Speech by Mike Challis

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: Mike Challis
Speech Date: 14/08/2014 10:10:08

Yes I will use a microphone thanks, I am inclined to mumble – at least that's what Hannah tells me when she ignores what I'm saying! 

Thanks Bill for your kind words – I know you spent some time trying to find something nice to say about me and had so much material it lasted all of 10 seconds! I of course did have a terrific speech planned but now we are married        Hannah has told me exactly what to say…

Firstly, on behalf of my Wife and I, we'd like to thank all of you here for sharing our Wedding Day and joining us to celebrate – it's fantastic to see you all and we trust you are having a good time so far, it wouldn't be the same without you all.

Having done a fair bit of research into the Grooms speech, my primary job is to say thank you to a lot of people and raise a few toasts, however, as Hannah has spent most of the budget on Pom Poms and Giant Balloons, you'll have to make do with the table wine and 1 toast at the end!  So please feel free to charge your glasses now if you can make it last the next 20 minutes…….joking!

Hannah and I would like to thank our parents (including Hughie of the Bride) for all their time, generosity and support in making this day happen, we really could not have done it without you.  I'd also like to say thanks to  Jacqui, Bill and Hugh for raising such wonderful woman who I am now lucky enough to call my wife.  I am sure she would agree that you have all been fantastic role models during her formative years and she wouldn't be the kind, generous and loving young lady she is today without you all.

Mum, thank you for being such a terrific parent to me – as most of you will know my Dad passed away when I was 11 and Mum has had the un-enviable task of raising me alone for the past 22 years, if I do say so myself I don't think I have turned out too badly, so you have performed the role of Mum and Dad incredibly well.  I'd like to say that my Dad would certainly have loved Hannah as much as I do, his sense of humour would have had great fun with your occasional but endearing gullible moments!

To Hannah's bridesmaids, her big sisters Vanessa and Lauren, you both look beautiful today and I know Hannah relies on you both for support and advice and she wouldn't be without you both. How you coped with her this morning and are still smiling is beyond me!

To my best man and ushers, thank you for doing the bare minimum since you accepted the roles!  I'm only kidding, Dan and Dave have done a great job of organising the rabble (as Hannah called it when doing the seating plan) and stuck well to the code of not looking better than the groom, even if McBarry does rock a pair of slim fit trousers better than he could ever have imagined! I should just mention that we dished out our gifts to the aforementioned yesterday, if only for them not to have to pretend to like them in front of all of you guys…..

So onto my Bride and Joy (See what I did there?!?!).  Firstly, thank you for all your efforts on making our big day happen – your creativity, organisation and hard work has resulted in a huge success and a wonderful day for us both.  I'd also like to say thank you for agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me, I feel completely honoured to have married someone so beautiful, funny, intelligent and – what does that say I can't quite read your writing…!!  Seriously though, I wasn't prepared for just how stunning you look today and when I saw you walk down the aisle I was completely overwhelmed.  You are my best friend, so kind, funny, determined and ambitious, and with everything you deal with each day, my very own little inspiration. I love you more with each day that passes and am a very VERY proud man today.

Now whilst Hannah and I had a fairly normal start to our relationship – we met at work, obviously terrific dates to various pubs and 2for1 deals at Prezzo, we have had our funny moments, mainly me laughing at Hannah when she had her full rebellious streak.  The first I remember being our first holiday away to Kos, after taking full advantage of the all-inclusive Han decided that a lit path near the pool looked like a catwalk – cue her best Kate Moss impression numerous times – and the second being my first ever visit to her hometown of Saffron Walden one evening to collect her after a night out with her friends.  After waiting in the car in the agreed high street position for 20 minutes I decided to take a little walk to try and find her, upon turning the corner a small blonde person holding her shoes appeared wobbling around outside a kebab shop, crying her eyes out because she couldn't find me – Bless!

Thankfully she has settled down now and agreed to marry me last March after I had done the decent thing and asked Bill for permission to marry his daughter – I don't know what he thought I was going to say but his face was priceless when I said I had something I wanted to ask of him!  I also rang Hugh later in the week to ask for the Step-Father permission, his response was ‘you had better talk to Jacqueline’ so I still don't know if he approves!

So onto my best man!  It has taken some effort to get Nick here today, you have make a lot of calls and fill out numerous forms to get people out of their homes these days!  I was told he has to be back in his padded cell by midnight, to avoid letting him near remote controls, and if he gets over-excited a little tickle of the feet seems to calm him down!

This will be the fourth time Nick has been best man, so it says a lot about what a terrific friend he is within our group – if there is a man you can rely on in a crisis, or have something funny to say when you need a laugh, he has always been the man to turn to.  Special thanks for organising a superb stag do as well and to all the guys who spent their hard-earned coming along – especially Jon who saw most of Friday night come back up through his Go-Kart crash helmet the next day!

I think I have droned on enough now, so it remains for me to ask you to raise a glass to our parents, the bridesmaids, my best man and ushers, to all of you here, and most importantly, my wife, Hannah – Cheers!!