Posted on 09/08/2010 1:07:24 PM PDT by Bean Counter
Somewheres in your remarks, try to work in the old Spanish toast...loosely translated as Health, wealth, and time to enjoy them..
My Dad has five daughters. I’m sure not a one of us remembers him giving a toast at our weddings. What we will always remember is how he is there when good things happen, when bad things happen, when the babies come, when we grill steaks in the summer, when we burn leaves in the fall, (when I need help with the livestock)...and how he loves our husbands, too.
At our family weddings, Dad passes out kazoos to the extended family and they all stand up and serenade the happy couple with a touching rendition of “Feelings.” I guess you have to be there. I think he’d be a little too “cut up” to make a toast, but he’s right at home conducting the kazoo serenade.
I will say that none of us had the traditional “Father and Daughter” dance at our weddings. I do remember Dad out on the dance floor with all his girls at my wedding when some wag got the DJ to play “Da Butt.” There’s your horror story.
God bless fathers. Whatever you say, your daughter will always hold you in her heart.
Now ENJOY THE PARTY!
To The Bride: “There is no answer to the question: “Do these slacks make my butt look big?”
To Both: At the end of the day, when ups and downs of life has happened, 5 little words will always make the day blessed..."Yes Dear...I Love You” _______________________________________________________
Congrats.
WELL!
It is Monday morning, the deed is done and the new couple is safely on their Honeymoon. This is the first chance I have had to look at my laptop since last week when I stashed it for the wedding.
We kicked things off Thursday night with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We kept it simple...smoked chicken salad on large croissants, potato salad and peach cobbler with ice cream. We had 15 people for dinner, and we served it picnic style on folding tables since the dining room table was now in the living room being prepped for the cake. Everyone came casual and hungry, and everyone was relaxed and comfortable the whole time. I think the other ‘rents were reluctant to leave and really enjoyed themselves.
Friday morning the rental equipment was delivered. We monitored the weather forecast for the week prior, and it was so outrageously wrong every time that my wife cut them out and saved them for the Bride’s wedding album. Wednesday, they were still predicting showers, so we made the command decision to rent two canopies, one over the bar on the deck and the other in the yard over the tables. I’ll post a couple of pics here later so you can see how it turned out. As it was, the weather was just spectacular. Not a cloud in the sky and in fact it was so sunny that if we did not have the canopy, it would have been blindingly bright and very warm over all of the tables. The canopy proved to be a great call.
Saturday morning the caterer arrived and started setting up, and my wife’s best friend arrived with the cake and flowers. My wife and the Bride retired to the back of the house and there was a rolling gaggle of my wife’s friends in and out back there “helping” the Bride get ready. I think my wife had a bottle of wine back there too, and they all apparently had a VERY good time.
Meanwhile the groom was out front with me, he in his Class A’s and me in my 3 piece suit. We greeted everyone as they arrived, and as he got a bit jittery as we got close to noon, I made sure he had a little bracer...I had a bottle of Black Bush Irish whiskey ready and waiting, and he was just amazed that it was as smooth as a baby’s arse...
We had 71 guests. We cleared our furniture out into the garage, threw open two sets of double doors onto our patio, and sited 80 chairs from the family room, out onto the deck, the dining room and part of the kitchen. The family room has a vaulted ceiling and with the doors open, projects sound into the rest of the front of the house very well. We were able to conduct the wedding in speaking voices with no sound system needed. Everyone had a great seat, and the wedding itself was flawless, very intimate and witnessed by most of our extended family.
The caterer we picked did an incredible job. I will post a picture of the setup later, but they delivered what they promised in Spades, and were integral with keeping things flowing. They set up our inside bar with champagne saucers, and had the bubbly poured right on time.
So we finally arrived at my part of the show. Everyone filled their hand and I asked for their attention. I said that as Father of the Bride, one of the only things I have complete responsibility for was initiating the toast, and that I had two toasts to make. I did not make notes to read, but I did read this thread and decided what I wanted to say well ahead of time. My toast to the Bride and Groom went something like:
To Victoria and Phil, your whole family is here with all of their love and we all wish you nothing but happiness. May all of your children be born naked and with no shoes. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs....
Then I toasted my wife...
My other toast is for the person without whom none of us would be gathered here today. That person is the Mother of the Bride, my Best Friend, my true Love, my wife. We could not have done this today without all of your loving hard work, so Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Mother of the Bride...
I kept it short, loving, humorous and light. My wife thought it was perfect, and so did the Bride. She rocked me back with a big hug and a smooch, and being the sentimental old fart that I am, brought tears to my eyes. She was stunning in her wedding dress and in one moment all of the stress from the last six months or so melted away.
My wife and I delivered the B&G to the train station, and sent them off on their honeymoon. She’s checked in with her Mom a couple of times, and pretty much babbled about how much fun they were having and how happy the two of them are. Her Mother and I have been basking in the warm glow all weekend, and I’m happy to report that the glow is still there this morning.
All of the tables and chairs, canopies, tablecloths and the portable can we rented at the last minute will all be picked up today, and we can continue to put the house back together again. We spent a leisurely Sunday snoozing in front of football, and when it warmed up yesterday we got everything ready to be picked up today. I plan on doing next to nothing this week and maybe next, other than mow the lawn if and when it needs it. I have a few bottles of champagne left, and I plan on passing a few of them to the neighbors to thank them for their indulgence while we had the biggest party our family has ever had in many, many years.
Sorry I did not get the chance to comment on this thread before now, but I have no shame that real life trumped the internet for a while. Our Daughter and new Son in Law had a fantastic wedding, and we were able to really enjoy ourselves and mingle with all of our guests and family.
Thank You for all of your kind remarks and sound advice; you helped me focus and my wife was very pleased, and that’s exactly what I wanted.
Cheers!
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