Speech by David

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: David
Speech Date: 31/01/2018 19:32:23
 To start wi I'd just like to ank everyone for coming. We really appreciate e efforts at you've made, some of you have travelled a long way, some of you maybe feel like you're missing out on a day of Christmas shopping and some of you probably just want me to shut up already so we can get to e food! But all of you here are very special to us and we are extremely grateful at you have chosen to come and celebrate wi us today. So, I promise is will be brief, but as I'm sure you understand, ere are a few people at we need to ank. Keep your glasses topped up because more toasts are coming!

Firstly, to our parents. You have all been such great pillars of support for Victoria and I, not just in planning for today but roughout our whole lives.

David and Sue, ank you for raising Victoria to be e caring, strong, funny and beautiful person she is today. You have made sure at she has been surrounded by loving family her whole life, setting great examples of how to live a busy working and fulfilled life, yet still making time for e people at matter most.

Thank you also for welcoming me into your family, alough I suppose I've been hanging around for so long now at you don't really have a choice any more! But from e very start of my relationship wi Vic you always invited me to family gaerings, birdays, Christmases, holidays and trips to e races, National Trust venues or e fish and chip shop in Fakenham! I do regret at more often an not my response has probably been ‘sorry, I've got a gig’, but I appreciate e ought! I ink e first time I really felt a part of e Benefer family was e first holiday I went on wi you, to Derbyshire. I'd had a late night gig in Leeds on e Sunday and drove straight down afterwards to join e rest of you. I arrived at 3 or 4 in e morning to find Sue and Vic bo waiting up for me wi a cup of tea and a plate of cheese and marmite sandwiches (my favourite)! As I recall, Sue still got up at about 7 or 8 to chivvy us along to a 15 mile bike ride instead of ‘wasting e day’!

I also need to ank bo of you for all e help you've given us in planning and preparing for today. Thanks to David for arranging all e flowers, bo here and at e church. They look perfect and we really appreciate e time and effort you put in. And Sue, ank you for all e help you gave us in preparing for today, helping Vic choose her dress, sorting rough RSVPs and all e oer countless ings you've done, but most importantly pointing out all e ings we hadn't even ought of when planning e wedding!

And now, onto my Mum and Dad, Graham and Sally. First of all ank you for always being ere for me wi unconditional love and support. I've taken it for granted a lot in e past but I want you to know at I appreciate everying you've done for me and I love you bo very much. Also ank you for introducing me to music! Wiout Dad's love of Steely Dan, Joe Jackson, Bruce Cockburn, Bach, Albinoni and many oers, and wiout Mum teaching me piano from e age of 5 I genuinely have no idea what my career would be today.

Thank you for e way at you instantly tried your best to make Vic feel at home, from e first time at she came to our house at King John Avenue. Thanks for all e support you've given us in our relationship, all e food when we turn up unannounced, all e games of Articulate and most importantly all e cups of tea! Even after we broke up breifly after University (which Mum loves to talk about at every opportunity!), you bo accepted Vic back into e family before I'd even told you we were back togeer!

Lastly, ank you for all your help and advice wi e wedding. I know is is e 4 wedding you've had to prepare for in e last year, and you must be getting pretty sick of it by now, but we couldn't have done it wiout you! So, if everyone could please be upstanding, we will raise a toast… to e parents! .… And now Vic has some gifts for you all.

I'd now like to ank e bridesmaids, e two Rachels, Earl and George. You bo look absolutely stunning today as I'm sure everyone agrees. If noing else, you've drastically raised e average attractiveness of e wedding party! Thanks for looking after Vic rough e whole wedding process, for helping and advising on her dress, shoes, hair, make-up, for organising her hen do (which I ink she really enjoyed, alough I don't know how much she remembers about it!) for all your help wi invites, favours and everying else and for making sure she made it to e church on time! As Vic's sister and her best friend ere was never any choice for her to make about who her bridesmaids were going to be, it was always going to be you two! So could everyone please raise a glass… to e bridesmaids.

Now to my best men, my two broers Thomas and Alex. Why are ere two best men? Well I couldn't possibly choose between em. At least at's what I told em. The tru is I couldn't trust one of em to be organised by himself. They need a fair amount of supervision as it is! But in all seriousness, ey've done a really great job of keeping me relaxed and helped me just to treat is as a normal day, albeit a normal day where I have to make a speech in front of 120 people! They also organised a great stag do last weekend. I especially enjoyed e part when everyone lined up and shot paintballs at me from point blank range. The bruises are just about fading. It was a great laugh ough, and you've also done a great job of making sure everying runs smooly today so anks guys. I'm genuinely intrigued to hear your speech in a bit!

Also, anks to my ushers Woody and Sam. You guys have been two of my best friends since high school and alough we don't see each oer as much as any of us would like ese days, I'm honoured at you agreed to be my groomsmen today and I want to ank you for all e effort you've put in to make sure everyone and everying was where it needed to be! Again, having you bo here helping us out has made us bo a bit more relaxed so ank you for all your assistance.

To my sister, Louisa, you're looking lovely as always. Thank you so much for singing in e church earlier, it sounded incredible. To be honest, I ink at's e first time I've seen you and Alex stand next to each oer for at long wiout arguing, so at's a bonus! Louisa will be singing our first dance song as well later, so if you could all watch her instead of my dancing at'd be great!

A few more ank yous to do, so many people have been involved in making today amazing so sorry if I forget anyone! June (who is Vic's nan for ose of you who don't know) has made e wedding cake at we'll be cutting into later, it looks amazing so ank you so much for at. Thank you to Simon and Jack for playing earlier on, we weren't able to catch much/any of it unfortunately as we were off being celebrities but I'm assuming you were bo great! On e subject of music, I hope all e musicians amongst you will get up and have a jam at some point tonight. We have some spare instruments hanging around so ere's no excuse. Anying goes!

Also ank you to Ollie who's doing sound for everying today. I got in a bit of a panic e oer night trying to organise everying and I sent Ollie a big long text about all e ings at would need mic'ing and who was playing when and all sorts. He came back wi a typical short, blunt, Ollie reply of ‘yeh mate it's all in my car!’ and for some reason at made me realise it was all going to be alright! Anyway, Ollie's basically doing his day job for no money today so please everyone buy him lots of beer!

Right en, last but not least, my wife! I'd like to tell you all e story of how we first got togeer, because it could have been so different! Some of you will know is story, a few of you were ere, but you might not know all e details. We went to high school togeer, but never really spoke to each oer. I had always admired Victoria from afar but I was always terrible at talking to girls so at was as far as it got. We bo went off to different Unis after school, her to Sunderland, me to Birmingham, but at Easter 2009 we were bo back in King's Lynn and found ourselves in e same club wi e same group of mutual friends. Woody, a friend to bo of us, was also ere, as was someone else who I won't name for security reasons! Let's call him Jeff. Anyway me and Vic got chatting, I have no idea what about. Before long she had to leave, but on her way out she told Woody to ‘give e relevant people’ her number. So Woody gave me her number, we texted back and for for a bit and arranged to meet up for a drink. I was really ill at day, felt terrible, but I didn't want to cancel on her so I went along and struggled rough. I don't ink I managed to string more an two words togeer, but Vic was happy talking and I nodded and laughed in e right places and somehow managed to get a second date out of it! This one went much better which led to me going up to see her in Sunderland and e rest is history. BUT a year or so down e line, she told me e real story. In at club in King's Lynn she had also been chatting and flirting wi Jeff. When she said to Woody about ‘relevant’ people she meant him, not me! And because we had only texted and not spoken on e phone, on our first date she was expecting him, not me. So, basically e point of e story is e only reason we're here today is because I stole a date at Easter 2009!

Anyway, since en she's gotten over her disappointment and she's eventually agreed to marry me, which I'm obviously rilled about! As you know, we've been living togeer for 5 years now and alough we've had occasional ups and downs, I can honestly say ey have been e happiest years of my life.

Victoria, I know you'll hate is bit so I'll keep it short! You look incredibly beautiful today and I love you so much. In fact, you look beautiful to me every day, wheer you're wearing a wedding dress and make-up or ose horrible grey pyjamas wi e holes in. You are e oer half of me and alough we disagree on almost everying, I would raer disagree wi you an agree wi anyone else. You have done such an amazing job organising is wedding and I can't wait to start e next part of our life togeer.

Now could everyone please raise a toast to my wife, Victoria Maddison!