Wedding Speeches
Pass this on to anyone making a speech on your special day!
Your wedding speech or the speech you have been asked to do for a friend may seem like it is going to be one of the hardest things you have ever done in your life, or you may be one of the lucky ones who isn’t at all afraid of public speaking. For those of you who are, take courage in the fact that public speaking is more fearful to most people than dying or declaring themselves bankrupt. However, using the tips and suggestions that are outlined in this article should make your speech a breeze and will help to make you more comfortable and your speech memorable for all the right reasons.
The first rule of public speaking is to make sure you know your audience, whether we are talking about a wedding or a debate team, making sure you know what kind of speech to prepare and how your audience will react to certain topics is always a great place to start when preparing your speech. Ask members of the family if you are not sure about what topics would be considered taboo and of course what would be important to cover. If you have been asked by the bride or groom to do a speech ask them what they would like the tone to be like, do they want humour or are they after a formal speech.
Secondly, be prepared. You should always prepare your speech beforehand, whether you need to write out the whole speech or if you just need dot points to get your started, make yourself up some cards with large easy to read writing, highlight parts that you want to make stand out and even include when you want to pause so that it makes it easier if you are nervous.
Thirdly, don’t rush Make sure you remember to breathe and pace yourself. There is nothing worse than a speech that is going so fast you cannot understand what they are saying. Make sure the microphone is at the right height before you start your speech, try to relax, establish eye contact with the audience, take a deep breath and begin!
• Posture is also important, remember not to slouch, standing up straight will project your voice further and make it easier to understand what you are saying.
• Try not to use the same words or phrases often, don’t repeat the same things over and over again, make your speech exciting and vary what is being said.
• If there are guests that are at the wedding that you do not know, try to tone down your speech to suit to occasion, you do not want to offend anyone.
• Speaking for longer than 5 minutes usually bores people in the audience, so try to keep you speech short and sweet.
• Limit your intake of alcohol, embarrassing speeches on camera for an eternity is not a good way to keep friends! On the same note, make sure you won’t need to go to the toilet during your speech.
• Practice, practice, practice. This will allow for you to look more natural when delivering the speech and it won’t seem so orchestrated and fake. Read over what you have written and practice in front of family or friends so they can tell you if it makes sense and isn’t boring.
• Eye contact is important but if you are too nervous, look at guests mouths, they wont notice and it will still be engaging your audience.
The Order of the Speeches
Usually a wedding is controlled by an MC. Their job in a nut shell is to coordinate the whole event. If you are choosing someone to do this job for you, make sure they are charming, witty and definitely not afraid of talking in public. They usually are people who enjoy being the centre of attention, are confident telling jokes and stories and will make your guests and your night as enjoyable as is possible. The MC has to stay in control of the event and remember exactly what is going on, it is their job to let people know when it is their turn to speak, they introduce the speakers, announce when the cake cutting, garter and bouquet toss are happening and eventually finish the event and announce that the bride and groom are leaving. Being an MC at a wedding is a tough job so if you do not know someone who fits the profile, hire a professional or speak to your reception venue as many have an MC as part of reception packages.
The first person to speak is usually the brides father. If a father is not present this speech is usually taken by a close friend or relative of the brides family. The speech usually includes a toast to the newlyweds, certain parts of the brides life growing up, a welcome to the family for the son in law and his family, advice and well wishes. This speech is usually a tear jerker and everyone gets out the tissues.
The next person to speak is the groom. The groom’s speech starts off with the thanks, to the guests for attending, the bride’s parents for giving him their daughters hand in marriage, the bride, his own parents, the bridal party and any professionals who have helped with the wedding arrangements. Grooms should take note that they are allowed to make this speech as personal as they want to, it should be from the heart and should include things such as why the wedding day is the best day of your life, maybe a story of how you first met and how being together has been fantastic and of course can only get better. Bringing up plans for the future is also common and yes tears from the groom are allowed! The groom then traditionally toasts the bridesmaids and thanks them for their help throughout the process and the event. The bride may also say a few words if she wishes to do so.
The best man’s official duty is to respond on behalf of the bridesmaids. The best man usually starts by thanking the groom for asking him to be his best man, continues on with praising the bridesmaids that was started during the grooms speech and usually finishes with an informal funny story about how he and the groom met and then finishes with a short story on the bride and the groom. Sometimes the best man may also organize telegrams to be read out or well wishes from the guests. It depends on how much time you have.
If you have anyone else who you would like to do a speech they are usually included here, remember this is your wedding so the speeches should run however you want them to and who ever you would like to speak should be allowed to, after everyone that you wish to speak has finished the MC usually closes the speeches by asking the guests to carry on enjoying their evening.
Your wedding speech or the speech you have been asked to do for a friend may seem like it is going to be one of the hardest things you have ever done in your life, or you may be one of the lucky ones who isn’t at all afraid of public speaking. For those of you who are, take courage in the fact that public speaking is more fearful to most people than dying or declaring themselves bankrupt. However, using the tips and suggestions that are outlined in this article should make your speech a breeze and will help to make you more comfortable and your speech memorable for all the right reasons.
The first rule of public speaking is to make sure you know your audience, whether we are talking about a wedding or a debate team, making sure you know what kind of speech to prepare and how your audience will react to certain topics is always a great place to start when preparing your speech. Ask members of the family if you are not sure about what topics would be considered taboo and of course what would be important to cover. If you have been asked by the bride or groom to do a speech ask them what they would like the tone to be like, do they want humour or are they after a formal speech.
Secondly, be prepared. You should always prepare your speech beforehand, whether you need to write out the whole speech or if you just need dot points to get your started, make yourself up some cards with large easy to read writing, highlight parts that you want to make stand out and even include when you want to pause so that it makes it easier if you are nervous.
Thirdly, don’t rush Make sure you remember to breathe and pace yourself. There is nothing worse than a speech that is going so fast you cannot understand what they are saying. Make sure the microphone is at the right height before you start your speech, try to relax, establish eye contact with the audience, take a deep breath and begin!
• Posture is also important, remember not to slouch, standing up straight will project your voice further and make it easier to understand what you are saying.
• Try not to use the same words or phrases often, don’t repeat the same things over and over again, make your speech exciting and vary what is being said.
• If there are guests that are at the wedding that you do not know, try to tone down your speech to suit to occasion, you do not want to offend anyone.
• Speaking for longer than 5 minutes usually bores people in the audience, so try to keep you speech short and sweet.
• Limit your intake of alcohol, embarrassing speeches on camera for an eternity is not a good way to keep friends! On the same note, make sure you won’t need to go to the toilet during your speech.
• Practice, practice, practice. This will allow for you to look more natural when delivering the speech and it won’t seem so orchestrated and fake. Read over what you have written and practice in front of family or friends so they can tell you if it makes sense and isn’t boring.
• Eye contact is important but if you are too nervous, look at guests mouths, they wont notice and it will still be engaging your audience.
The Order of the Speeches
Usually a wedding is controlled by an MC. Their job in a nut shell is to coordinate the whole event. If you are choosing someone to do this job for you, make sure they are charming, witty and definitely not afraid of talking in public. They usually are people who enjoy being the centre of attention, are confident telling jokes and stories and will make your guests and your night as enjoyable as is possible. The MC has to stay in control of the event and remember exactly what is going on, it is their job to let people know when it is their turn to speak, they introduce the speakers, announce when the cake cutting, garter and bouquet toss are happening and eventually finish the event and announce that the bride and groom are leaving. Being an MC at a wedding is a tough job so if you do not know someone who fits the profile, hire a professional or speak to your reception venue as many have an MC as part of reception packages.
The first person to speak is usually the brides father. If a father is not present this speech is usually taken by a close friend or relative of the brides family. The speech usually includes a toast to the newlyweds, certain parts of the brides life growing up, a welcome to the family for the son in law and his family, advice and well wishes. This speech is usually a tear jerker and everyone gets out the tissues.
The next person to speak is the groom. The groom’s speech starts off with the thanks, to the guests for attending, the bride’s parents for giving him their daughters hand in marriage, the bride, his own parents, the bridal party and any professionals who have helped with the wedding arrangements. Grooms should take note that they are allowed to make this speech as personal as they want to, it should be from the heart and should include things such as why the wedding day is the best day of your life, maybe a story of how you first met and how being together has been fantastic and of course can only get better. Bringing up plans for the future is also common and yes tears from the groom are allowed! The groom then traditionally toasts the bridesmaids and thanks them for their help throughout the process and the event. The bride may also say a few words if she wishes to do so.
The best man’s official duty is to respond on behalf of the bridesmaids. The best man usually starts by thanking the groom for asking him to be his best man, continues on with praising the bridesmaids that was started during the grooms speech and usually finishes with an informal funny story about how he and the groom met and then finishes with a short story on the bride and the groom. Sometimes the best man may also organize telegrams to be read out or well wishes from the guests. It depends on how much time you have.
If you have anyone else who you would like to do a speech they are usually included here, remember this is your wedding so the speeches should run however you want them to and who ever you would like to speak should be allowed to, after everyone that you wish to speak has finished the MC usually closes the speeches by asking the guests to carry on enjoying their evening.