Speech by Jim McCallum

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: Jim McCallum
Speech Date: Mar2007
Good afternoon everyone. First of all I would like to formally welcome you all to the Sherbrooke and the wedding of Barbara and Adrian. In particular I would like to welcome Adrian's family and friends who have made the long trek north to be here today. I hope you enjoy our version of a modern Scottish wedding reception.

Now this is indeed a historic day. On this day, 24 March, four hundred and four years ago, we had the union of the crowns of England and Scotland, when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. And here we have today another English / Scottish union of crowns – the Hobbs and McCallums – and I hope this new one is equally as successful.

Now we all have some precious moments in life. I had one earlier today when Barbara and I were in the car coming here. I really didn't want the car to stop. It was a precious father / daughter moment. And there have been many through the years.

One that I remember from many years ago was when I used to read Barbara a bedtime story every night. She was maybe about two or three, and at the time had a set of seven story books, one of which she chose, and I read her that story.

After the first couple of times reading the story, she knew every word by heart. I used to sometimes change a word when I was reading, and every time she would immediately correct me. It was quite amazing at that age, and demonstrated even then two of Barbara's outstanding characteristics – her love of books and her phenomenal memory.

I can tell you now Adrian, that you will never win an argument relying on memory of who said what. In fact, come to think of it, now that you are a married man same as the rest of us, you will probably never win an argument ever again.

I have to say that I have never seen Barbara as radiantly happy as she is today. And she has a fine husband in Adrian, and I formally warmly welcome you to the family. With his trophies for golf and snooker, at last we now have someone with some sporting ability in the family.

I think as parents the best thing we can do for our children is to give them roots and wings. Roots in the strength of their family ties, in their sense of values, and in the warmth of their relationships, and wings to be independent, to carve out a successful career, to reach their goals, and to eventually put down strong roots of their own. I think, in the case of Barbara and Adrian, both families have done a pretty good job.

So now you're off on your new life together, and of course it's my role to give you some advice Adrian on surviving married life. I can think of nothing better than to share the philosophy that Sandra and I have adopted over the last forty four years. She takes all the small decisions and I take all the big ones. She takes the small decisions like what school the kids should go to, what house we should buy, how big a mortgage should we have, and I take the big decisions like how we should deal with global warming and the economic impact of China. Maybe something like that would work for you too.

However, it's now time for us to formally wish you both all the best for the future, so

Here's to the past for all that you've learned
Here's to the present for all that you share
Here's to the future for all that you look forward to together

Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding and raise your glasses to the Bride and Groom.