Wedding speech (Groom) advice and tips?

ska_lover

A few short genuine words from the heart. keep it short

maman

McKneff wrote: »

Thank everyone for coming, especially xxxx (the bride) always bears a laugh....

meritaten wrote: »

talk for a few minutes on how beautiful your bride is, how amazing, how wonderful and how honoured you are that she agreed to marry you - then turn to her and say 'Right, Ive said what you told me to - now am I forgiven for the 'stag do'!

Two great ideas there.


Honestly, it's the best man who's expected to be entertaining and speak at some length you don't need to worry.

[Deleted User]

Pro-tip - video yourself practising so you can sort out your timings

Gloomendoom

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Pro-tip - video yourself practising so you can sort out your timings

That would be taking things way too seriously for me. I worried about the speech for few days beforehand and tried writing something based on a myriad of hackneyed examples found on Google but, on the day, I just stood on a box and spouted forth. The rest of the speeches were in a similar vein. Four in total, all over and done with in twenty minutes.
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[Deleted User]

Gloomendoom wrote: »

That would be taking things way too seriously for me. I worried about the speech for few days beforehand and tried writing something based on a myriad of hackneyed examples found on Google but, on the day, I just stood on a box and spouted forth. The rest of the speeches were in a similar vein. Four in total, all over and done with in twenty minutes.
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Well, our speeches were much longer; at least 20 minutes each X 4 .. looking back I wish I'd practised on video because I would have upped my tempo a bit.

schneckster

Mine was 2 weeks ago and I started with an old Freddie Starr joke... As people are clapping you, gesture to clap more, then cut them off. Then start them off again! If it works say you'd always wanted to try that. If it doesn't, "Ah, I didn't think that'd work!". It immediately lightens the mood and gets everyone smiling. And that initial chuckle will relax you!

Mine then went like this...
Thank any speeches before your's and thank the bride's family for accepting you. Doesn't have to be gushing but it's nice to get a mention. Then compliment the bride's mother... If you can get away with it, a joke would be good!

I thanked bridesmaids & ushers rather than letting the best man do it with some Mickey takes as well. Then thanked the best man with a few digs, too. Followed by anyone who helped in anyway, as well as the venue.

And then the bride, of course. I made a joke about how speech guides say you should make the women reach for hankies at least once... and the blokes reach for a bucket! But compliment your bride a lot, here. It's a rare occasion to do that publicly so do it. Get some jokes in there too, though, to keep it light.

After that, a pre-emptive strike on the best man!

Then sit down, shut up, enjoy the wine, and remember your humour when the best man starts!

A good tip is write it word for word and practice it. Then strip what you wrote into bullet points. The practice makes you remember most of it, the bullet points are to prompt you... this stops your nerves leaving you tongue tied and it sounds more natural than reading from a sheet.

But above all, relax and enjoy it. Everyone listening is ON YOUR SIDE! The pressure is on the best man, not you. And besides, with you being centre of attention for hours already, getting up for your speech becomes surprisingly easier.

Best of luck, and congratulations,

Schneckster

Georgiegirl256

McKneff wrote: »

Thank everyone for coming, especially xxxx (the bride) always bears a laugh....

:rotfl: That's a good one!

Definetly make the speeches short too. Anything above 10 minutes is too long IMO. People start to get bored and fidgety, especially if there are 3-4 people all doing longish speeches.

Short and sweet is the way to go.

tea_lover

Thank everyone for coming, tell the bride she looks lovely, you love her and you're v happy to have married her. Say you hope everyone enjoys the rest of the day.

Job done.

Personally I'd leave out poor attempts at humour and keep it all a couple of minutes tops.

jozxyqk

After thanking appropriate people I just talked about how my wife and I met as it was serendipitous and not many people present knew the story.

Oh, and throw in 'it's been an emotional day, even the cake's in tiers'.

TBagpuss

Keep it short.

Say nice things about the bride's new family.

If you make jokes make them at your own expense, or that of the best man, not about your new wife (unless you have cleared it in advance with her) the last thing you want to do is embarrass her on the wedding day!

Thank the bridesmaids and best man and give them their gifts, and thank any one else who has been involved in the planning etc - including staff at the venue of appropriate, special mentions for anyone who has gone above and beyond, such as baking a cake, helping with decorations etc. remember that this part is on behalf of you and your wife, so 'we' not 'I'

Say nice things about your wife and how lucky you are.

The traditional toast is to the bridesmaids, so give that just before you sit down.

Practice beforehand, make notes to remind you of the key points (e.g. "thank everyone" "joke about x" "tell her she is beautiful""give gifts" "toast".

Unless you are good at, and enjoy, pubic speaking, 5 minutes is ample.

COngratulations, by the way. I hope you have a fabulous day.

(Oh, and make sure you make arrangements in advance so you know where the gifts for the bridesmaids and best man are - and think about how you will get them to them - you don't want to suddenly remember they are in the back of your car, or your hotel room, just as you stand up!