Speech by Phil Murnane

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: Phil Murnane
Speech Date: Oct2006
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of Suzanne and Tony, Anne and myself can I, welcome you all, both family and friends to help us celebrate Rob and Emma's wedding.

I hope you all have a great day.

I have just got a note from Anne to say she has 18 mins in the sweep for how long the speeches will take so she wants me to cut out all the compliments about Emma

The Father of the Bride has 3 areas to cover in his speech, to give some words of advice to the couple, say a few words about the bride in a loving and balanced way and give the first of the toasts

Before I do those
First I would like to congratulate Damion and Maria who have been married 17 years today. Emma was their bridesmaid and it's great that Amy and Lucy, their daughters are Emmas bridesmaids today

I would also like to congratulate Emma and Rob on the Organising of today.

I have played only a small part in this, offering a few words of advice now and then.
Like,
“ Emma when most of your family, apart from a couple of black sheep on your mothers side, support Sunderland. Is a Black and White theme a good idea.”

Or
“ Emma, Anne and Michael can get us the Scout hut at Blaydon really cheap”

As you can all see as ever due consideration has been given to my views.

Despite my failure so far in the advice stakes heres a few more.
To Rob, like me you need to be master in your own house. I make all the big decisions,

Our stance on global warming.

The our view on the expansion of the EEC.

Anne makes all the small decisions,
Where we live.
Where we go on Holiday
What car we have
An easy way to remember this Rob is, any decision that you can influence is a small decision and you don't need to worry about it.

To Emma, can I say men don't do subtle, if you want something, be really specific dropping hints and acting surprised is a dangerous strategy.

We need clear instructions

I recently discovered the joy that is the Mother of the Bride shop

Never knew they existed, but they do as I can testify, I've been in all of them.

2 in Corbridge

5 in Morpeth

and 2 in Whitburn.

Now we have been married for 27 years and I knew instinctively that when Anne asked me how she looked in an outfit she didn't really want my opinion.

so I went for the gushing , Anne you look fantastic approach. It is the one which your normally expected use.

That was the wrong answer.

What Anne really meant by “ how do I look” was watch my facial expressions pick up that I don't really like it and you tell the shop assistant that you don't like it.

Had she told me that in the first place I would have provided much better answers and Anne wouldn't have bought 2 mother of the Bride outfits.

So now a few words about Emma

She was born toward the end of January 1981. One of the proudest days of my life, I blinked and I'm standing here making this speech, I just don't know where those years went.
I would like to mention 4 attributes
Balletic ability, Athleticism. Loyalty and Determination

Emma possesses 2 of them in abundance,

Ballet, whilst other parents shed tears of joy at their little girls balletic efforts. Anne and I were trying hard not to giggle for different reasons. Bless her, the stage did not call to Emma. One of the foremost Ballet teachers in North East summed it up best after watching Emma dance she said simply ”It's time I gave this up “

So to her Athletic career, If you read Emma's CV you would get the impression of a possible international Netball player in the making. In truth she has played more Netball on her CV than in real life, with each new job the myth increases, did she play for Gateshead or was it the County. We are expecting mention of a 4th place in Bejing at some point.

Yet she got off to such a promising start.

Oakfield Infant School sports day the 60-metre dash for girls Emma lines up with the rest of the 5-year-olds. All the parents shouting encouragement.

The gun goes off the girl's fly toward the line. Except 2 Emma and Anna are so deep in conversation they miss the Gun and in fact most of the race.

That conversation has been going for more than 20 years now and I suspect will for many more to come.

Emma, take friendship very seriously, both Sam and Anna have been really important to Emma and it's great to see them all together today.

Emma has had some big obstacles to overcome physically in terms of illness that she stoically tolerated through her Teenage years. To exam results that didn't go to plan. Yet always she has prevailed.

Emma looks fantastic today and we are very proud of the person she has become.

All parents want the best for their children, I think it is fantastic to See Rob and Emma together, anyone who has spent any time with them can see how deeply they love each other. It's all the better for Anne and I as we like Rob so much and it is a real pleasure to welcome him formally into our family today.

So Ladies and Gentlemen as they start their married life together can I ask you to stand and join me in the Toast

The Bride and Groom……………