Whatever role you’re playing in the wedding, if you’re the bride, groom, best man/woman I’ve put together a few helpful tips to write a great wedding speech. I’ve been to over 100 weddings and I’ve heard a lot of speeches, the good, the bad and the way too long. If you’re having speeches at your wedding and you think one of the wedding party who you’ve asked to do a speech might like a little help, send this blog post their way!
Don’t Google it, (please)
Okay, so this one is pretty ironic considering I’m giving tips for writing a wedding speech on the internet! But if there is only one thing you take away from this blog post, it’s simply don’t google it! By all means google the structure and have a little look around online for tips of what to include but steer well away from the jokes. (If I had a penny for every time I’ve heard the Bangor joke!). Any good speech will be written from the heart and if you’re getting your jokes from google there’s a very big chance many of the guests will have heard them before. Not only will all the guests find a unique joke funnier, all the suppliers in the room will thank you too!
Don’t make it too long
Have a good practice of your speech at home and it’s definitely worth timing it to get a rough idea of how long it will take. If the couple are having their speeches before food, no one will thank you for talking too long and delaying the food! Around 5-10 minutes of well wishes, funny stories and jokes is about right. Any more than 10 minutes and you’ll start losing people, they may find an excuse to go to the bar or the toilet, or they may just start talking among themselves. Keep it short (ish) and sweet, this way you don’t have to think of too much to say, so you can just keep the best bits and it’s also means you get fed quicker or get dancing quicker.
Don’t make it too short
Following on from my last point, it’s also worth trying not to make it too short. If the couple have asked you to say a few words on their day then it’s definitely worth planning it out a bit and you don’t want to make it seem like you’ve just winged it too much. Anything less than 5 minutes is possibly a bit too short.
Don’t drink too much
As hilarious as drunk people are, no one wants to spend 10 minutes listening to a drunk person babble their way through a speech. I’m all about a bit of dutch courage but definitely try to pace yourself before you do your speech, there will be plenty of time for catching up later!
Have a laugh!
All in all, chances are if the couple have asked you to do a speech they trust you to do a good job and generally just be a bit of a laugh. Funny and heartfelt speeches are always the most memorable for me. Everyone loves hearing a hilarious story and it really helps to keep up the good vibes of the day. Try to enjoy it as much as possible, plan it out a bit and you’ll be absolutely fine!
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