Speech by James Morrison

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: James Morrison
Speech Date: 29/03/2015 21:13:06

Thank you John, for those kind words.

You are all about to witness a unique event in history. The very first and very last time that my wife is going to let me speak on behalf of both of us; and there's good reason for that!

I must say it's a privilege and an honour to stand up in this special moment in our lives and share this with all of you. I just hope that, so soon into our married life, I don't embarass Nikki or myself too much.

It's also worth a mention that there are going to be several toasts during the next few minutes, so please could you all ensure that your glasses are full. From what I have seen so far that could be a problem for some of you, but can I just remind you that it's a marathon not a sprint, so pace yourselves!

Thank you all for coming today, we appreciate that you have all had to make allowances to be here, particularly those of you who have had a great distance to travel and special mention goes to my cousin, Matt, who has flown in from Denmark to be here.

Unfortunately, it's not been possible to have everyone we love here with us today, but we know they're here with us in spirit and they're not only in our thoughts today, but more importantly they're with us in our hearts.

So, with them in mind, would you please all stand, raise your glasses, and join me in our first toast to absent family and friends.

“To absent family and friends.”

We would like to thank our parents as we wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for them. We would like to thank them all for the love and support over the years. We both know we haven't always made it easy…

I would personally like to thank Marion and John for bringing up such a lovely daughter and thank you both for making me feel so welcome in your family.

We'd like to say a special thank you to Marion for all her hard work and effort that she has put in making the cake, it looks wonderful and I'm sure you all agree. I'd also like to thank Marion and David for all their help and support with the wedding preparations and helping to keep Nikki calm.

I know Nikki sometimes isn't the easiest to please so would also like to say thanks to Marion, Beverley, Nikki's sister, and Chelle for accompanying Nikki on the many, many dress fittings; she looks absolutely stunning.

I have sometimes found it hard to build relationships, but Nikki's family made it very easy for me to fit in and become part of the family. I hope I can be everything you want from a son-in-law and more.

I would really like to thank my mum and dad, who should undoubtedly receive a medal for endurance. They have always loved and supported me through every stage of my life, even during my Kevin the teenager stage that seemed to last well into my twenties, and which Nikki may argue hasn't ended yet.

Thank you, mum and dad for all the love and guidance you‘ve given, and I hope I can make you as proud of me as I am of you.

So for both our parents – we have gifts as a token of our thanks.

I'd also like you to join me in raising a glass to toast our parents.

“To our parents.”

Beverley, can I first say that you look beautiful today. We really appreciate the time and effort you have put in to help make this occasion as special as it is, and have done an excellent job of looking after Nikki, not only today but on her nice, quiet, chess-playing, refrained hen night.

Thank you for always being there to provide support and guidance, especially looking after Ben on so many occasions and putting up with Nikki last night, I know it probably wasn't easy.  It is only with your help that Nikki looks as beautiful as she does today. To show our appreciation, we have got you a gift to say thank you.

We would also like to make a special mention to Chelle who was unable to be a bridesmaid. As you may have seen, little Oscar is now 4 days old and our youngest guest, and also the loudest / quietest / sleepiest / only one who has a legitimate excuse to be sleeping now.

Congratulations to you and Carl.

So, now can we all now be up standing to toast the bridesmaids.

“To the bridesmaids.”

Dave, thank you for agreeing to be my best man; for your support and encouragement, and for organising the stag do… eventually. Half the guest list thought they weren't invited because it took so long to get the invites out, but it all turned out well in the end and we had a good day!

Thank you in particular for your patience in helping me write this speech; apparently I'm not easy to work with, so we have got you a gift to say thank you.

I'd like you all to join me in raising a glass to the best man.

“To the best man.”

To everyone else who has helped us, to all our family and friends, we are eternally grateful. We simply wouldn't be here today without your help and we hope you all enjoy today as much as we will.

Hopefully you've still got some champagne left; I'd like you to join me for a toast to family and friends.

“To family and friends.”

As you can imagine, today has been the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and blood sweat and tears from so many people so very close to Nikki and I.

The one person in the room to which I owe the most thanks to is Nikki, my wife. She has worked so hard for this day and it shows. I still can't believe that such a wonderful, gorgeous woman chose to marry me. She looks absolutely stunning today, as I'm sure you'll agree.

So, to my wife, my bride, my best friend, my soul mate – thank you for everything you have done and for making me the happiest man alive. You know everything about me and love me just the same. I am extremely lucky today to be the one to marry you – and I know this is the start of many, many happy years together.

I'd like you to join me for one final toast; to the bride.

“To the bride.”

So, that's enough from me, it now gives me great pleasure to hand over to my best man –– he's a guy that I've known for quite a while and I can honestly say that his support and advice over the years has been truly invaluable.

Many people don't know that Dave lives in a parallel universe which causes him to invent fanciful stories. He really does believe these stories to be true and I thank you for humouring him during his speech.

I'd now like to ask him to give the best man's speech – and given this great build up, I appreciate it if he would take it easy on me.