Speech by Henry Arnold

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: Henry Arnold
Speech Date: Oct2007
I would also like to begin by saying a big thank you to you all for your generous presents, and for coming such a distance to see us married. Hopefully the beautiful Balinese setting goes some way towards making up for the long haul flight in bearpit class necessary to get here. In particular, I hope no-one will mind if I single out Auntie Dorrie for my thanks: amazing to see you here – really appreciate that.

I'd also like to offer my thanks to Mari's parents, Kazumi and Kayoko, both for hosting this evening's wedding, and also for raising such wonderful daughter.

I've heard many men talk about the horror of meeting their beloved's parents for the first time. I can honestly say it was very easy meeting Mari's parents. We had no language in common, so there was no possibility for them to ask me awkward questions, or for me to give ill-advised answers. All I was really did during that initial meeting was sit there and try and exude good naturedness and honest intentions. It all worked out very well.

In a similar vein, I would like to thank my own parents, David and Andrea, for hosting yesterday's dinner and also, more important, for their love and support throughout my entire life.

I'd like to thank my Mum in particular for all the advice and suggestions she's been giving us *in response to comments from the floor* endless advice. We did make use of a lot of it. I'd also like to thank her for lending me the book on etiquette that reminds me everyone who I have to thank.

The etiquette book also told me that I'm not here to regale you with weak jokes hastily downloaded off the Internet – that's the Best Man's job. He's standing up straight after this. It did say that I have to tell you all a little about how Mari and I first met, and also my feelings for her, which is probably harder, so here goes:

Mari was always working at the same company as me, Deutsche Bank, but originally in the Tokyo office. She was looking for a bit of a change so she decided to come to the London office instead, which I think was at the suggestion of Angelo, who's here this evening, so thank you for that. Anyway, so she started in London on almost the same day as the Deutsche Bank Social Committee had organised a Scavenger Hunt, which is a sort of work-sponsored pub crawl with cryptic crossword clues thrown in for good measure. Fate put Mari and me on the same team and so that was how we first got to know one another and everything snowballed from there. Soon we were dating.

Obviously this was a work romance, so initially we tried to keep it a secret.. We snuck in at different times into work, we left at different times, we tried to make sure nobody saw us having lunches together. It eventually became fairly obvious when we had our first holiday together to Malta, and a few people who knew us both realised we were taking the same time off work to go to the same place. After that, it became a bit of an open secret, although there were a few die-hards who still refused to believe that Mari would go out with me.

It wasn't long before the whole engagement process kicked off – it wasn't quite what I'd envisaged. There was a sort of unofficial proposal towards the end of last year, which I immediately accepted. I was then left to make everything official by actually having the ring made. I was assisted in this by some subtle hints of Mari's, such as a small booklet of photographs with diagrams, and a detailed appendix to show the budget calculation.

And that's what lead to us all being here today. As for my feelings for Mari – there's a saying that goes &quotYou don't marry the person you can live with, you marry the person you cannot live without&quot.

I love Mari in many different ways and for many different reasons. We understand each other perfectly even when the language barrier gets in the way. I can make Mari laugh even though she doesn't like my jokes. She can make me laugh out loud, and she's always ready to cheer me up when I need it.

Mari – I love you with all of my heart. You're one of the most beautiful *realises mistake* you are the most *amid laughter* I should have just read it directly – you are the most beautiful, intelligent and charming woman I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. A big thank you for becoming my wife. I look forward to our years together.

I could go on for much longer about my new bride. I mean, I would do – there's lots more here, I just can't read her handwriting. Anyway, it's time I moved on to the bridesmaids: Hiromi, Izumi, Rui, who sadly can't wear the dress due to the difficulties of getting the dress size right on a recently pregnant woman, and Helen, chief bridesmaid. First off, I'd like you all to take note of the shoes that they're wearing this evening. Mari is an expert on buying shoes, spending much of her waking life devoted to this passion, and she chose those shoes as our gift to the bridesmaids for the wonderful job they've done this evening. I'd especially like to thank you, Helen, for all your help with the organisation of the wedding over the past few months – really appreciate that.

I'm sure you'll all agree that the bridesmaids all look divine this evening. It was a close run thing, but I'm sticking with Mari. Anyway, let me do a toast – we'll do the champagne toast, I think, this time. Ladies and Gentlemen – to the bridesmaids *pauses and lifts glass* the bridesmaids!

I'm now handing over to Chris. He does have a slight mental disorder, which means he lives in his own little world and sometimes makes up stories. So if he says a blatant untruth don't believe him – just humour him. *sits down*