Speech by Andy Christie

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: Andy Christie
Speech Date: mar 2004

The last time I stood up in front of a local official, admittedly, I'd been hurrying somewhere, and I walked away with an £800 fine and an 8 week ban…………….this time I don't think I've hurried to get here at all but it's been a little more expensive and haven't they given me a Life Term…….?

Some time ago, back in March/April actually, Mike and I promised to ourselves that we would have our speeches drafted and ready by September so we could feel confident and relaxed for todays duties. Well, like the organised and well planned people we are………we got together last weekend to try and work out what on earth we were going to say today. So, in my poor state of preparation, I've been sat here hurriedly trying to go over the ABC and XYZ of speeches in my head………ABC – Always Be Confident [hmmmmmmmm…..] and XYZ – Examine Your Zip………CHECK!!

I do have one or two things I'd like to say and a lot of thankyous to do…I promise I'll try not to go on too much – in fact, like a mini-skirt, I'll keep things short enough to be interesting but long enough to cover the essentials……..so please relax and bear with me for a few minutes. If it helps, loosen your clothing…….in fact loosen someone else's if it helps…… although I'm afraid it's not that kind of a party.

On behalf of Claire and I, …….my wife and I, I should say………., I would like to thank you all for coming here today and sharing our special day with us. There are times when it's good to be surrounded by the people who are important to you, and for us this is one of those occasions. Many of you have travelled a long way and some of you have taken time off work aswell – we really appreciate the sacrifices you've made.

Thankyou all, also, for your cards, kind thoughts and gifts…….we feel very humbled.

A few of our friends and family could not make it today…….Pete and Marion unfortunately could not attend, Marion is quite poorly at the moment – I'm sure all our thoughts are with them. Catriona and Sean in New York who are unable to travel due to the recent arrival of Ebhelin (you gotta believe how they're spelling that……….) and Tom who was called to the US for work [I'm sure Claire is particularly missing Sean, Catriona and Tom]

I'd like to make a toast now to our absent friends and the people we have known and loved who are looking down on this celebration and hopefully having a little one of their own up there. Ladies and Gentleman, would you please stand and raise your glasses…… “Absent friends and loved ones”.

Tradition dictates that I now tell you an amusing story or two about Claire – unfortunately Claire dictated that I should be very careful in doing this. So with that in mind I'll keep this very brief. Well, as you'll know, Claire and I met at Alliance & Leicester where she worked under me……..[you knew that one was coming surely][pause]….Claire holds that I didn't even notice her when I first joined…….I can assure her I did notice her….eventually ……anyway, it took an offer I couldn't refuse – or was that a statement of intent? And we eventually we got it together

We've been together 3 ½ years now, [and we still hold hands when we're in town – controls her shopping tendencies] all I can say is, I've learnt a couple of valuable lessons…[I'm sure the guys here will recognise these also]…even if I haven't quite managed to follow them yet

Whenever you're wrong – Admit it
Whenever you're right – Keep quiet

Phil and Margaret – you have a beautiful daughter – witty, charming, intelligent and caring [would you like to add more here Claire…..?]. Thank you for allowing me to marry Claire. I just hope I can meet your expectations of a son-in-law.

Claire and I would like to thank both of you for all your efforts in organising today – your support has been invaluable, your advice sound and your generosity unbounded.

Personally, I'd like to thank you both for making me feel so welcome from day one. I feel immensley fortunate to have married into such a great family. My sincere wish is that Claire and I can make our home as welcoming and as full of love as yours…….…

Mum and Dad – you raised me well and pointed me in the right direction………I'm sure there have been a few course corrections along the way……….and Kevin the teenager still does appear occasionally as you know. But you instilled in me whatever it is that convinced Claire she wanted to marry me – on that score alone, I think you can be justifiably proud of yourselves ; I am certainly proud of you.

Now – we have a few gifts for the Mums as a small token of our thanks………………..…

Nicky – beautiful bridesmaid and Claire's sister. You look stunning. We have so much to thank you for, you've been so generous and given us so much support – thankyou – especially for the cheesecake which had quite a few people baffled and for the Port we will be enjoying very soon. Your dress looks fantastic – I'm sure the dressmakers and seamstresses of Warwick are breathing a sigh of relief about now!!. Nicky – Thankyou again for all your help and support and for keeping Claire calm…….Ladies and Gentleman, I'd like to propose a toast to Nicky……..please stand and raise your glasses………Nicky – the best bridesmaid in the world

Greg – Thankyou for being my usher and groomsman. And thankyou for all your help and support today and the efforts you and Nicky have made to make today happen. You've been a real friend to Claire and I and your support today has been invaluable – I still have a trick to learn from you………….I've fallen asleep during………………..but how do you fall asleep during an argument with a Whatmough daughter?

Mike – Thanks for being my Best Man. You've been a real friend over the years. For those of you who don't know Mike, he's a life-long Wolves fan…….so he knows quite a bit about sticking with second rate players…..although we all come good eventually.
Thankyou for sorting the stag night……of which we will mention little………save to say, you maintained your duties of ensuring I didn't stray……..you left that until last weekend to lose me!!

So, now I turn to my new wife……..last but certainly not least. Thankyou for marrying me and making me the happiest man in the world. You look absolutely georgeous. It was love on the first date and I still can't believe you have chosen to marry me. I've never been able to find the right words to express just how I feel about you……….emotional plank I think you said a few times…..so I'm going to recite a poem in the hope that it goes some way to let you know just what you mean to me……

I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I'm with you
I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you have made of me
I love you for the part of me that you bring out.
I love you for putting your hand into my heaped up heart
And passing over all the foolish weak things that are held dimly there
And for drawing out into the light all the beautiful things
That no-one else had looked quite far enough to find.
I love you because you have helped me to make my life a beautiful life worth living
I love you because you have done more than anything could have done to make me good
And more than any fate could have done to make me happy.
You have done this by being yourself and loving me.

Now, I'm going to drink my own private toast to Claire later, however I'd like to propose another toast, this time to you, our guests………(Claire and I) Cheers everyone!
Well, it's that time………I think I'd like to handover to Mike, my best man………………Mike…..…