For Alexi & Ellie: 'Once Alexi finds something he loves, he fully embraces it into his life', by Daniel Wearne - 2023

3 February 2022, Wattle Grove, Tasmania, Australia

Hi I’m Dan – I didn’t grow up with Alexi, or Lek as I call him. We actually met 10 years ago through a religious movement at the time – Crossfit. We were the same age and had similar interests; He was always the last one still laughing at my Simpsons references and we loved quoting esoteric scenes from tacky 90s flicks.

When we trained together most days, the differences between us were easy to spot. He had remarkably long arms, a distinct toe-out walking gait, and I enjoyed guessing which of his eight outfits on rotation I would see next. I was the tattooed, always late to class, rough boy from Frankston, and Lek was the buttoned-up, meticulously neat athlete who rarely had a hair out of place. All his plates symmetrically stacked next to his platform – it was clear his belief system was anchored not to the crossfit methodology, but to his passion for routine.

This passion is easy to identify in Alexi when things diverge: an item misplaced; not having a meal at a specific time; running late for an event; or even being asked to do something outside his comfort zone. This is something that really resonates with me when I think of Lek, his gravitation towards routine.

Once Alexi finds something he likes or loves, he fully embraces it into his life.

It wasn’t long before Lek and I were hanging out very regularly; we quickly became best mates. Lek often enjoyed chauffeuring us around, so I recall many conversations we had in that White Honda. The infamous cassette-adapter-iPod situation powering the tunes as we would discuss anything and everything. Initially surface level topics; lots of sport and general banter, and then as the walls came down some of the more serious subject matter would surface. I’ve learned there is an unusual depth to Alexi. He is profoundly empathetic and listens with genuine curiosity. He invests so much in what’s on your mind and how you’re feeling about something.

You feel like he fully embraces you into his life.

When Lek was questioned about his dating life, he was coy; but behind his playful answers and deflection, I sensed real sorrow and loneliness. Lek was wondering where, when and how he would meet his soulmate.

In November 2015, The Annual Schwartz Challenge was taking place; Australia’s premier crossfit competition. It was an all-weekend event held in Altona, outer Melbourne, so Lek and I would carpool over. Lek’s days as a serious competitor were behind him at this point but, dedicated to the art, and being the stand-up guy that he is, he volunteered to MC the event.

Meanwhile in a remote township named Brisbane there was a girl named Ellie. An avid crossfitter too, she was seeking updates on how the athletes from her gym were performing at this event via Instagram. This is when she serendipitously came across a photo of the most handsome, tanned and ripped Annual Schwartz Challenge MC she had ever laid eyes on. Double tap.

Lek was particularly quiet on the drive over the Westgate Bridge that final day of the comp—Not ‘gloomy’ quiet. More of his famous head-shaking perplexed moods. “Missss Newman” he would utter under his breath as he was scrolling the profile of his latest photo like. Out the corner of my eye I noticed a lot of pinch zooming and enthusiastic nodding. It wasn’t long before they were sending flirty messages to each other and overusing emojis. This was an exciting development at the time. Ellie is the only person I’ve seen captivate him like this. A couple weeks had passed and Lek very matter-of-factly dropped the bomb that he and Miss underscore Newman were calling each other most nights. And only a month later in December, Lek decided to fly up to Brisbane to verify if he had been catfished.

On Friday the 4th of December, Alexi landed at Brisbane airport to a cautiously optimistic Ellie. Ellie has since confided that day she couldn’t believe he was real—pinching not herself but him the entire drive from the airport. They were never beyond a few meters from each other the entire weekend. And while the anxious voice inside Ellie’s head was wondering if she was going to see this Adonis again, Lek was not even home from the trip before booking his next flight back to Brisbane.

Once Alexi finds something he loves, he fully embraces it into his life.

 ‘How’d it go Lek?!’ I interrogated him as soon as he returned home. I can only describe Lek’s presence after that weekend as that of someone who had just found their soulmate; a confident glow that said ‘life starts now’. And what followed over the years was a steady progression of decisions and commitments from each other to integrate their lives.

Ellie flew down for the first time that following January to cheer along Lek swimming in the Portsea Classic, a routine event in his rigid calendar. She was boldly representing her home town in a fluro orange dress – which might have been the literal highlight of the night had Alexi not confessed his love for her at Portsea hotel that evening. They did long distance for two years, and Ellie - who is extremely close with her family and friends up north, and with a budding career ready to commence after completing her doctorate - decided to sacrifice it all and move down to Melbourne to be with Alexi.

It was a rocky start. Lek incorrectly assumed that given they had chosen Melbourne's coldest month to make the move, that a functional yet unromantic gift – such as a Northface jacket – would be well received. But Ellie is resilient – so after crying into the feather-downed sleeves of the Worst Present Ever™for 3 months straight – she started to come around to Melbourne; learned to love its quirks and fully embraced it into her life. She’s been with us ever since, and the rest as they say is history.

Ellie, on behalf of everyone of us that have loved having Alexi around for the last 7 years, I want to say thank you for giving up so much and we love you so dearly. You were so clearly the missing piece in Alexi’s life, and if it wasn’t for that thirsty like on Instagram, we wouldn’t have had the privilege of embracing you into our lives and witnessing our beloved Lekki become whole.

So if you’d charge your glasses, I would like to make a toast – To the amazing love story of Ellie and Aleix, we can’t wait to see the next chapters.

Laura Lexx: 'You are not a rock. You are more of a mattress' - 2016

April 2016, United Kingdom

I didn't trust myself that I'd be able to do this at all. So I've given him a list of things that I needed to say on the grounds that he has proven to be a much less moist public speaker.

Socially moist.

So there are just two people that I have to speak to myself.

To my sister, Sarah.

[Title … blah blah people cried]

And to my husband ... and when I started thinking about what I should say to you, I thought I might describe you as my rock, but the more that word sat there on the page, the less suitable it seemed for you.

Rocks are hard and cold and unmoving and you are none of those things. You are not a rock. You are more of a mattress ... and that's not just because I've had some of the best times of my life .... . You are warm, you are inviting, you are the centre of my home, you are my solace ... and very hard to get out of a house without help.

Dan Angelucci: 'The Best (Best Man) Speech of all time', for Don and Katherine - 2019

This hilarious 'making of’ documentary was submitted via submission tool by Vireo Films.

That guy right there. Standing on the precipice of history. That's me. And I'm about to give the best man speech at my best friend, Don's, wedding. A speech that could end up being...

Voice Over: The best speech of all time.

Don and I have been best friends since high school. Even through going to college in separate parts of the country, and living on separate coasts. In fact, Don gave the best man speech at my wedding in 2014. But this particular journey began in 2018, when I got a call from Don.

[Phone call]

Hey, what's up man?

Don: Yo.

What's up.

Don: I just wanted to ask if you would be my best man at my wedding.

Really? Several thoughts are now going through my head. Don is my best friend. Many of my other friends are already married. And the rate of marriage among millennials is steadily declining. These things lead me to one conclusion. This is my only shot to make the greatest best man speech of all time. And to honour my friendship with Don.

Yeah. Whoa, wow. Wow. Okay. Yeah. I will not let you down, Don.

Don: Okay.

I began by brainstorming everything I wanted to express about Don. After 14 years of friendship, I would have a lot to say. But being that I didn't see Don very much, it took a little more digging than I expected, to paint a picture of Don as I remembered him. Once I got my thoughts together, it was time to write.

Dan: (singing)

So, the writing started a little slow. I realised it was time to put my ego aside, and get some help. There's no shame in using a speech writer. Even the greats do it.

Video: The fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But as the day when the world declared it's...

My research led to me to Speechpublic.com, a site that promises the best speech ever. This sounded too good to be true. But then I saw, right on their front page, the guarantee that "Our linguist also proofread each speech." This was exactly what I needed to break me out of writer's block. After all, "A new breathe of ideas can make your speech of the highest quality." I couldn't have said it better myself.

So I asked them for a speech for my friend, Don's wedding. Within 10 business days, I had my speech. And I went to get some feedback from Eric, one of my fellow groomsmen, who also happens to work as an editor at - publishing.

So I'm going to, if it's okay if I read it.

Eric: Sur. Yeah.

Okay. "Good evening, everyone. I would first like to welcome you all on the most blissful and beautiful occasion of Don and Katherine's life."

Eric: Blissful?

Yeah. "I still remember the first time I met Don in school. We were in 7th grade and were in the same class."

Eric: You were not in 7th grade. Don wasn't here in 7th grade.

So, I'm going to be fact checking all this later.

"Katherine, you are one lucky woman, I must say, to have Don as your life partner. I will tell you some of the most memorable, happiest, and hilarious moments I have spent with this guy. Our childhood stories are filled with such moments. So I won't be going in that detail, as it will take tonnes of days. I would now like to request all of you to raise a massive toast to this beautiful couple."

Eric: You can't, what is a massive toast?

It's like a big toast. So give me your thoughts on this speech.

Eric: I feel like you can't use any of this. This all sounds like one giant throat clear. There is, like, no content. If you feel like there are good memories, just like say the good memories. So what is that memory that you're going to share?

Eric had a lot of opinions. But it didn't seem like his expertise was a great fit for wedding speeches. So I booked a session with Alexandra Levine, a writer and wedding speech consultant. If anyone could help me, it would be her.

I want to read you a little excerpt of my first draught. And you can tell me if I'm on the right track here.

Alexandra: Will do.

"Good evening, everyone. I would first like to welcome you all on the most blissful, and beautiful, occasion of Don and Katherine's life. May both of your love be an old classical school, so that it lasts long, and you both make the most of it. I would now like to request all of you to raise a massive toast to this beautiful couple." Is this... How do we feel about this, overall?

Alexandra: Sadly, it's not salvageable. There's nothing specific to you, or your relationship with Don and Katherine, or the relationship with each other, anywhere in the speech. And I think you should scrap the entire thing.

So, in your experience, what makes a good speech?

Alexandra: Having a wedding speech that is not generic. That doesn't sound like a Mad Lib that every other person in the room could have said, or could have written, is something that clearly takes a lot of time. It's something that clearly takes a lot of thoughtfulness. And it's something that clearly takes a lot of attention to detail in your friendship with both the bride an the groom. So, the wedding toast is your time to...

It seemed like writing a great speech would take more introspection than I thought. So I formed a writers room. And recruited several comedy writers to help me write the story.

Thank you guys so much for being here. I'm glad you're going to help me write this. Today, we are going to be writing a wedding speech, a best man speech for my friend, Don.

Hannah Trav: Wait. What?

Yeah. We're writing a best man speech. I need a little bit of help punching up jokes and stuff.

Robert Ecks: You said this was HBO.

Well, so it's actually "Helping a Best man Out", is sort of what we're doing.

Hannah Trav: So, not the television network?

No, no, no. I know. And this is a speech for Don. We're doing a speech for Don.

MIchael Watkins: Who is Don?

Okay. I'm very glad you asked that. None of the writers ever met Don. But if I wanted to follow Alexandra's advice, my writers needed to really know don. So I interviewed his friends and family. And edited together a documentary to give my writers the full Don experience.

New Speaker: [Documentary]

Leslie Lemire: He's fairly calm. He's good at math.

Kevin Sallah: He has a lot of friends. And I see why. Because he gets people.

Like any good documentary, I made sure to include alternate perspectives.

Nate Adams: I would say, having not seen Don for years, and probably never seeing Don again, I do not care for Don.

I could tell everyone was getting a lot out of this deep dive into Don.

Writer: He was talking today about how he won't fart in front of her. Like, if you're willing to do that after that many years of a relationship...

[End Documentary]

And soon, we were ready to start writing.

I'm going to do a little exercise. I'm going to... You tell me what you think of when you think of Don.

Hannah Trav: Cross country.

MIchael Watkins: I put down "grease ball".

Hannah Trav: He's also good at math, apparently. I mean, honest... Is he interesting?

He's like ... fun. It was a little bit of a slow start. But soon, we found our groove. And narratives started to emerge.

Hannah Trav: He's a less hot, gassier version of Katherine.

MIchael Watkins: Yeah.

Hannah Trav: But he doesn't fart in front of her.

MIchael Watkins: He's saving himself for after the wedding.

Hannah Trav: You could say something like, "Katherine is tall, and beautiful, and smart. And Don's blood type is AB-."

Joe Bell: Katherine, would you rather he farted in front of you? Or stopped playing hard [inaudible 00:07:39].

Robert Ecks: I thought you were out of Don's league. But it says here you like hint of lime Tostitos. So I guess you just, in general, have bad taste.

And before long, I got the material I needed. And the speech was finally coming together. Now I just needed to practise.

"And what can we say about Katherine? What can we say? I don't know her!"

Fortunately, I had a captive audience with my wife, who had recently lost her job.

"Favourite snack is hint of lime Tostitos. So we know she's got bad taste."

Are you listening?

Dan's wife: I didn't even know I was supposed to be listening. You've done this ten times already.

Listen, I know that times are tough. But I think that this speech should be perfect. Because if we can't afford a gift, I think this can be the gift.

Dan;s wife: We can afford a gift. What are you talking about? This doesn't... Your speech is the gift?

The journey is the gift.

Dan's wife: What journey? You're giving a best man speech.

I've taken on many trials to do this speech.

Dan's wife: Okay. I'm so happy for you that you are putting so much effort into this. And I think it's going to mean a lot to Don. But I just need to be able to focus right now. Is there somewhere else, maybe, that you could do this?

She was right. If I wanted to take things to the next level, I had to expand my horizons.

MC: Oh my God. Let's give it up for Dan Angelucci.

Thank you guys so much. It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you first of all, to the [Lemiere 00:09:08] family. And thank you to the Grunberg family. This has been a wonderful wedding.

The only way I could truly get a gauge of my speech was with a real live audience. And there were audiences ready, and willing to listen throughout the city.

... Such an incredible hard worker. Even something as trivial as video games, Don will give it his all. He would do 100 super jumps. Two time legend on Hearthstone. Champion's road. And if you know what those are, then you know part of why I find this all so surprising.

I never had a brother. But with Don, I understood what it was like to have to drive someone everywhere because they weren't old enough for a licence. Again, [inaudible 00:09:43] Dante. I'm sorry. There's a lot of jokes at Don's expense. So you might want to just go to the bar. Or go back to the church.

And I know that she likes hint of lime Tostitos. So what we know is that she has bad taste. I hope that you remember this day years from now, and all the people who came here, together, to wish you guys a happy wedding. That's my time, guys. Let's give a toast to the happy couple.

After a successful run, I was ready to talk shop with the veterans.

Would you say it was one of the... If you had to say whether it was one of the great speeches, would you put it up there?

Chris O'Connor: No. You need to cut out the video game stuff. No in-law is going to want to hear about how their son-in-law beats hard levels in video games. You're supposed to fill the group with optimism about the union. I got nothing from you. What hope, what hope is there for these two? How are they going to survive the storm that is life?

What would you do, then?

Chris O'Connor: What would I do?

Yeah.

Chris O'Connor: First thing I would do is, I would throw the whole speech out. I'd get rid of it. I'd toss it. Right? It's a fake. It's a phoney . It's got no heart. No soul. You gotta fight. You gotta go out there, you gotta be honest. You gotta tell the truth. The crowd's going to know the truth. They know Don and Laura.

It's Katherine.

Chris O'Connor: They know them, is what I'm saying. They're going to know the difference between a lie and a truth. You go out there. You be you. You be honest. You be pure. You tell them the truth. And you're going to show them that you're the best man, and not just any man.

I realised it was time to get real. So I decided to toss my speech out, and speak from the heart.

Thank you. It's so wonderful to be here. Thank you very much to the [Lemiere 00:11:25] family. Thank you to the Grunberg family. It's been a wonderful wedding. Let me tell you about the first time that I met Don. Have you guys ever gone too far for a bit? I've got to tell you guys, I'm doing a wedding speech on Saturday. And I've been doing this thing where I've been going around, trying to do a good speech. It's not looking good. It's not looking good. I've been going to stand ups. It's not looking good. It's not playing in the room, that's for sure.

But the thing is, that I don't know... It's like a long distance friendship. So it's like I don't know that much about my friend anymore. You know? Like you go to high school with someone. They go away. And it's like, what am I going to talk about in this speech. It's like, remember that time...

It was clear that this was not the success that I thought it would be. And I couldn't help but wonder, how could I give a great speech about Don and Katherine if I didn't have anything to say? Do I even truly know them? And so, with no confidence in my speech, I went to the wedding. Ready to disappoint my best friend. And when I finally saw Don, I had to come clean.

I worry that my speech is not going to live up to honour our relationship.

Don: Okay.

I appreciate it. That means a lot-

Don: Do think [inaudible 00:12:58] is better?

Just, it means a lot coming from you. You've given me this freedom.

Don: You write down-

But to my surprise, Don didn't mind at all. Then I thought of something that I hadn't before. What if being best man isn't about a speech to adore? What if being best man, perhaps, means a little bit more?

Friend: What's up? How you doing? It's just me and you?

Yep. This is Don's favourite song.

Friend: Actually, it is.

I know.

Dan: In thinking about what I would say in my speech, I remembered something that kept coming up when I was filming my documentary. Don and Katherine had a long distance relationship of their own for two years. Between Chicago and San Francisco. And when I asked people about how they did it, I got a similar answer.

Interviewee: I remember Katherine saying, "It's really, really hard." But I think it didn't matter to them. I don't know.

Kevin Sallah: I didn't know anything about it. Don made a pretty big move to start a long distance relationship.

Leslie Lemire: Oh. I don't understand why she is with him.

I don't know. And really, do we need to know? If they made it this far, there's got to be something there. As we get older, our friendships stretch and change. Some people fade. And some people stay in your life forever. Why? I have no idea. But if Don and I had made it this far, there's got to be something there. And I don't have to understand it. But I should take every opportunity I can to celebrate it. So, here goes.

I remember the first time that I met Katherine. Don had invited Kristen and I to go to Longwood Gardens to meet her. And we were all walking together in the conservatory. And it was Christmas time. And I remember this sweet girl, Katherine, walking arm in arm with Don. And I just remember feeling so surprised.

Even something as trivial as video games. He will go to the hardest challenges. Things like 100 super jumps, champion's road, two time legend at Hearthstone. And if you know what those are, then you understand why I'm so surprised about all of this.

Don is someone who cares deeply about the people in his life. He cares so much, in fact, that he gives Katherine the courtesy of leaving the room when he has to fart. And I'm sure Katherine appreciates it. But I imagine she would prefer he just stop playing Hearthstone on his phone around her.

Many of us in this room have long distance friendships with Don. And it can be hard. You can feel like you're missing a lot of a person's life. But Don and Katherine did a long distance relationship for two years. From San Francisco to Chicago... I almost said Seattle. To Chicago. And they made it work. Despite the difficulty, despite the distance, despite all the times where they could have said, "Why don't we just quit?" And not only did Don not quit. He conquered his crippling fear of flying to frequently fly across the country to see Katherine. And if they can take on air travel. If they can take on long distance. I'm confident that they can take on anything.

And so, after all my work, I finally reached the end of my journey. Did it pay off? Was it the best speech? That's not for me to say. At this point, there's really only one thing I can say.

I would now like to request all of you to make a massive toast to this beautiful couple.

Here is the full speech.

Suzette Wearne: 'May your smoke alarm batteries be strong', for Phil Wearne and Rachel Thomas - 2018

22 March 2018, Parlour, Canberra, Australia

We never thought that Phil would meet some just as wonderful and accomplished as him and when it happened, he and Rach became one hell of a couple, two of the most complementary personalities you’re likely to meet. One is sensitive, emotional, loves romantic dinner dates and dancing around the lounge room singing into a hairbrush. And then there's Rach. The brains of the outfit, Rach’s exacting standards can be witnessed in her leadership role in no less than the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and, even more impressively, when she’s trying to find the most drinkable cab sauv … available at Aldi ... for under $8.

Rach is beautiful, but that's not the point. After introducing her to the family for the first time, Phil took me aside and said ‘Don’t be fooled by the lovely facade, she takes no prisoners when something goes wrong with her restaurant order.’ He was of course exaggerating her no-nonsenseness. Rach is compassionate and thoughtful and generous, a true beauty inside and out.

So where did our power-couple begin? Early in 2012 I got a group email from Phil. It read:

Hi guys. It’s been confirmed that I'm to fly to Canberra on Monday to enjoy a secondment to the Federal Education Department to work on a project of national significance; the implementation of the Gonski Education Review.

To be invited onto this taskforce represents a wonderful opportunity. As I see it, this is recognition of the work I have put in recently to improve myself as a consultant and to develop my knowledge of education policy.

I wrote back:

Dear Phil, You are the biggest geek in the world. Seriously though, congratulations. With you on board, I'm sure Gonski will be done and dusted in no time.

Back then none of us knew that Phil was about to leave Melbourne and begin perhaps the biggest chapter of his life in Canberra. Phil has always been the heart and soul of his family and it was, to me at least, unthinkable that Phil would be more than a bike ride away.

Gonski was a ruse. We now know that Phil's main motivation for relocating to Canberra was to find a life partner who met a number of specific criteria. She had to be an ANU graduate. She had to share his staunchly moderate political views. She had to be able to tour the world if his side-hustle as DJ Beat Taskforce ever took right off. She had to be willing to participate in long-weekend holidays with his family and their partners, and in most instances, single-handedly organise these holidays. She had to be completely agreeable and she had to have naturally voluminous head of hair.

Mission accomplished. And may I say if there were a sister-in-law shop, you would choose Rachel without a moment's hesitation. On literally any subject, Rach is an excellent conversationalist — a veritable Leigh Sales to my Annabelle Crabb. By that I mean she brings the intellectual gravitas and I bring the scones. Rach is super fun. Just ask my Dad, who adored her from their first rollicking chat about Australia’s reporting obligations under ratified international labour standards.

The other day Dad was watching one of his grandkids playing with a plastic shape sorter and he said fondly 'Phil was good at that when he was a baby'. Ugh I thought, and I remembered what it was like growing up with an older brother as smart as Phil, and who brought home straight–A report cards without even trying. Annoying basically. There was no such thing as an enjoyable game of cards between us because Phil is an inveterate mathematician where I am not. Phil would routinely wipe the floor with me. In turn I would accuse him of brazenly cheating by using his memory, strategy and intelligence.

I want to finish with a memory about Phil and hope that it serves as a cautionary tale. Because while Phil was the golden child in our family, excellent at sport, excellent academically, musically gifted, a great storyteller, funny, kind, etc. If/when we hear the pitter-patter of little footsteps, they should know that nobody likes an overachiever. Even God will show his annoyance eventually. Many years ago, something happened at our childhood home which left us questioning what we knew about right and wrong. Not one of us was the same afterwards.

Phil was about 17 and looking after his brother Dan and cousin Ace both 8 or 9. Phil was indoctrinating Dan and Ace on an ancient martial art. Ok they were watching a Jean Claude Van Damme film. Halfway through, Phil paused the VHS and kickboxed his way to the kitchen to cook some hot chips. He peeled and sliced potatoes in perfect lengths and placed a saucepan of vegetable oil on the gas stove.

In the lounge 'No Retreat No Surrender' resumed.

Forty minutes passed. Smoke drifted across the tele. Phil leapt from the couch and hurtled towards the kitchen. It was too late. The range hood and surrounding cupboards were engulfed in flames and fire licked the ceiling. Standing at a safe distance from the fire, Phil looked upon it in shock. Dan and Ace hopped from one foot to the other, exhilarated. Eventually the inferno subsided and the damage was contained. While the smoke was thick throughout the house, one thing was clear. Phil was in deep shit.

A decades–long career as favourite child up in smoke. So sad…

I think he was grounded a week and Mum got the shiny new kitchen she always wanted so order was restored to the universe pretty quickly.

On that incendiary note I ask that you charge your glasses for a toast. To our dear Phil and Rach. Thank you for inviting us all to be here on this special day. I hope the story of your lives together is a long one full of laughter and adventure and frequent trips to Melbourne. May your smoke alarm batteries be strong. May you continue to provide the stability that is the bedrock of your relationship and may your love and admiration for each other remain as true as it is today.

Julian Schiller: 'On behalf of all your friends here tonight, we’re honoured to be part of your family' for Kate Langbroek and Peter Lewis - 2003

5 April 2003, Mount Buffalo, Victoria, Australia

In this beautiful mountain-top. I remember when Kate and Pete were discussing the location for their wedding, Kate’s wanted somewhere beautiful for romance and Pete wanted somewhere high altitude, as we all get pissed a lot quicker and it saves on grog.

No it’s a really stunning place Mount Buffalo....so quiet and secluded... enjoy it while you can Pete as it’s probably the last moment of peace you’ll ever experience. 

It really came as a great surprise when I was asked to MC the marriage of Kate and Pete, mostly because so many people had dropped out before me, but I consider it a great honour. I have known them as a couple and also as individuals...and love them both...and I feel very privileged to be able to share this moment with them.

Kate and Pete met while travelling through Asia, which, having been “embedded” them on a few overseas trips myself, I think is quite poetic.

In many ways the way a couple travels together, is a good indication on how they’ll cope with life together, and Kate and Pete travel with a great sense of adventure, a tremendous respect and warmth for the people they encounter, and most of all a profound love for each other. While I’ve been overseas with them I’ve always been impressed by their remarkable energy, their generosity, and the constant stream of shit-box hotels they choose to stay in.

I met Kate in 1994 at RRR when I was contributing to the Breakfast Show. Before Kate began on RRR the breakfast show was a highly successful team, after she started we were a family. The energy and talent that became evident during those years owed a lot to the remarkable influence of Kate, she cared about us, took an interest in our lives, often broke our balls, but generated this tremendous spirit that still exists between us all today. 

Kate’s friends are tremendously important to her. If you had a birthday Kate would be there. If you were depressed Kate would be there, if you owed her money, Kate would be there....remarkable. Kate has been a friend in every sense of the word to me over the last decade. She’s been supportive when I’ve been down, given very wise advice on everything from my career, relationships and dress sense, she’s acted in pilots for us for nothing, been to every show we’ve ever done, and always been there to celebrate milestones in my life. And I’m sure many others of us here would have similar stories.

You can never just be a work-mate of Kate’s, she cares too deeply about people to be that flippant, you’re part of Kate’s family, which is why we’re all gathered here tonight. 

I met Pete through Kate, and we soon became close friends and have remained so ever since. Both through the time when he and Kate weren’t together, and even when moved into a house with a girl who talked about freezing sperm in the ice-box.

Having gotten to know Pete, can I just say that he’s a sensitive, gentle, beautiful person....at least I thought he was until he picked up a guitar.

I think the thing that struck me first about Pete was his really quick and clever wit. When you get paid to be funny you are sometimes shamed to meet people who are just as funny if not more, with Pete however I soon got over that shame and learnt to steal many of his jokes and broadcast them as my own however.

Pete, like Kate, also has a great family of friends around him, they’re great,  I’ve met many of them, and again stolen their jokes.

And now of course Kate and Pete are beginning life together and starting a family of their own. A family that will become the core of the already extended family, us, who they have invited along tonight. And can I just say Kate and Pete, on behalf of all your friends here tonight, we’re honoured to be part of your family, we can’t wait to be there while you begin your own. Thanks for all the love you’ve shown us over the years...  congrats....