Father of the groom speech .
I was trying to avoid this but the pressure is mounting for the lads wedding in October in Miami . .
First draft .
All comments welcome . .
Good afternoon and hello .
I'm craig . Lee's dad and on my right here is evelyn his mum .
I would like to welcome you all for coming to celebrate the marriage of shavest and lee . It makes us really glad to see the smiling faces of so many happy people who have taken the time and made the effort to attend this beautiful ceremony . I know you have come from near and far .
This is an exiting day for all family and friends and i would like to thank everyone who has helped in whatever way possible.
You have all played your part to make this day very special .
When lee told us he had fallen in love with someone and wanted to share his life with them - I thought of the first thing a father thinks .
Jings - I hope it is a woman.
But i need not have worried . Shavest you are a beautiful lady . Your far too good for lee .
As a youngster lee had his 15 minutes of fame . He went to see his uncle stephen play professional football for motherwell every saturday . Eventually his loyalty was rewarded when motherwell won our major cup tournament . We still have pictures of lee from the newspapers standing at the front of the bus holding onto the cup which was almost as tall as himself . From there as he got older he was never in trouble but only just .
Lee was the usual boy growing up . Interested in everything except school . I remember helping him by sitting around the kitchen table doing revision with him for his mathematics exam . But what he failed to realise was that i had failed my exam as well . And he passed .
Lee slowly climbed the ladder at work starting as an apprentice joiner but he soon moved into the car trade and swiftly became a manager . One day he told us he was leaving for saudi arabia and since then he has never looked back . Even though he cannot pick up his dirty washing or use a cooker .
Lee first met shavest in 2016 when he came to visit us while we were on vacation in florida . He spent hours on the phone to her and i think evelyn knew right away . This is the one for him .
Shavest was actually looking for someone honest , reliable and hardworking but he was married so she settled for lee .
Shavest we call her vessie . You are like a daughter to us already . I remember on your first visit to scotland you were so nervous . We had christmas dinner a few days early as you were flying home. The way you laughed and talked you fitted in right away . Our family couldn't stop talking about you . Your not so shy now . You waltz in and take over now .
What a fantastic day this is for everyone .
I would like to take a moment to commend shavawn and her family for raising such a wonderful and loving daughter . I know our son and our whole family welcome shavest into our family with open arms .
Shavest and lee. - I want to congratulate you both on your first day of your amazing life together . I believe that the two of you will have an incredible journey together . Please honor , cherish and love one another with all your hearts . And we some day look forward to the patter of tiny feet .
You know shavest and lee - evelyn and i have been married for 27 LONG years . And some of these years have been the happiest of my life .
There are just 2 phrases you need to remember lee . 1 - Yes dear and 2 - the credit card is in my pocket help yourself .
You guys are starting off with 2 great jobs , a nice car , a dog .and lots to look forward too .
I started with nothing and still have most of that left .
As you can see the scottish guys here have made a real effort to dress today . So to all the single ladies out there if you want to see what a scotsman wears under his kilt there is no better day .
In closing - I would like everybody to raise their glass and toast to a happy and healthy marriage for shavest and lee .
Shavest and lee .
Shavest wants me to tell a joke . This could be difficult . She doesn't understand a word I say . Our niece Kirsten has to be told it's a joke and auntie mary always laughs before I have finished but anyway here goes .
I am lucky to be attending this wedding . Just 2 weeks ago I was in hospital with a heart attack . Evelyn phoned Kirsten to tell her the bad news and she rushed straight to the ward .
What were you doing that you had a heart attack she asked . We were having sex I said .
What at your age . Kirsten was shocked . You need to take it easy .
It's fine I told her .
We do it to the rhythm of the church bells . In with the ding and out with the dong I said .
Things were going great until that ice cream truck came along ,