Speech by Roger

Speech Type: Father of the bride/groom
Speech Creator: Roger
Speech Date: 03/09/2017 20:43:13

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Roger, Anna's Dad, and as the father of the bride it falls upon me to make the first speech.

Can I start by welcoming you all, and thanking you for coming to this very special occasion to celebrate the marriage of our daughter Anna to Matt. I know that having their family and close friends here on this important day means a great deal to them.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped in the lead up to the wedding in whatever way possible, big or small, as you've all played your part in making this day special

Kath and I would especially like to give thanks to Matt's parents, Julia and Mike, for hosting the event at their beautiful home here at “Crossroads” — thank you.

Now I'd like to talk about some of the more memorable events in Anna's life so far…

To start at the beginning, Anna was born in the maternity ward of Hertford County hospital, which happens to back directly onto the rear of our garden. In later years when she asked “Daddy, where do babies come from” I could truthfully reply that she came from the end of our garden, albeit not from under a gooseberry bush.

In those days maternity wards were very old-fashioned and strict with a Matron who ruled with a rod of iron. Conveniently, Anna was born on a Saturday morning so I made numerous visits with groups of friends, becoming more intoxicated each time due to excessive wetting of the baby's head. This met with looks of disapproval from all. As Kath's fingers became swollen during pregnancy she had to remove her wedding ring. Her reputation in the hospital was further damaged by the card by her bedside which bore the message “congratulations on your engagement”.

As a toddler Anna was adventurous and she was particularly fascinated by cats and dogs. One summer we were on holiday with friends in Germany and attended an afternoon party held on a large playing field. Anna was toddling around and had wandered about 100 metres away when we saw her making a bee line for a large German shepherd dog. She approached the dog from behind with an arm outstretched in front of her. Yes, you guessed it.  She went up to the dog and poked her fingers up its rear end! Luckily the dog just turned to see what was going on and then calmly walked away.

Back in England she did a similar thing when visiting friends. She entered the room and on seeing a huge German shepherd dog lying on the carpet she promptly threw herself on him as if he were a cushion. Once again she got away with it as the dog did not react.

When Anna was about two we told her that her Mum was expecting a baby brother or sister for her. She was very excited and we did our best we to make her feel part of the process so that it would not be too much of a shock when it arrived. During the pregnancy Anna chose to call the baby “spider” but we changed this to Iain once he was born. We opted for a home delivery and all was going well. As the labour progressed the midwife said that the baby's head was crowning and encouraged Kath to push even harder. At this point Anna's head popped up at the end of the bed between Kath's legs so that she could have a better view of the proceedings. The midwife then suggested that it might be a good time for Anna to be taken downstairs.

Over the next few years Anna was joined by her three siblings, Iain, Alice and Chloe. This was great for Anna as she could organise the younger ones to join in games of her choice and generally have lots of fun. Being the eldest Anna would obviously be in charge!

We have very steep stairs at our house and, as caring parents, we installed gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Even so, at some point each of our children managed to fall down the whole length of the stairs at least once but with no lasting damage. One Sunday morning we woke to hear shrieks of delight from our offspring as they happily played on the landing. Further investigation revealed that the game they were playing was to sit behind each other on a duvet, in bob-sleigh fashion, and slide down the flight of stairs from top to bottom. So much for health and safety in the home!

Anna excelled at school and went to Manchester University to read French and Linguistics. Her third year of study required her to live and work in France so I flew to Paris with her to sort out a flat, with the help of our French friend, Cecile.

Now Anna can be quite assertive, if not cheeky, and she had asked her bank in England to give her an introductory letter to a partner bank in Paris. This bank was located in central Paris on the Champs Elyses and it was obvious that it normally only dealt with rich VIP customers. We were greeted by Gustav who said he would be Anna's personal banker for the account that she was opening. Anna was un-phased by all this and really pushed her luck when she asked if should could transfer her student overdraft to the French bank. Gustav replied “I think it would be prudent to ensure that your account always remains in credit”.

Anna had to find herself a job in Paris and she very sensibly wrote to all the major banks seeking employment. One of them, Pari Mutual Urban (PMU) offered her a job, but they turned out not to be a bank at all. In fact “Pari” in French means to gamble or bet and PMU are the state owned bookmakers who have a monopoly of all horserace betting in France. Anna spent a year working in their international offices in a totally French speaking environment which proved invaluable in improving her language skills. It was here that she also met her good friend Virginie

Those who know me will be familiar with my weakness for betting on the horses, with mixed fortunes over the years. Near the end of Anna's time in France I flew to Paris with Alice and Chloë and, accompanied by all three daughters, attended “Le Grand Steeplechase de Paris” horserace at the Auteuil race course using complimentary tickets that Anna had acquired from PMU. It was a moment of great pride for me to see my three beautiful daughters, dressed to the nines, using fluent French to place their bets and collect their winnings. An essential part of a young lady's education.

Anna graduated from Manchester University with a first-class degree in French and Linguistics, but has ended up using her maths skills more than her French. At school she got a grade ‘A’ at Maths A-level which helped her to become a chartered accountant working for the National Audit Office.

Before starting this job Anna had some holiday to take so Anna and I drove to Bruges for a mini-break. This was a great place to take boat rides, walks, meals out and above all we had the chance to spend some quality time together.

In Recent years, Anna needed to be security vetted to a high level in order to deal with diplomatic and more sensitive government institutions, where it is probably a state secret to even know the size of their budgets, let alone audit their activities. On one occasion Anna phoned to say that she would be abroad with her work for a few days but was not allowed to tell me what country she would be flying to!

Anna has risen swiftly through the ranks of the National Audit office, and two years ago took maternity leave to have a baby; the beautiful Scarlet whom we see before us.

Anna and Matt have done a wonderful job in juggling work commitments with the demands of raising Scarlet, who is a delightful child and a great credit to them as parents.

Anna has grown into a perfect young lady whom I am proud to call my daughter and I'm sure that Matt will be proud to call his wife.

So, what to say about Matt? I will leave it to others to pick on embarrassing moments from Matt's past and instead I will focus on some of his virtues, which he does have.

Matt is a kind, caring and sensitive man and above all he is clearly deeply in love with Anna, and she with him. Importantly he has a strong character and can be assertive about his point of view; an essential quality if he is to hold his own with Anna.

Matt makes Anna very happy and that is my main concern. Kath and I are extremely glad that they have found each other and that, by exchanging vows and rings, they have pledged to bind their futures together.

We are delighted to officially welcome Matt into the Collins clan and, of course, we are equally pleased that Anna will be joining the Kinghan family.

You have a wonderful bride Matt; you are a very lucky young man.

Anna and Matt will have a great life together and be very happy. You are amongst people who care and love you very much and wish you all the happiness in the world. Kath and I will always be there for you if you ever need anything.

Now it is my pleasant duty to propose a toast to the happy couple and I know that everyone here will want to join with me in wishing them a long, happy and healthy future together.

Ladies & gentlemen…Please raise you glasses to toast the newlyweds.  … “Anna & Matt”