Speech by David Martin

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: David Martin
Speech Date: 27/12/2013 23:08:47

Ladies and Gentlemen – my name is David and as Father of the Bride I have the great honour of being Andy and Ollie's warm-up act today.  I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all on behalf of myself, Yvonne, Cindy, Cathy and Derek, to this celebration of the marriage of my beautiful daughter Rebecca to Andrew.

There has been much thought and preparation put into today by Becky and Andy, not to mention Cindy, Cathy and Yvonne's invaluable contributions, so thank you to all of you for providing us with a wonderful day.

Rebecca has sadly lost both her Grandmothers – Jackie a little over two years ago and my Mother Shirley just recently – and she wanted to ensure that there were special commemorations from them such as buttons, very old petty coats and a necklace, quite literally as part of her wedding outfit and Becky wears Jackie's spacer ring now as her wedding ring.  She did all this to remind her of how lucky she was to have two remarkable, strong and loving women to influence her life.  I know with certainty that they both would have been so proud of Becky on her wedding today.  Likewise, Andy's grandparents Peggy and Fred would I'm sure look upon Andy with great pride.  So I would like you all to raise a glass with me as I propose a toast to Jackie, Shirley, Peggy and Fred and all other departed relatives and friends that could not be with us on this happy day.

I mentioned earlier about the thoughtful preparations for this wedding breakfast – you'll notice the Harry Potter themed tables, with the guest favours and the mirrored seating plan.  Yes – but the mirrored seating plan almost became a difficult dilemma as they didn't know where to seat everyone.  I came up with a simple solution – those who spent most money on wedding presents were to sit on this side of the room and those who sat on THAT side of the room…..err, well let's just say Poundland profits have soared a great deal over the last year.

As any Father-of-the-Bride will tell you, having the honour of walking your daughter down the aisle on the one hand makes you feel like a King with his Princess on his arm and on the other, provides a little bit of sadness too, as you know she's about to commit her life to another man.  And for you, another page in your life turns.  Thankfully however, I have many wonderful memories to remind me of how Becky became the lovely woman you see before you today.  And I think you'll agree, she really does look spectacularly beautiful today doesn't she?

And so on to the memories.  While writing this dialogue, there was one word that seemed to repeat itself in my mind when pondering over Becky and her life…and that word was ‘STOP’!  I'll give you four great examples.

Most of you know that Becky has Hannah as her lovely twin sister.  At their birth Becky arrived into the world a full ten minutes after Hannah, largely due to her deciding to place her arm over her head and have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.  Becky clearly decided she would STOP inside for a while longer, thereby making an even grander entrance.

When Becky was learning to ride her first push bike, she was very competent in her balance, she could steer reasonably successfully, however much to the detriment of the toes of her shoes she had great trouble being able to STOP.  No matter how much we encouraged her to utilise the brakes, she seemed unable to make the connection.  I'm sure you'll understand my hesitation at sitting next to her while she was learning to drive a car.

Actually, Becky has done well at many things and not least in her active interest in dance, as she has excelled in the subject and this has culminated in a Degree from the famous Trinity Laben College in London and a fabulous job with the Royal Academy of Dance as Assistant to the Regional Manager. So from an early age her dedication to her art did not STOP once and I am extremely proud to say that all her hard work over the years has paid off handsomely.

Andy and I have some common interests – Saints and music for example.  I think we all know what a great vocalist Andy is – well, for those who don't know, I'm a guitarist and earlier this year I formed a new rock band called ‘Free's Company’.  To cut a long story short, I invited Andy to join us which has worked out very well indeed.  It has been a bit strange having a young man alongside me on stage playing songs from MY youth.  Equally though, it's an absolute pleasure having a passion of mine – music – in common with my Son-in-Law and I sincerely hope we can re-enforce that friendship over the coming years.  Even if he does consider me ‘Dad’ or ‘ Old Man’.

I said there were four ‘STOP’ examples – have you been counting?  Well, there was one other thing that Becky could not STOP herself doing…and that was falling in love with Andy.  Of course no man is ever going to live up to the expectations of a daughters parents initially, however it did become clear to us that Andy is devoted to Becky, providing her and their Son – my wonderful Grandson, Alfie – with a safe, caring and loving home.  Anyone who knows me well will understand the importance I place on the family unit and therefore it gives me great pleasure to welcome Andy in a formal sense into our family.

I have on more than one occasion helped Becky research and create music for the purposes of a dance routine.  When dance and music come together the results are often beautiful, awe inspiring and sometimes moving.  I remember on one occasion I came across a lovely song by Lee Anne Womack called ‘I hope you dance’ and it touched me so much, I immediately e-mailed a copy to Becky and Hannah.  The words seemed so appropriate and therefore I would like to sing…sorry, I'm only joking…READ the 2nd verse, as fitting advice to Becky and Andy…

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance Never settle for the path of least resistance Living might mean taking chances – but they're worth taking Loving might be a mistake but it's worth making Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter If you come close to selling out, reconsider Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance……I hope you dance

I think I've managed to say quite enough now and so I would like to end by asking you to be upstanding and join me in proposing a toast to the Bride and Groom – Becky and Andy.