Speech by Gregg Kirkpatrick
Hello: I read some of your speeches and found some of them very useful for writing my speech. Here is the speech that I used. It seemed to go very well. My Mother-in-law came over to me right after the speech and gave me a big kiss and to say it was very good. However she said: "Gregg don''t let it go to your head". A couple of more ladies used the speech as an excuse to come and kiss me as well. Thank you again for this site.
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Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: Gregg Kirkpatrick
Speech Date: May2007
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Gregg Kirkpatrick, the Father of the Bride: Elizabeth and the brand new father-in-law of the Groom Csaba.
I would to thank you all for coming to celebrate this special occasion with us.
Well it is a “triple whammy”: for me: first as the Father of the Bride I must pay and second I must make a speech, and third I had to get a complete new outfit! None of these are my favorite things to do!
However Elizabeth, I am proud to be able to say a few words on this special day both for you & Csaba.
Where to start? In the beginning, well not quite but here we go.
Sharon & I were married in 1968 and after 4 or 5 years, with the HOW TO DO IT BOOK never being available in the local library, we decided to start a family by buying a pure bred miniature poodle whom we called Allegro!
Sharon was working as a nurse at the time, and quit as soon as our new family member arrived. She devoted herself to training this new family member. Sharon taught Allegro to sit, stay, shake a paw, roll over, and walk between our legs. One really excellent bit of training that Sharon did was to train Allegro to stay on our property! We at the time were living on a corner lot with a big area of grass and no fence. Once a big black lab dog ran over the corner of our lot as he was chasing his master who was on a bike. Allegro chased after this dog but as soon as he got to the edge of the grass he immediately stopped. The lab's owner on the bike could not believe his eyes when he saw this.
One enjoyable trick we taught Allegro was to come when called. We did this in the house: Sharon was at one end of the hall and I at the other end-one would call Allegro who would run to the caller, then the other would call and Allegro would run back. We did this a few times. Allegro thought this was great fun!
Sorry Elizabeth, a bit of a sidetrack, but necessary to understand what is to come!
Elizabeth was born on a Sunday and as the saying goes: “Baby born on a Sunday is full of grace” which certainly applies to our daughter Elizabeth. She is kind and generous and most certainly full of grace.
It was the 17 November 1974 when Elizabeth was born I was watching TV down the hall. It was a Grey Cup game and certainly grey as it was foggy and I could not see too much. Chuck-who was playing that day?
My mind was on other things, worry and all as to how things were going in the delivery room!
Finally I was called and there was Sharon all smiles, must have been an easy birth, along with a wee bundle containing Elizabeth. It was very emotional occasion for us and I shed a few tears at this meeting of our new Daughter.
During the last couple of weeks as I was planning on what to say today it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe I was shedding a few tears because of the foggy Grey Cup game!
But now we knew what to do, and Sharon became a fertile Myrtle. Next came Katherine in 1976, then John in 1978, and finally Michael, our MC in 1979. Then Sharon arranged for me to see a Doc with some scissors.
There are a couple of things I clearly remember during Elizabeth's first year with us. First she became strange with me. Sharon fixed that pretty quickly: I was given diaper duties, which resulted in a lot of pinpricks on my fingers. Also I was in charge of Elizabeth bathing-soon I was no longer a stranger!
Another memory of Elizabeth's first year was her knees. She kept falling on them and no sooner was one sore almost healed than she fell and created another bleeding spot, it was a sad time for us.
One day we had a great idea that we had learned with our first family member Allegro: Sharon was at one end of the room and me at the other and Elizabeth would toddle back and forth to each of us as we called. She thought this was a great game.
Another small task I was given was to help Elizabeth with her multiplication. She has a problem with mathematics. So every time we went out in the car I spent some time going over the multiplication table with Elizabeth. Elizabeth do you remember what 10 times 9 is?
It is interesting that Elizabeth worked as a night auditor for a couple of years. I guess there is not much multiplication in this type of work.
One job Elizabeth had that she really enjoyed at MBNA was to call people who were not paying their bills. She loved to call people. When someone would say they did not have any money Elizabeth would check their spending on the computer and then say something like: “if you do not have any money why are you spending so much a the beer store?”
At this point, I would like to give some words of wisdom to the newly wed couple.
Elizabeth and Csaba: there is no challenge in a marriage that cannot be overcome by the following three – three word sentences – I was wrong – You were right – I love you.
Elizabeth, for what it is worth, the male species can get it right sometimes.
Csaba, all I can say is that I have survived over 38 years with Elizabeth's Mother by agreeing that she is always right, and deafness has helped in the past 10 years or so.
The advice I received from my Wife's uncle Bernard Scanlan, Wayne's Father, who was our Master of Ceremonies, back in 1968 when we were at this stage in our wedding was as follows: “Gregg you should take the example of Sharon's Grandfather Leonard Flynn who said the Husband should make all the major decisions and the Wife should make all the minor decisions.
After over 40 years of marriage, Sharon's Grandfather: Leonard Flynn, age 76 at the time stated: so far there has never been any major decisions!
Thank you Pastor Ed, Brides maids, and ushers for your help and for being part of this wedding.
Also many thanks to the staff at this fine facility.
Today so many friends and family members who have been important to us surround us. Some have traveled hundreds of miles, just to be here today.
Csaba's family and friends who have come from Hamilton Ontario and the US, Sharon's family and friends from Kingston Ontario, Loraine from Brussels, Belgium, and our cousin John and Mae from Doha, Qatar.
Would all you all please join me in a toast to wish the Bride & Groom, Csaba and Elizabeth a long and happy married life together. May your lives be entwined like the strong leaves of ivy on a high castle tower. May your joy never end like the circles of your wedding rings.
May your happiness be everlasting and any pain, be champagne – the best of health and happiness in the future.
So, ladies and gentlemen, – please stand and make sure your glasses are fully charged mine is being charged to my Master Card
Elizabeth and Csaba
Here's to the past – for all that it taught you
here's to the present – for all that you share
and here's to the future – for all that you can look forward to together
Ladies & gentlemen please raise your glasses.
The toast is to Elizabeth and Csaba, Bride and Groom
