The Order of Wedding Speeches
I will try to keep this post short and to the point. People often wonder what the right order of wedding speeches is. And sometimes they even if any such order actually exist. Well, there is indeed a tradition of wedding speech that is followed by majority of the families living in a particular country or region. Such traditions or customs have been developed wedding ceremonial rituals practiced by the people through the ages. And as I said it depends from region to region rather than family to family. Two families living in Florida would probably follow similar wedding customs (unless they or their ancestors are from different countries) but it would be different from an Irish family living in Ireland.
Nevertheless, let us adhere to the most common tradition which is practiced by most of the families. If we assume that there are four people (the groom, the father of the bride the best man and the maid of honor) who are going to deliver their respective wedding speeches, the most orthodox wedding speech order could be something like the following.
- The father of the bride gives his father of the bride speech. He is the one to speak first.
- The groom then delivers his groom speech which is formal in nature.
- The best man speech is probably the most entertaining of them all and is delivered the best man.
- The maid of honor speech is the last in the serious and is quite similar to best man speeches in nature.
However, apart from the above mention speeches there could be a few more people who may like to speak or are expected to speak in absence of one or more persons mentioned. They could be the father or mother of the groom, mother of the bride or even the bride. Sometimes somebody from the family or friends could also offer to deliver their speech. You must discuss well in advance how to accommodate them and make the final order of wedding speech accordingly.
Ideas for Perfect Wedding Speeches
Wedding speeches are part of almost all Christian weddings since as early as we can imagine. Weddings are not only about union of two souls but they are also about celebrating together with friends and families. In a wedding the father of the bride, the best man, the maid of honor speak about the newly wed couple and the relationship they share with them. And the groom (sometimes the bride too) in return thank them as well as all the guests for their good wishes and blessings. On the wedding day the focus is obviously on the bride and the groom. This is a very special day for both of them and the wedding speeches make them feel even more special. You don’t get the attraction of so many people everyday, do you?
We get to hear wedding speeches that are truly entertaining and we also come across wedding speeches that are rather unexciting. Public speaking is a special ability and only a few of us are blessed with the power of addressing several people flawlessly. But that doesn’t mean that the less privileged ones can’t give outstanding speeches. They can absolutely come up with extra-ordinary wedding speeches if they want to do it. You need to have the right attitude. A positive frame of mind could take you a long way.
With a little effort and time from your part you too can make your wedding speech stand out. Let’s see wedding speeches from a different perspective. A wedding speech is nothing but welcoming the guests, praising the bride and the groom and wishing them a happy married life. Now, you would of course like to sound your wedding speech better. But before hat you should decide on the mood of your speech. If you are the groom getting ready for the groom speech you should go for a formal speech. You can always make it sound great with your sense of humor. On the other hand if you are the bride’s father you would definitely want your speech to be formal as well as heartfelt. But here also you can make your father of the bride speech interesting by adding some humor to it. In fact, you should try to include some humor to whatever wedding speech you have to deliver. Humors don’t fail when used wisely.
Best man speeches are often known as the most interesting wedding speech you get to hear at any wedding reception. Best men are crazy about delivering a funny wedding speech and often end up with an embarrassing one. Fun or comedy is not everybody’s cup of tea. As a best man you would want your speech to be smart and witty. Irrelevant funny comments are not going to make your speech funny. Wisely selected punch-lines will. Prepare for your best man speeches well in advance if you want to impress with it. And it’s almost true about maid of honor speeches too. As the maid of honor you would like to share some of the sweet moments you had with the bride in your childhood or college years. Be natural, you don’t have to create words to describe your relationship with your friend or sister, do you? Just speak your heart out and it will make a great maid of the honor speech.
The Fundamentals of Wedding Speeches
The four of the most common wedding speeches that are common to almost all weddings are the father of the bride speech, the groom’s speech, the maid of honor speech and the best man’s speech. Though you don’t always get to hear to all of those four wedding speeches at every wedding reception party you attend.
Firstly, the toastmaster, if there is any, should urge the father of the bride to propose a toast wishing health and happiness to the newlyweds. If you are the father of the bride you should attempt to make your father of the bride speech sincere and if you get a bit sentimental during your speech don’t worry about it …. It’s quite natural with father of the bride speeches. But, you know, like all other wedding speeches, you could do a lot of good to your speech if you can add a bit of humor to it. As the father of the bride you will also have to welcome the groom’s parents, all the friends and family members and the guests present at the reception.
The groom speech is next where the groom usually replies with a speech where he thanks his own parents for what they have done all these years to make him what he is. He will also thank the parents of the bride to accept him as one of their family members. Groom speeches should also portrait the love and responsibility of the groom towards his bride. It is also customary that the groom also says a few words of thanks to the gift-bearers, the bridesmaids and the best man.
Traditionally, the groom speech is followed by the best man speech. The best man generally gives a light-hearted, humorous speech. Best Man Speeches are often centered on the groom. The best best man speeches have jokes, quotes, one-liners as well as anecdotes included in them and all of them together, if delivered in a lively manner, make it absolutely entertaining.
Finally, maid of honor speeches or the wedding toasts from the bridesmaids are actually quite similar to the best man speech. The only difference being the majority of the speech is dedicated to the bride instead of the groom. The maid of honors are normally the bride’s sisters or friends and being somebody close to the bride’s heart, their version of wedding speeches would mean some funny insider secrets about the bride.
Apparently, delivering a speech at a wedding reception would necessarily mean that you should get prepared for it well in advance. Here are some essential tips that anybody having to give a wedding speech can follow -
- Begin early. You should start your preparation at least 2 weeks prior to the wedding day
- Do some research work by browsing through various wedding speech resources on the internet.
- Note down the points you like noteworthy.
- Make an outline of the speech.
- Bear in mind that your speech shouldn’t be longer than 5 minutes.
- Depending on the nature of your wedding speech remember to include everybody you need to thank.
- Sort the wedding jokes, quotes one-liners you intend to include in your speech
- Anecdotes make wedding speeches interesting. Remember those you would like to use.
- Avoid silly remarks, bad jokes. And alcohol before the speech. Aunt Lily is not going to like them.
- Be honest and sincere. Better be the person you are.
- Practice. Practice builds familiarity. And familiarity gives rise to confidence.
Well, that’s it for today as far as getting ready for your wedding speech is concerned. If you think it’s not easy let me tell you that you have done a lot harder jobs than giving a wedding speech. Write up your speech practice and get used to it’s done. And if you think you require it, you can get some excellent wedding speech materials and guidance by following one of the links below -
Maid of Honor Speeches
A maid of honor speech is usually expected to offset a drunken groomsman’s toast. Here are other things that people usually expect from a maid of honor’s speech:
- A maid of honor’s speech may contain stories of what the bride used to be when she was growing up of when you first knew her.
- Details on how you and the bride met and how long you both have known each other.
- A little philosophical or spiritual statement.
- Words of advice to both the newlyweds.
- Wishes you have for the newlyweds, usually in the form of babies, happiness, success, etc.
Tips on maid of honor speeches:
- Do you resemble Julia Roberts in the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and only got to know the bride weeks before the wedding? You can make your speech about the qualities your best friend/brother was looking for and must have found in his new bride-to-be.
- Write your toast about three weeks before the big day. Prepare a couple of drafts and have someone whose taste you trust edit your work.
- Express your sincerity in telling everyone how thrilled the bride to be at the wedding. Thank the bride and groom (and their parents, if appropriate) for being invited to the wedding.
- You may go a little emotional by including a personal touch in your maid of honor speech, a special secret or funny anecdote about the bride.
- If you don’t drink, don’t force yourself to. It will only add jitters to you. Ask for a glass of water or other nonalcoholic beverage when delivering your maid of honor speech for toasting.
Read more on wedding speeches
Wedding Speeches – Yahoo Answers – Open Questions
The following are some questions on Wedding Speeches asked by various people at Yahoo Answers. Should you be interested, you can go ahead and check them out. May be you could answer a few of these wedding speech questions. All the best.
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Funny Wedding Speech directed to Bride and Groom
Very funny speech by the father of the bride that could also be done by the father of the groom or grandfather. This is at the wedding of Jennifer Donnelly and Bryan Harveston.
Duration : 0:5:43
