I’m Dreaming of a New York Christmas

Prologue

DRAFT GROOM’S SPEECH

[STAND AND TAP GLASS WITH CUTLERY]

Thanks, everyone. Well, today has been a long time coming, to put it mildly!

[PAUSE FOR LAUGHTER]

But, before I get into all the official thank yous and formalities, I wanted to tell you a story.

And it’s not the story you might be expecting me to tell. Because everyone here already knows the story of how Flora and I met on our first day at university when we were allocated each other’s rooms by mistake.

Instead, I want to tell you the story of two other people: Jim and Geri. My parents.

[PAUSE]

Because, even though today has been spectacular, the only way it could have been perfect is if my mum and dad could have been here to celebrate it with us.

[DEEP brEATH]

From what I’ve been told by various family members over the years, for Jim and Geri, it was love at first sight. They were married within six months and pregnant with my sister a year later – before Mum was even twenty. And then, three years after Lucy, I came along.

From what I’ve heard, I wasn’t the… easiest of babies. Or the easiest of toddlers. Even from a young age, I was known for my… ‘exacting standards’?!

[MAKE AIR QUOTES GESTURE AND PAUSE FOR LAUGHTER]

You’re telling me it isn’t normal for a four-year-old child to insist they wear a bow tie to school?!

[PAUSE FOR MORE LAUGHTER]

But, of course, I was too young to remember much about what kind of child I’d been before they died. Or to remember what kind of people they’d been.

But I do remember this: I’d always felt so safe, and so loved. And, without that foundation, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be standing here.

[TURN TO FACE FLORA]

With you, Flora. It might not have been love at first sight for us, but it was definitely connected at first conversation.

And, over the years, that connection has only grown, deepened and evolved into the amazing bond we’ve celebrated here in front of everyone – or nearly everyone – today.

I can’t imagine my life without you in it.

I lost my mum and dad way too soon. But their roots ran deep, and I’m so lucky to have been born into such a wonderful and supportive family, with so many of them here in front of me as I speak.

And now Flora is officially part of that family, too.

So, before I get even more soppy, I’d like us all to raise our glasses.

[RAISE GLASS]

To absent friends. And to absent family. And to bow ties on tiny children.