Speech by David May

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: David May
Speech Date: 07/10/2015 14:36:25

Good afternoon everyone.

I am David, Meredith's dad. I am Also Chairman and Chief Executive of the Dad Cabs group of companies which includes Dad DIY, Dad Pet Care and Dads recycling service. However I only have one customer.

I am pleased to welcome you all to the Maynard today to celebrate the wedding of Meredith & James

As I stand here, a thorn between these two roses, I am aware that we are one short on the top table guest list.

Someone who would really have looked forward to wearing a big hat and a new outfit today, is missing, that is of course Meredith's mum, Alison.

I am sure she is looking down on us now and has picked up on the purple theme and has managed to acquire a very large hat.

She will not have failed to notice that Meredith is wearing the necklace that she wore on our wedding day.

I am glad that Alison met James, and also Mavis & Ben. In the brief time she knew them, she liked them very much.

Meredith comes from a long line of strong women and it is true to say that after her mum, she was closest to her Nanna, Doris, from whom she inherited her love of shoes.

Fortunately, this is coupled to her genetic link to my mum, Frances, from whom she picked up an eye for a bargain.

Doris features too in Meredith's first encounter with James. This occurred on the 6th of November 2012, which would have been Doris's 100th birthday.

As Meredith stood outside a pub on Piccadilly, she looked up and said, “For God's sake Nanna send me a good one this time”. It seems Doris was listening and James’ and Meredith's relationship has gone from strength to strength.  From the moment she was born, she was the baby girl that Alison and I had waited for, an individual who fitted the name her mum chose for her.

She also had that special look that all daughters have for their Dads. It is hard to explain, but it lasts a lifetime and translates as Kerching Gotcha!

Apparently it is customary to recount what memories we have shared over the years as father and daughter.

We have the usual raft of holiday memories, the farm in Cumbria, where she learned to swim, rode Nicky the pony and helped with the lambing and harvesting.

The fabulous Spanish Villa, in the grounds of a farm in South Wales, where Meredith became a vegetarian.

The numerous caravan holidays.

The trips to castles & standing stones which I found fascinating and Meredith and Alison found a yawn.

We once visited Cairn Holy Cairns in Dumfries & Galloway, it's in the middle of nowhere, and as I took photos Alison and Meredith wandered off and much to their delight, found a shop on the other side of the hill selling jewellery. That's like finding a chippy at the South Pole.

Then there were boating holidays on the Norfolk Broads, where she was once mistaken for a Norwich City fan whilst wearing a 1992 Manchester United football shirt in the green and gold colours.

And I am sure neither of us will forget the day that her friend Gail fell off the roof of the boat, whilst posing to impress some lads across the river, and then crawled along the river bank trying to get back on the boat unnoticed.

We did all the usual “Dad Cab” trips, to dancing class, brownies and the like and Meredith was never happier than when helping me with some DIY job or other.

She did a lot of labouring for me aged seven or eight, when I bought ten tons of stone to build a garden wall, in order to put down a lawn with play equipment on it. After several months it was finished and she came off the slide, cut her head on the stone and we ended up in A&E.

She coped with a difficult period when we moved to Scotland for eighteen months when she was eight. Within two weeks of our arrival she had acquired an authentic Scottish accent probably as a defence mechanism. When we took her on the train to Glasgow, we felt like two English kidnappers.

We joined the local Kirk, of which I suppose we are still technically members, and particularly enjoyed listening to the organ music, played by an eccentric old lady in slippers. Her repertoire included most of Elvis's hits and several TV themes.

I remember Meredith leading the children round the Kirk to a marching song. Meredith's godfather George, being an Everton fan, will be familiar with the tune.

She was not a particularly difficult teenager, which I think means that she was pretty astute and crafty, rather than being a goody two shoes.

I guess that Alison got most of the grief & aided by Doris kept her in check.

As a family we all enjoy a whole range of good music, so it was fortunate that Meredith gave up both the violin and French horn.

However, Meredith is an accomplished singer and has appeared on stage with her favourite band, The Bluetones.

Admittedly that was much to the surprise of the Bluetones, but the photograph of her joining in with the lead singer did make the press, perhaps not the music press, but at least the Rochdale Observer.

From playgroup through all her schools, Sixth Form College and University she has made friends for life and it is good to see so many are here today.

I think one of our best investments in Meredith was to sell our caravan in order to get her through her course at Sheffield which put her on the path to becoming a chartered surveyor.

The accomplished woman that is Meredith today has proven well worth the effort and she has far exceeded our hopes for her.

We have had some difficult times recently and I am particularly grateful for the support I have received from both Meredith & James, and the assistance of my new gardener, Ben.

I am supposed to wind things up with some words of wisdom for the happy couple as they embark on their married life together.

My advice to Meredith is that three to one is an acceptable wife's to husband's wardrobe ratio. Four to one is excessive.

For James, my advice is to keep her close, because if you don't she will dash off to the nearest shoe shop, especially if there is a sale on. She can't help it, it is in her genes!

Thank You.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand and join me in a toast to the Bride & Groom.

The Toast is: The Bride & Groom.