"Pray be upstanding for the Mother of the Bride"
"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Samantha, Molly's Mum. I'm not used to giving speeches, so please bear with me. Molly's Dad, Arthur, passed away five years ago, but before that, he gave me three very strict instructions for this day, which I have done my best to follow.
"First, I had to wear the largest, most over the top hat I could find – check. Second, I had to smile more than I cry, and I'm not doing too badly there. But third, I had to read his speech for him. When we talked about what he wanted to say, he told me his hopes for our gorgeous Molly, his love to pass to the happy couple, but he also made a deduction worthy of our new son in law. Lucky for me he was right, or this could have been extremely awkward, as you'll soon see. So here goes…
"Our daughter Molly is beautiful. She is the spirit of my favourite quote: 'If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely'. I'm going to tell Roald Dahl when I see him that my girl must have the best thoughts in the world.
"Our daughter Molly is kind. As a little girl, she cried over birds that lost their nests. She played with every new child that joined her class. She opened her heart to everyone and anyone that needed it, and gave herself to them. And as she grew up, this love for the world grew with her. I thought at first that my proudest day was the day she told us that all she wanted was to help other people when she grew up.
"Our daughter Molly is smart. I got prouder and prouder when she got on her Medicine course, when she graduated, when she got her first job. But my proudest day was when she told me why she wanted to be a pathologist. She sat us down, so worried we thought she had something terrible to confess, and explained that she wanted to spend her life bringing families peace, standing up for the people who couldn't speak for themselves any more, helping those people that no one else had been able to help. That was the day I knew I was the luckiest father alive.
"And now, to welcome Sherlock into our family. This day is long in the making, and I couldn't be happier. Some of you may not know this, but the Holmes' were our good neighbours for many years, and I saw this day coming right from our Molly's 5th birthday. I'd like to share my two favourite memories of that day with you now.
"After the candles were blown out, and we thought all the children were safely eating cake, Sherlock here ran into the kitchen looking for his mother. I don't know if Violet will remember this, but he was very upset that Molly had given him a kiss, and now he couldn't think properly any more. Apparently Mycroft had told him that his brain "was broked forever" and how could he grow up and do science with a broken brain?
"But when I put Molly to bed that night, she told me she had some questions about kisses for me. After my initial panic, I asked what they were. Number one – do kisses last forever? I said that with the right person, yes, they do. Number two – could magic kisses really make hurts go away? Being a terrible softie, I told her they could, when you believe enough. And she smiled her happiest smile, then demanded to see Sherlock the next day "to fix his poorly head". And from that moment, I knew the poor man was sunk.
"Over the years, we have watched Molly and Sherlock grow apart, then find each other again, but I have never seen two souls better matched. They give each other the light to their shade, and keep them grounded as they move through life. I know they will do their best, every day, and no one could ask for more.
"So please, join Arthur and I in raising your glasses to the happy couple… to Molly and Sherlock."
"Cheers."