Writing The Perfect Wedding Speech - Hints And Tips

So you've been asked to give a speech at a wedding? Or maybe you just want to make a speech on your own accord, it doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter if you are the bride, the groom, the best man, the father of the bride or the maid of honor, it's still a scary ordeal for any one to have to go through. But with the tips I give you in this article, I assure you, you will feel more comfortable not only writing the perfect wedding speech but delivering the perfect wedding speech, so let's get started shall we.

The best way to get a wedding speech started is to thank any one and every one important to the bride and groom and every one who helped set up the wedding. Depending on what your role is, you can spend quite a bit of time thanking every one, including the bride and grooms parents for making the wedding possible.

Telling a funny story about either the bride or groom is also a good way to get the speech going smoothly. Make sure the funny story you tell though isn't vulgar or terribly rude and don't go spilling secrets that might hurt the marriage before it even has a chance to get started. This is not the time to air dirty laundry to every one in the family.

Bride Wedding Speeches - Beautiful Words for a Beautiful Occasion!

Giving the bride and groom some advice that you've learned over the years about relationships, marriage or just general good advice is a great way to end your speech. If you've learnt something over the many years you've lived and you feel like it would benefit the bride and or groom, then by all means, impart your wisdom to them and the entire wedding reception.

If after reading these tips you still are not sure you can write the perfect wedding speech, I give you permission to steal some one else speech and reword it into your own. You will find thousands of websites that offer free wedding speech templates online (including my website) and there are countless books you can buy online and download online right now that give you really good quality speeches and toasts that you can steal and use as your own.

But the main thing to remember is relax! It's all a bit of fun in the end and as long as you don't insult any one or say anything vulgar and rude, every one will think your speech was great.

Wedding Toast Activities

Giving a toast is a responsibility that puts fear in the speaking hearts of most members of a wedding party. While it's not usually something that is particularly long or involved, it's public speaking (which doesn't sit well with many people) and really puts people on the spot.

If you are planning a wedding and know that most members of this wedding party are hams who won't mind the whole "public speaking" thing, then by all means keep the toasts traditional with dad, the best man and others taking their expected turns at the microphone.

But if you're looking for something different, either because you want to save putting people on the spot, or you simply want to do something different and fun, read on.

First, you can certainly take the whole toast thing off the agenda if you wish. There are no rules requiring a toast at any wedding. Weddings should be unique events and reflect the personalities of the bride and groom.

But if you want to do something a little different, there are options. You can go the video route, which asks people to essentially make a toast on camera and then the video is given to the bride and groom later. This isn't a particularly unique idea, but it does solve the issue of not wanting to put people on the spot and still gives everyone a chance to say something special to the bride and groom.

If your guest list includes many outgoing people then consider "pass the microphone". This can work in several ways. You can either be silly with it, or deadly serious. Most people like silly. Say dad takes the microphone first. His last name ends with T (so, let's say dad's last name is Smith). He must find someone whose first name begins with a T (Tom? Tony? Tina? Theresa?) and pass the microphone to that person, who then gives a toast.

This method of giving toasts does put people on the spot (certainly before the fun begins you can warn them so if they are really uncomfortable, they can escape to the restroom or bar) but it can also be a lot of fun. Getting people when they least expect it and then asking them to remember something funny or meaningful about the bride and groom can result in interesting, funny and truthful results.

You might also decide that one person at each table be required to give a toast. Number the tables and at various intervals, have the MC or DJ call a number, which will require guests at that table to decide amongst themselves who will give the toast at that table. Certainly, more than one person can if they like, but there will likely be at least one ham at each table who will enjoy standing up and toasting the newlyweds.

Say you have plenty of public speakers in the group, and finding willing toast participants won't be a problem. But you think the subject matter might be. There's an easy solution to this problem. You can provide open-ended topics for the toast speakers. Say you are providing an "open mike" toast arrangement, where anyone can request the microphone and offer a toast. The DJ, MC or someone else in the wedding party (perhaps the maid of honor or best man) can offer the speaker a surprise topic, which might be pulled from a champagne flute or drawn out of the floral arrangement on the head table. There might be slips of paper to choose, or just one sheet of paper with several ideas.

The speaker might choose to finish this sentence, "I remember when (groom's name here) was a little boy, he always ..." or answer this question, "When was (insert bride's name here) at her silliest? Tell us the story". You might have to give each speaker a minute or two to collect their thoughts, but you're sure to have some interesting stories, some unique anecdotes and some different perspectives on the bride and groom.

Making A Wedding Speech

Sooner or later, at some point in your life, you may be called upon to speak at someone’s wedding. Perhaps you’ll be the proud father of the bride or someone’s best man. Whatever the case may be, it can be a good idea to know how to make the appropriate wedding speech. Some people may think these points are obvious, but they’re not the ones that are giving the speech. If you’re not much for public speaking, you may find these tips helpful if you ever have to speak at someone’s wedding.

Keep it Short: 

The worst part of any wedding celebration is when some long winded buffoon drones on and on during his opportunity to make a wedding speech. No one wants to listen to your ramblings for forty minutes, no matter how interesting you may think they are. People are at the wedding to share in the couple’s joy and have a good time. No one will be able to do either if you talk for too great a length of time. Try to keep your speech under five minutes long if possible.

Save the jokes for Henny Youngman: 

Public speakers often like to try and break the ice with a joke, have you ever noticed that? Have you also noticed that the jokes are usually bad? These people have professional speech writers working for them. You do not. Unless you are truly a funny person (your name is Robin Williams, for example), steer clear of the jokes. If you do have to make jokes during your wedding speech, try to make them appropriate for the occasion. Jokes about weddings in general or the people in attendance will always work better than jokes of the “a guy walks into a bar” variety. Also remember that jokes at the groom’s expense are funny while those at the bride’s expense are not. That’s just the way it is.

Sentimentality Works: 

People get all warm, fuzzy, and gushy at weddings. Sharing sentimental stories about the couple and how in love they are, about your own wedding, or any other appropriately smarmy topic will have them eating out of your hand. Make the focus of your wedding speech the subject of love and roses and good feelings and puppies and you can’t go wrong.

This Day is Not About You: 

This is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when preparing and making a wedding speech. No matter how popular you are, no one is there to see you. The wedding day is all about the bride and groom. This is their day in the sun, so to speak. Keep your stories and anecdotes focused on the happy couple so that they can stay that way while you are speaking.

Keeping these topics in mind will help you be successful when making a wedding speech. With the right ideas and a minimal amount of preparation, even the most tongue tangled individual can come off like The Great Orator at least for five minutes or so when speaking at a wedding.

Free Wedding Toast Samples

Wedding toasts are a great way to wish the new couple well, but it can be hard to get it just right if you’ve never done it before. If you feel a lot of emotion about the union, it may be even more difficult to get the toast just right. Keeping it simple really helps, as well as keeping it short. Remember that a toast is simply a way to let the new couple know that you are excited for them, and that you were happy that they made you a part of their day. The more you try to put into a toast the more complicated it can be, so don’t try to pack too much into the toast.

Samples

Below is a very simple toast that you can use regardless of how well you know both of the bride and the groom. This is also a great way to make a toast when you really want to wish the couple well but you aren’t too sure what to say!

“First, I wanted to say congratulations to Bill and Nancy! I am so happy for the both of you and I know that today is the first day of what will be a very long marriage. I also want to thank the two of you for inviting me and making me a part of your big day. I know that there will be many more celebrations of your love and your marriage in the future!”

Below is a more intimate toast that you will find works well for close friends and family and will help you convey a bit more personal emotion.

“Congratulations, you two! I know that everyone is saying great things to you, but I had to get up and really express how happy I am for you. I know that both of you have been looking forward to this day for quite awhile, and I have to say that it couldn’t have been more beautiful. I know that you have a lot of great plans for the future and I can’t wait to sit back and watch them unfold for you. Congratulations, Bill and Nancy!”

As you can see, you can keep it really simple or you can add a bit more personalization to a toast. Usually a toast is just a few minutes long, so you don’t need to get into long stories or convoluted hopes for the new couple. Instead, keep things short and sweet but be sure to convey your happiness for the new couple. If you don’t know the personalities of both the bride and the groom well, keep humor limited and clean, just so that you are sure you don’t offend anyone.

Choosing Your Wedding Vows

Just like anything else in your wedding, your vows can reflect on who you are. You may choose a traditional, a religious, a customized, an interfaith, a multilingual, the possibilities are endless. A “wedding vow” is a set of promises you and your groom make to each other during the wedding ceremony. In Western culture, the wedding vows customarily included the notions of unselfishness such as –love-, faithfulness -forsaking others-, unconditionality -in sickness and in health-, and permanence -until death do us part.

During your vows at the very least you must have an officiant and witnesses present. Traditionally, the groom pronounces his vows first, followed by the bride. The order can be changed; there is no law that sets the order in which the vows said. It is possible for the bride and groom to say the vows in unison to each other. Usually the couple will face each other and join hands for their vows.

Almost all wedding officiants allow you to customize your vows, and it should be discussed prior to the ceremony. If you are unsure about the wordage of your vows, ask your friends, family, and the officiant for some examples they’ve used in the past.

Sample Vows:

I, (your name), take you, (your name), to be my [opt: lawfully wedded] (husband/wife), my faithful friend, and partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

I, (your name), take you, (your name), to be my friend, my lover, the (mother/father) of my children and my (husband/wife). I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity.

Remember that you and your groom can say different vows.

Best Man Wedding Speech Tips

Delivering a perfect best man wedding speech is a challenging responsibility for many men. While developing such a Best Man's Speech, one of the main dilemmas many "Best Men" face is to decide on whether to crack everyone up or to keep it safe and serious. There are many people who are not good in public speaking and doing so make them nervous. And if such people were asked to be the best man or the maid of honor at the wedding, he/she may panic. But is it such as a big job to deliver a speech to the public. No! You can also deliver a great speech, you are fearing as you haven’t tried to deliver one before. What you need to do to give a good speech at the wedding is some preparation and be aware of the subject you are going to talk about. If you are well aware of the topic you can easily give a great wedding speech – here “best man wedding speech” – and keep the interest of your audience.

This article tries to help you in this regard and here are few tips that could aid one to prepare a best man wedding speech.

· Prepare yourself about what you are going to say. Take your time to think about what you want others to know about the groom and the bride, and what you wish them for their future.

· It is always a good idea to write it out (it is not necessary for you to carry the written point to the wedding, but writing is always appreciated as it will help you to remember and note the points once more)

· Identify yourself and your relationship with the groom and bride. This is quite important as everyone will not be aware of who you are.

· Speak clearly, slowly, and loud enough that everyone need to hear what you are speaking.

· Start your speech by thanking the parents of groom and bride if they have paid for the event. If the groom and bride are footing the bill themselves, don’t forget to thank them for organizing such an event and inviting everyone to share the occasion.

· It is also a good idea to tell a story, funny one-liner or a joke, or use an inspirational quote.

· Let your guard down. It is ok to show your emotions. This is one of your good friends wedding, if not your best friends. It is even ok to cry or becoming emotional.

· Keep you best man wedding speech short, to say 5 to 10 minutes.

· Finally, end the speech with a message of hope and congratulate the proud groom and blushing bride.

Nowadays there are several websites which offers free best man speech with good examples of wedding speeches given by a friend or a relative, and of course you will find humorous free speeches also. Most websites also offer some of the classic short wedding toasts, touching wedding toasts, and humorous wedding toasts you can find if you look around a bit.

Wedding Speeches 101

If you’re planning a wedding or planning on being in one, then the question of wedding speeches is bound to come up.

Who gives the speeches

Well, this is really up to the couple that’s getting married, but there seems to be a normal list of people that are expected to say something.

The wedding party usually has the most members talking about the bride or the groom. The Best Man and Matron or Maid of Honor are the ones that will be giving short speeches before dinner in most cases. Other members of the party can also speak if the couple chooses.

The father of the bride usually gives a speech to the guests, thanking them for coming as well as saying a word or two to the groom. The couple themselves may also want to talk to the guests, giving them thanks and their love.

Of course, the reception isn’t the only place for speeches. Many times, the wedding rehearsal has one or two of the couple’s parents speaking as well.

As many people as the couple wants can speak, but what if you’re the one that’s asked?

Before you stand up

If you’re asked to give a speech, no doubt you’re nervous and at a loss for what to say. The best advice is to keep your speech short and simple, so that your nerves don’t have time to take over and so that your creativity isn’t sapped.

Make a list of all of the things that you admire and love about the couple or half of the couple. If you’ve been friends for a while, you may want to include a joke or a story. The best advice is to keep the story clean though—their parents may not want to know what they’ve done.

Talk about the person and then end with some sort of revelation or note of congratulation. Raise your glass and toast the couple. It’s really as easy as that.

If you’re afraid that you’ll become nervous, make sure that you rehearse the speech often, writing it well in advance. Or you can just focus on your friend as you give the speech and avoid making eye contact out into the reception crowd.

Speeches are a wonderful way to give thanks to the guest and to members of the new couple. Use your heart as a guide, and you’re sure to get it right.

50th Wedding Anniversary Speech - After 50 Years Together

Giving a speech after 50 years of marriage would seem to be really easy, but expressing your emotions after 50 years doesn’t always get easier, sometimes it gets more difficult because the emotion becomes stronger, deeper, and more complicated. Whether you are the husband or wife or a dear friend that would like to make a speech, it can be difficult to find the right words to say that encapsulate a love that has been able to withstand 50 years of marriage.

If You Are One of the Couple

If you are either the husband or the wife, you should thank all of the guests for coming to celebrate 50 years of marriage with you. You should then express your gratitude to your spouse for hanging in there with you for all of these years. Share a story or some feelings with your spouse and your friends and family about a particularly inspiring time, loving time, difficult time, or a moment of levity in the 50 years of marriage that you think is appropriate. You can present your spouse with a gift during your speech as well, which is a great way to end your golden anniversary speech!

Where to Start

Starting a speech can be very difficult, so the best way to start off is with a brief introduction of yourself if you are not the husband or the wife. For instance, you don’t need to give your entire background you can simply say, “Hi, I’m Jane. I am a long time friend of Bill and Nancy and am so glad to be here today.” This will give the other guests that are at the party some idea of who you are and why you would want to give a speech at all!

What to Say

50 years of marriage, what do you say? If you are married, thank the couple for being an inspiration to you and your spouse. Thank them for sticking together and being two people that everyone could count on. You can tell the couple that you hope that your marriage can be as strong after 50 years as you know that theirs is now. If you have one, share a cute story that you think demonstrates the strength and beauty of the couple’s love. You can also present the couple with a gift, a framed picture, or a framed piece of scripture or a poem during your speech. The point of the speech is just to convey how happy you are for the couple for sticking together for 50 years, as well as to express what an inspiration they are to married people everywhere.

How to Close

Closing the speech can be the most difficult part after starting! The best thing you can do is say congratulations and that you hope to celebrate many more anniversaries, and thank them for sharing their day with you. The closing needn’t be anything extravagant, and there will likely be someone that will follow you in their congratulating the married couple for their 50th wedding anniversary.

9 Ways To Cope With Wedding Speech Nerves

If you’re not used to public speaking, then making a wedding speech can be very daunting. With this in mind, I have prepared a few important tips to help you overcome your nerves and deliver a great wedding speech.

1. Remember these people are on your side. They aren’t secretly hoping you’ll mess things up. The reason you’re there giving a speech is because you are connected with the people there, and so are the audience. Bearing this in mind, you can rest assured that anything you say in your wedding speech will be listened to and respected fully.

Also, people listening to speeches at weddings are wanting to laugh as this breaks the tension. So any vague attempt of a joke will get you a response.

2. Practice your wedding speech thoroughly. The more your practice, the less nervous you’ll feel on the actual day. Remember to practice the intonation of your voice and the pauses. By showing you’ve put effort into your preparation, any mistakes you may make on the day will be easily forgiven.

3. Learn your speech by heart. Whenever you have some spare time, in the car on the way to work, in the shower or wherever…practice your speech. Repeat it over and over again as many times as you can before the big day. You will feel much calmer on the big day as you’ll know the whole speech inside out.

4. Remember to breathe. As simple as this sounds, it is often overlooked. Practice where you’ll take a breath in the speech, and learn to breathe correctly. Diaphragmatic breathing, as used by singers and public speakers, will help you here. If you’re unfamiliar with this, a quick search on Google will show you.

5. Think of a funny story before you stand up. Nothing so funny that you loose you focus, but something mildly titillating that will bring a smile to your face. This will loosen you up, and give a nice energy to your wedding speech that will improve the delivery immensely.

6. Have a banana 20 minutes before you make your speech. This tip is often used by professional public speakers, and helps the nerves of many people. It also gives a nice energy boost which helps reduce your nerves.

7. Speak slowly and clearly. If you are nervous, you will feel the urge to speed up and your speech will become unclear. So try to consciously slow yourself down and speak clear so people can hear what you say.

8. Make eye contact with people in the audience so it feels like your just chatting with everyone who is there.

9. Lastly, remember to simply enjoy yourself! Your life isn’t going to end if you make a few mistakes…and it will be over in just a few minutes. Have fun!