Speech by Toby Henderson

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: Toby Henderson
Speech Date: Sep2007
Firstly, on behalf of MY WIFE and I, I'd like to thank to Don for his toast, and for his kind words. Thank you, Don.

You'll have to excuse me – I'm not really accustomed to public speaking and I'm more than a little nervous about making this speech. It'd be fair to say this isn't the first time today that I've stood up from a warm seat with pieces of paper in my hand.

I did ask for a microphone but I was told there wasn't one available. So if you can't hear me at the back, the silence from the people at the front should re-assure you that you're not missing anything!

Of course, I did have a fantastic speech all worked out for today, but now that I'm a married man, my beautiful new wife has told me what to say.

Right, I hope your glasses are fully charged as I have a couple of toasts to make today. My first toast is to absent friends, especially to our grandparents who I'm sure are looking down on us today with big smiles on their faces. You are in our thoughts, folks!

To absent friends…

Next, I feel I must turn my attention to you wonderful people. Again, on behalf of MY WIFE and I, I would like to say a huge thank you to you all.

And this isn't just a normal, average, blah blah thank you. It's a proper, big special thank you. Seriously, we are so grateful to you all for making the effort to join us today. This is, indeed, our special day, but its been made 100 times more special by you all being here to share it with us.

We never wanted the small Vegas-style thing – it was always destined to be like this. It really is the most fantastic thing – its like going to the best party you could ever dream of, where all of your oldest, closest and dearest friends and family are. Thank you SO much to you all for coming, and thank you for all the cards and kind gifts.

Of course, life hasn't always been this good for me. As you can see from my fast receding hairline, its taken me a few years to find the woman of my dreams. I got kinda sick over the years of going to other people's weddings and constantly getting comments from aged relatives. “You'll be next!”, they'd say. How refreshing it was to bump into them at funerals and be able to say the same thing…

I do have a few special thank yous for some of those amongst you.

Firstly to our jetsetting guests who have come from abroad to be here. Thanks to Thomas and Jessica who have come all the way from Sweden, to Chris and Gry who have flown in from Norway, and finally to Sally's Godmother, Ann, and her husband David who have come all the way from Canada to share our special day with us. Thank you all so much!

A big personal thanks also goes to Ann &amp David from Sally for the wonderful dress that you see her in today. I'm sure you will agree she looks a million dollars, so thank you Ann and David.

You won't have seen the fantastic wedding cake yet as I'm hoping its been delivered next door whilst we've been eating. Thank you so much to Sal's Nan, Kathleen for providing it and, the best news of all, there's no fruit cake in it!

Next, special thanks to Megan for creating the design for our wonderful jigsaw invites, and to my Mum for designing the jigsaw cut and for making it all happen.

Thank you to Liz, Sarah and my Mum again for all the wonderful flowers that you see on your tables today. I'm sure you'll all agree that they look wonderful, so big thank yous to you ladies for brightening up our tables.

A big thank you to my Uncle Euan for taking on the duties of the MC today, and big thank you's all round to my ushers. They've scrubbed up pretty well I think you'll agree, so thanks for your help, support and friendship, chaps.

And a big thank you to my best men, Craig and Nigel. I'm not sure how prudent it is to be bigging them up before I've heard their speeches, but I thank them from the heart of my bottom, sorry, I mean bottom of my heart, for being such good pals and for all they've done for me over the years. Thanks for organising my cracking stag do as well. I was particularly pleased that I got off scott free, which is more than can be said for the hair around Roy's belly button…

Of course, many people don't know that Nigel &amp Craig actually live in a parallel universe which causes them to invent fanciful stories. They really do believe these stories to be true so I thank you for humouring them during their speeches. Mills, go easy pal. Don't forget that I am returning the favour in just a few short weeks!

Don, Sheila, I feel I owe you a personal debt of gratitude for producing the perfect woman. OK, maybe the perfect woman isn't quite right, but certainly MY perfect woman.

Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am and, rest assured, I am fully aware how right they all are.

I love your daughter with all my heart and I give you my word that I will love, cherish and protect her for the rest of my life.

Thank you also for the love and support that you've shown me right from day 2. Day 1 was a bit rough, but hey, we're over it now!

No, seriously, thank you for everything, and especially all the support you've given us to help make this day so very special.

Mum and Dad, and my step parents, David and Mary. Thank you for all the love, guidance and support that you've given me in my life. Thank you for everything. I don't know what the metrics of successful parenting are but, based on what I have managed to find myself by way of a wife, I reckon you must have done a pretty decent job and I must have turned out OK. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here with my beautiful wife, the love of my life, right now. Thank you, and I love you all dearly.

I believe tradition dictates that I now tell you an amusing story or two about Sally. Fortunately, however, she dictates that I do no such thing so I will move swiftly on!

I really can't say enough nice things about my darling Sally. I would do, but I cant read her hand writing.

Its funny, you know. People say that in the days and weeks preceding your wedding, its perfectly natural to have some doubts and second thoughts. When I got up this morning and still hadn't had any, I didn't know whether to think that was a good thing or a bad thing. I assumed good of course, and my assumptions were proven 100% correct when I saw you walking down the aisle to me. There were never any worries, doubts, or second thoughts, because there was never any need for them. I've never been more sure about anything in my life.

Sally, my darling, I've been looking forward to this day for months. I am so proud to be stood here now, by your side, as your husband, and I am so proud to be able to call you my wife. You are the most important person in my world, and I love you with all my heart.

How do I love you? Let me count the ways…

I love the way your hair goes wavy in the rain.
I love your little Sally-isms when your mouth engages way ahead of your brain.
I love the way that when I hold you close, it feels like home.
I love the way that the simple things in life make you happy. Like spending two hours in TK Maxx!
I love the way you complement me perfectly, and I hope I do the same for you.
I love the way you do the crackling on your roast pork.
I love the way you're not a morning person, just like me.
I love the way that you give me the ‘blue’ jobs around the house to do, but I never have to do the ‘pink’ ones.
I loved the way that you cried when I won the Hacker Cup golf competition earlier this year.
I love the way that I can send you to sleep and ease all your stresses just by tickling your arms for five minutes.

I could go on for hours, but I know there's a disco and a band waiting to set up, plus I can see a room full of people waiting, with bated breath, for the best men to do their stuff!

I'm not a big one for poetry but, in the words of Ian Brown and The Stone Roses – “…sent to me from heaven. Sally Cinnamon, you are my world.”

And finally, last, but by no means least, I have the honour of thanking Sally's bridesmaid, Kathleen, and Sally's wonderful little flower girl, Jessica.

I'm sure you'll all agree that little Jessica stole the show earlier. She was an absolute picture and behaved like an angel. In her absence, our love and huge thanks to Ben &amp Nat.

Kathleen, for those of you who haven't met her before, is a very dear old friend of Sally's from Durham University. She's one of the first people Sal met when she got there, and they've been dear friends ever since. Kathleen's been absolutely fantastic supporting Sal over the month's of preparation that have gone into today and, knowing Sal and her blonde moments, I have to extend my own personal thanks to Kathleen for getting her to the alter in one piece. I'm sure she couldn't have done it without you!

Kathleen should also get some richly deserved recognition for the fantastic dress that she is wearing today. Never mind the Emmanuels or Vera Wang – Kathleen knocked that little number up with her own fair hand. I'm sure you'll all agree it's a stunning dress and Kathleen looks absolutely marvellous in it.

So, ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding with me to toast the bridesmaids.