Speech by Aaron de Farias

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: Aaron de Farias
Speech Date: oct 2003

Well, um, I don't really think I'm very good at this public speaking thing, but then again those of you who know me well will probably disagree.
But I have been pretty nervous and I have to admit that this is in fact not the first time that I have stood up today from a warm seat with a piece of paper in my hand.
And while we are on the subject of kings on thrones as King Henry VIII said to each one of his wives … ‘I shall not keep you long’.

Any way Ladies and Gentlemen, this day is an historic day, on this day in 1666, the Great Fire of London started – nothing to do with my new wife's cooking, because she is in fact a fantastic cook, and she never burns any of the food she cooks. Usually, Just her hands.

And on this day, In the year 2003, You attended this wedding reception and heard the finest wedding speech of your entire lifetime, and my best men Robert and Daryl will be making it.
I after all, did have a great speech worked out for you today, but as I am now married, my wife has told me what to say instead.
So on her behalf I will now kindly sit down and shut up.

No no, only joking ah.… Truthfully
This could really take a while as we have so many people to thank

OK I want to start with saying that on behalf of my wife and I. We would both like to thank you all for coming here today and sharing our special day with us. Especially those who have travelled some distance to be here, including Alle's brother Dave who has come all the way from London.

We would also like to thank all those who have sent their special words who can't be with us today especially our friends over seas … some of whom are like family to Alle.

We would also like to thank you all very much for your cards, kind thoughts and wonderful presents.
We had considered getting married overseas, but we decided we would prefer to share our day with all of you. And I have to say I'm glad we did. Here's to all of you who are all very special people, picked by us both and may we all have a great evening (toast).

Stewart.
Thank you for those, kind words. And I want to thank you for the way you have welcomed me into your family and treated me as one of your own children.
I especially want to say thank you for being a patient and caring father to Alle, from what I have learnt it can't have always been easy, but your hard work and witty sense of humour helped you form a special bond with your daughter. And you have passed many wonderful qualities on to her. I especially want to say thankyou for being patient as I lag behind you on those bloody hill climbs when we are out running.
With regards to this wonderful day I want to give praise for the extra time you have put into helping us plan our wedding, and I think Telecom would also like to say thank you for all the phone calls to our house too

I also want to give a very special thank you to Alle's mum Bev, who unfortunately can't be with us today. But who has taught Alle the importance of living each day to the fullest, and making the absolute most out of every opportunity. Even if it's in our Ug boots.
This is a quality that Bev has passed to both her children, and it something that has made them both the determined people they are today, and I know that she is very proud.

To David I want to say thank you for being our MC tonight and for also being such a strong leader for Alle to follow giving her guideance and direction.
I also want to give you thanks for the direction you gave me one night on our way home from town when you tried and nearly successfully sent me the wrong way up Nelson Street. Thankfully this has been the last time I have listened to a back seat driver.

I Guess at this time I also need to thank my own (Mum and Dad) parents for not only bringing me up and getting me to this day, I know it was touch and go there for a while when I was about 2 years old. Tearing the house down. I think Uncle Tony can vouch for that.
But for also showing me the importance of being true to your self and being able to achieve what ever you want out of life.
I don't think I would be where I am in life if it wasn't for the two of you and the support you have given me over the years.
I also want to say thank you for the way you have so gracefully and naturally taken Alle in under your wings and made her such a welcome addition to our family. I know I will never be able to thank you enough.

It also goes with out saying that both Alle and I need to give special thanks to Father Jimmy Shanhan for doing the honours and directing our ceremony today. Your wonderful caring nature and sense of humour took alot of the fear away from the preparation for our marriage and we are both glad to have been able to continue a proud Legacy you have with our Simpson family. For those of you who don't know father jimmy baptised my Uncle Dennis and married my Uncle Michael. So from the next generation God Bless you

Thank you Robert and Daryl.
As you can see I have two best men next to me, and they have indeed lived up to that billing. When I told people who I had picked there were a few cheers of support and a few raised eye brows too, as neither of them are particular renowned for their organisation, planning and time management. It least that's what they said about each other, but in the end my confidence was well placed.
Thankfully these two busy boys have managed to get here today with Robert tearing himself away from his medical books and Daryl from his beloved lawn mower.
And I know you will both rise to the occasion as you take the piss out of me like you usually do when we are together.
I guess that at this point I should warn you all that they both suffer from a medical condition, which makes them prone to compulsive lying, I hope you will all bear this in mind when they stand up to speak in a few moments

And A final last, big thank you goes to our stunning bridesmaids Lara Anna and Rachel. And I have to say that you all look lovely today and you have done a wonderful job for my wife today

And So, to my wife, my bride and my joy.
I need to start by thanking you for being you and for everything you have done for me.
You know everything about me and love me just the same.
I know I have my faults, yet you still agreed to marry me. I am extremely lucky today to be the one to marry you – and I hope this is the start of many more happy years together with our rather quickly growing family.

Well we finally got here, a little sooner than we had originally planned, but then planning isn't really a big thing for us is it Alle. Because every time we do plan something the opposite happens or it doesn't go to plan at all.
But I have to admit that I am glad that this day has finally has come and while I am relived I am also very happy today as well.

I think one of the things that makes alle and I, and our relationship so strong is that while we have many vast differences we also have many strong similarities. And the one thing that we both love above anything else is just spending time together, be it watching TV or reading books together. And it's not so much that we are doing things together but just the fact that we know that we will always be there for each other.
We are quite simply the best of friends.
And it is this special friendship that created the special gift, that we gave each other on Alles birthday last year. Yes our wonderful daughter Amelia who has done so well today, and I am trully blessed to have a child who doesns't look like me but who we can all tell eats like me.

One of the great things I have discovered about being in a relationship with someone is that you get to know the real person you spend all this time with. Because you see not many people know the alle like I do.
You see Alle is generally a very impatient person, she counts down the days till her birthday and Xmas, months before hand, And she has to have her presents it least one day before. Yet when it comes to monopoly oh boy not only does she think every single move through but also she has to make sure that it is a move that will completely bankrupt me.
And it is this hidden competetive nature that also extends to a card game that a few of you may know called 5 crowns, a game that I have hardly won against alle since we have had game.

One of the other great things about alle and I is that we work together as a team. I remember earlier this year we were staying down at Tony and Cathys beach place at ohope and they have this little wood burner in front of their deck and being the collector and hoarder that I am. I went and collected some driftwood to get this thing going, and being as I am I had stashed away some marsh mellows to surprise alle with for toasting because we both love surprises.
Any way I tried to get this fire going and well. What a huge pile of smoke and mess, but alle being the nosy girl, that she is had to come and have a look at what I was doing and sure enough behind my back while I'm away cursing and swearing like a good de farias. About not getting the bloody thing to go. Alle has managed to get the little burner going but by the time I get back she has smothered the new embers with too much kindling too soon and we are back to square one. But then with a little time and effort sitting there together we did get that wood burner to work and as I recall we had the best damn toasted marshmallows I have ever had.

Well Now I could stand up here and give you a load of stale old jokes, but I'm going to leave that to the best men.
But, I must say – isn't it funny how history repeats itself? 24 years ago Alle's mum and dad were putting her to bed with a dummy – and now it's happening all over again!

And talking of history, this day marks yet another significant anniversary. On this day back in 1901, U.S. president William McKinley was making a speech when some fellow shot him dead, now I'm not much of a one for believing in signs and omens, but there no point in tempting fate, so I think I'll sit down.