The Wedding Speeches – Who Says What
Who actually speaks?
Traditionally the speeches open with the bride’s father or a close relative, such as an uncle or brother who has known the bride for years. This stems from a time when the bride’s father paid for most, if not all, of the day and even if the couple have financed the entire wedding themselves, it is still appropriate for him to speak. He is usually followed by the groom and finally the best man. If the bride wants to add a few comments, her turn usually comes after her new husband and before the best man.
The Gather of the Bride Wedding Speech
The father of the bride usually shares his sense of pride on thus special day and adds an anecdote from the bride childhood. Then he simply welcomes the groom into the family, wishes the newlyweds much future happiness and concludes by toasting them if, more unusually, the groom’s father has contributed to the cost of the wedding, it is a thoughtful gesture for the bride’s father to acknowledge this and invite him to respond. But warn him first – few people can speak off-the-cuff.
Remember, too, that there is no rule that the first speaker has to be male. Some brides ask their mother to walk them down the aisle and there is no reason why she shouldn’t make the opening speech either.
The Groom Wedding Speech
The second speech is made by the groom, who replies to the toast on behalf of “my wife and I” and thanks all the guests for coming. The groom also thanks the both sets of parents and whoever else has contributed to the costs of the day, and highlights anyone who has been particularly helpful during the planning. Groom weeding speech is also a good time to present gifts or flowers to bridesmaids, mums, ushers and the best man. The groom wedding speech should close by complementing the bridesmaids and toasting them.
The Best Man Wedding Speech
The final speech is traditionally the best man who, officially, thanks the couple for choosing him and replies with thanks on behalf of the bridesmaids. He can also thank the hosts on behalf of the guests and read any cards from family overseas or guests that were unable to attend. In days gone groom wedding speech would have been the time to read any telegrams. However, as the telegram has been usurped by e-mail, it is a good idea for the best man to ask the bride and groom in advance whether they have received any that they would like him to read out in his speech.
Of course, after the formalities are out of the way, the speech of the best man is to be funny or at most vaguely humorous. Many best man speeches hang on the alleged high jinks of the stag night and this is okay, providing this doesn’t dominate the speech. Remember, this stag night didn’t include the bride, and as this is her big day too, ten minutes of nudge-nudge and wink-wink about how much everyone drunk and how they all got home can get a bit tedious.
To conclude
Whether you are the father of the bride, the groom or the best man, preparing a speech can be hard work, but remember, it’s also a great opportunity to show how much you cherish the ones you love, and to show your gratitude to them, so make your speech count and try not to offend anyone.
Save yourself the stress of writing a wedding speech from scratch. Discover more about how to prepare a father of the bride speech, or a groom weeding speech.
Find how you can get low cost pre-prepared wedding speeches for the father of the bride, or the groom and other key members of the wedding party, as well as tips on how to overcome public speaking fear.
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