars to the photography and much much more.
All she left me to organise was the weather, but at least I managed to get
that right.

Secondly I would like to thank Austins parents Alex and Judy for all they
have done in helping Austin and Jackie set up their home in Newcastle. The amount of work that they have put into the decorating and installations in the bathroom and kitchen puts my half day of wallpaper scraping to shame.

Thirdly we come to Helen and we thank her for this magnificent cake, I have
never seen anything like it in my life. I can only imagine the hours of effort that went into this.

It seems such a shame to cut into it but well all go hungry this afternoon if we don't.

To everybody else who has contributed to todays celebrations in any way this next thank you is for you. You are all too numerous to mention but Ann and I and no doubt Jackie and Austin wish to thank you for the contributions you have made to their special day

Moving on now to Jackie and Austin. I am sure you will all agree they make a lovely couple and I believe they are well suited to each other. I have never known them to have had across word. That does not mean they havent. It just means I havent heard it.

Ann and I first heard the name Austin as Jackie was revising for her A
levels. She had decided she was not going to revise with the girls as they were wimps. She was going to revise with the boys as she would learn more.
Whether she learnt anything about Physics I don't know but the chemistry
between them was soon evident on Jackies 18 th birthday.

With Austin going down to Southampton University and Jackie arranging
several trips to various parts of the world in her gap year before going to Swansea University a year later Ann and I thought that they would have to be really committed to each other for the relationship to last with such long times apart. The first evidence of this was in that summer when Jackie was working on a cruise liner on the Rhine in Germany. For the last two weeks that she was working there Austin took his car and tent and drove up and down the Rhine meeting Jackie as she finished each shift.
The rest is history.

I am supposed to offer some advice on what makes for a happy marriage.
I ought to be well qualified in this respect as we are coming up to our 27th anniversary. I am sure that our love of travelling in both this country and abroad is one reason that Ann and I have seen our love grow ever stronger. The fact that we are always going to new places ensures that life never becomes dull. I think Jackie has inherited this from us and as she has already travelled through much of Africa and South America with Austin they are off to a flying start.

To become married today they both had to learn just two words I WILL.
To help them further in making the marriage blossom I recommend that they
both learn another few words.
For Austin you need to remember that whatever the situation all you need to
say is just the two words YES DEAR.
Jackie once he has said those words all you have to do is say your three
words YOU HAD BETTER. It is as simple as that.

Seriously I have complete confidence in Jackie and Austin that they will put in all the effort and work in to make the marriage succeed.

I said at the start that 24 August was a historic day. There is another
example in the much more recent past.

I am sure that the date of 24 August 1995 is firmly etched in the memory of
everybody here in this room with the only probable exception being the grandparents.

This was a day that changed our lives completely. It was not some national
or international event effecting just other people.
Not something that was important for a day or two. If this event had not
happened our lives would have been totally different. I am seeing a few puzzled looks so let me remind you.

24 August was the day Windows 95 was released. Within 6 weeks 7 million
copies had been sold. This was the computer software system we had all been waiting for. It was faster and more efficient than anything previously. It allowed you to do more than one thing at a time
and the introduction of icons allowed you to cut corners.

All these skills are needed in a modern marriage which brings us back to
today. 24 August 2001 a truly historic day, the day of the marriage of Jackie and Austin. A day that everybody here is able to celebrate and remember for years to come.

I know you will all want to join me in wishing them a long and happy married life together. So please stand up, raise your glasses and drink to the health and happiness of Jackie and Austin.

To Jackie and Austin