Wedding toast in English and Spanish (Un brindis de boda)

Note: This is a toast -- in Enlglish and then in Spanish -- to my daughter Ivy and son-in-law Arnau at their wedding reception in Barcelona at meeatings23   It was a great reception with friends and family and excellent food cooked by a chef in the kitchen next door to the room where we celebrated. By the way, my prepared text, shown below, does not fully match the video because I improvised :-)

English version

Good evening everyone. We are very happy to gather here today with our families and friends to celebrate the marriage of Ivy and Arnau.

I feel proud as the father of the bride to admire our beautiful daughter with her handsome husband.  

I remember as if it were only yesterday... when Ivy was 4 years old, one day she started reading a storybook to us and we were shocked because we didn't know how and when Ivy learned to read.  Ivy always loved reading and writing. When she was in elementary school, she liked to write stories and poems that I sent to the local newspaper where they would publish them. She is also very good with languages, which is coming in handy, now that she is learning Catalan and she already speaks Spanish quite well.

Ivy is extremely smart, creative, and talented, but what she lacked was confidence in herself. All that changed when she met Arnau during his visit the United States in 2011. After they got together, Ivy has blossomed into a mature, confident artist.

Which is why, we think Arnau is great for Ivy. He’s very considerate and thoughtful-- not to mention, extremely artistic and smart. Ivy and Arnau have been together now for over two years. They have embarked on a promising musical journey* together. 

With their love and friendship Ivy and Arnau can face anything that life may throw at them. And, if there are any problems, we’ll all be right there to help them through any difficult times.
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* Anòmia -- a platform created by Arnau Sala and Ivy Barkakati in 2012 in Barcelona

En español:

Buenas noches! Gracias por venir aquí para celebrar la boda de Ivy y Arnau.

Me siento muy feliz mirar a nuestra linda hija y guapo yerno. Recuerdo como si hubiera sido ayer cuando Ivy tenía cuatro años y ella empezó a leernos un libro de cuentos. Nos ha sorprendido mucho porque no sabía cómo y cuándo Ivy aprendió a leer. A Ivy siempre le gustaba leer y escribir cuando era niña. Escribía pequeñas historias y poesías y los enviaba a un periódico donde los publicaban.

Ivy tenía mucha habilidad de aprender idiomas. Es bueno porque ahora está aprendiendo catalán y tiene mucha fluidez en español.

Ivy es muy inteligente, creativa y talentosa, pero lo que le faltaba era confianza en sí misma. Todo eso cambió cuando conoció a Arnau durante su visita a los Estados Unidos en 2011. Después se llegaron juntos, Ivy se ha transformado en una artista madura y segura.  

Por eso creemos que Arnau es genial para Ivy. Arnau es muy amable y atento, no por mencionar, muy artístico y inteligente también. Ivy y Arnau han estado juntos durante más de dos años ahora. Juntos han embarcado en un viaje musical** con un futuro prometedor.

Con su amor y amistad Ivy y Arnau pueden superar cualquier problema que les depara la vida. Y, si hay algún problema, todos estaremos ahí para ayudarles a través de cualquier tiempo difícil.

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** Anòmia es una plataforma creada por Arnau Sala y Ivy Barkakati en el año 2012 en Barcelona

Toast -- Brindis:

Antes de terminar, quisiera proponer un brindis por la pareja más importante esta noche... si por favor me acompañad…

Before I close, may I propose a toast to the most important couple tonight... if you’d please join me...

Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s to a long and happy marriage life for Ivy and Arnau!

Damas y caballeros, brindemos por la felicidad y una larga vida juntos de Ivy y Arnau.

¡Por Ivy y Arnau!

Father of the Bride Speech at Daughter's Wedding

As the summer wedding season gets going, as the proud father of the bride, you may have to deliver a brief welcome speech at the reception. If so, here's my "father of the bride" speech for you to use as an example. This one is also an exception to the 3-minute rule for my NBTMV videos -- weighing in at almost 6 minutes, but you can't blame me for being long-winded; after all, this is my daughter's wedding and the first one at that!
Below is the speech as I had prepared it, but I spoke from memory, so the video does not match exactly, but it's always helpful to prepare (notice how short it is in print, yet it took almost 6 minutes to deliver the speech):

Good evening everyone. On behalf of my wife Leha and our family, we’d like to welcome friends and relatives of both families who are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Emily and Anran.
Thank you for taking time from your busy lives to join us on this evening, in some cases traveling quite a distance to be here. We hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the evening and remember this day fondly as we surely would.
I feel so proud today to be standing here as the father of the bride as she is looking beautiful with the man of her dream.
I remember as if it was only yesterday... when Emily was 4, she started to play children’s songs by ear on our piano and that’s when we decided to give her piano lessons when she turned 5.
The other thing I remember is how one day she announced that she wants to learn the violin when she was 9 and in elementary school. Despite discouragement from my wife who thinks the violin is much harder to learn than the piano, Emily’s progress was so impressive within 6 months of learning the violin that her mother was convinced that Emily would be able to play the violin after all. I remember her having violin lessons with Jody Gatwood and later taking her to Juilliard in NY city for violin lessons in her senior year. After year’s of chauffeuring to violin lessons and orchestra rehearsals, we were so happy when she got her driver’s license and could drive herself to her fellowship with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Emily is so good at everything -- from handicraft to cooking to math and science -- she got perfect score in math in both the SAT & GRE -- she could have been anything, but she chose music and the violin because she loves it.
You know, how some parents think no one is good enough for their daughter, it’s quite the opposite for us; we think Anran is great for Emily. He’s very considerate and thoughtful-- not to mention, extremely smart.

Emily and Anran have been friends since middle school and became best friends in college. With their love and friendship Emily and Anran can face anything that life may throw at them.

Traditionally, at this point, I should offer some advice on marriage, but you two have known each other and been together now for quite some time, so you don’t really need much advice on that front. The only practical advice I can think of is -- cook for the entire week during the weekend, live like you’re still a graduate student, and take vacations each year. That should see you through a long and happy married life.

Before I close, may I propose a toast to the most important couple tonight... if you’d please join me...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Emily and Anran -- here’s to a long and happy marriage!


P.S. As for father-daughter dance, we danced the "foxy" to the tune of "Rufus Wainwright-Across The Universe." Here's a video: