Father of the Bride Speech Tips

by Alex Thornton on January 19, 2012

So finally, the wedding day is here. Your little darling is getting married, and heart is whirling with mixed emotions. On the one hand, you are happy that your daughter is off to start her own family. On the other hand, you feel some sadness because  your little angels’ flying away to another nest from today for a completely new life, without your protection, care and comfort.

To make things simpler for you we created our Father of the Bride Speech E-Book. We created 20 sample speeches and some helpful pointers for writing the speech. We like to think that our speeches and guidance only helps you put your best foot forward in front of your friends and family.

Of course, for every father you want to fit into the archetypical strong father mold. Your daughter has leaned on you for years and years. Now, as her wedding day approaches it is important to retain that image of strength and guidance.  So shed away all those nervous feelings and ignore the flying butterflies.

Your job on her wedding day is to happily hand over your daughter’s hand in marriage to your deserving son-in-law. This Father of the Bride Speech E-Book aims at providing you with solutions for a classic speech for your lil’ darling. Some of the aspects covered in this E-Book are speech samples, body etiquette, overcoming your emotions, and other related issues.
From nervous amateur to seasoned MC, this Father of the Bride Speech E-Book provides you with the needed insight on how to structure your speech. The right openers, hilarious one-liners and touching toasts. You will be amazed at how the book brings out the best in you, no matter what style is.

Like all-important things in life, your daughter’s wedding needs pre- planning and adequate preparation. Sometimes it is better to start planning months before the event so that you are well prepared. While going through the various sections of this EBook, you will notice that you are preparing yourself as an individual for a grand celebration, well in advance.

A wedding ceremony is incomplete without wedding speeches and toasts. Wedding speeches form a part of the many traditions that a wedding ceremony must follow. Though it has been mandatory for the men to make all the wedding speeches on the D-day, these days even brides and brides maid’s go on to give their wedding speeches. The first one to start a series of wedding speeches in a traditional wedding ceremony is always the father of the bride.
The father of the bride raises a toast to the newly weds and guests and gives his speech which is followed by the groom who must thank him for opening the wedding speeches at the wedding ceremony. Writing a father of the bride wedding speech is not as difficult as it seems though. A little research and creativity can land you with a father of the bride wedding speech that is sure to leave everyone with a smile on their faces. A winning shot at the wedding of your darling angel assured. Remember, that the father is the pillar of strength and a source of constant guidance for the bride. It is therefore of particular importance on how he conducts himself before and after the ceremony; how he mingles with the crowd; how he addresses the gathering. In a nutshell, everything, just everything to make the grand wedding grander can be done with the help of a simple speech.

One thing that you need to do here is imagine Steve Martin in the classic movie ‘Father of the Bride’ and you would realize how much you could empathize with that character. However, it is the day when your darling would be waiting to put her arms
around you after the speech, and cry tears of joy. The emotions of happiness and parting have to be merged in an ecstatic combination in the speech.


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Wedding Speech For Coworkers

by Alex Thornton on January 10, 2012

I received an interesting question last week.

“Alex, how do you write a wedding speech for a wedding that stems from an office romance? Is it a sensitive issue?”

First of all, most office romances are kept secret. Every corporation has a different policy about office relationships but most parties like to keep the romance away from the prying eyes of coworkers. Usually, everyone in the office knows that there is a relationship and the two lovebirds still try to keep it a secret.

However, when we’re dealing with a wedding speech, it is obvious that the relationship is out in the open. There is no need to tip toe around the fact that two colleagues met and fell in love while on the job. Happens all the time.

However, there are some landmines that you should look out for.

First of all, if the relationship was kept secret for a number of months, do not mention it. It adds little to your wedding speech and it will only make it seem as though the bride and groom were doing something dishonest. You do not want to paint them out to be some sly lovers having a rendez-vous in a cheap motel room.

Secondly, office colleagues have a tendency to tell inside jokes in their wedding speeches.  Remember that you are speaking to an audience that for the most part does not know you.  Stay away from office jokes unless you can frame it as interesting and relevant anecdote.

Here’s an example of how one might incorporate a work story into the wedding speech. Notice how the story is relevant because it highlights a personal characteristic about the bride (witty) and it also talks about the first time that the bride and groom met.

The first time Tom saw Liz she was over at the water cooler talking to some of the secretaries, and Tom assumed she was one of the new hired secretaries. We had both been nervous about the new department head who was due to begin work that day and we wanted to make a good impression. It turns out, Tom did make a good impression on our new boss.
It was just after lunch when the boss’s secretary asked Tom and me to come into the office. We both felt we had our chance to get in a good first impression and score some much-needed points for possible promotion. I had the nerve to enter first and saw that the boss’s chair was facing away from us, so I blurted out, “It’s great to finally meet you, sir.”
To my horror the chair suddenly swung around and in the chair was Liz. Her immediate words, in typical witty Liz style, were, “And it’s likewise nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Tom obviously played his initial meeting with Jane much cooler than I did, which I suppose is one reason that we’re honoring the two of them tonight.

And in the end, my best friend Tom and my spectacular boss Liz– yes, Liz, I’m completely sucking up right now – are ready to start their new lives together as husband in life.


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The Three Parts of a Best Man Speech

by Alex Thornton on December 19, 2011

In this post, I’m going to break down a sample best man speech into the individual components to give you an idea of how a simple best man speech can be written quickly.

The first part of the best man speech is the introduction. The introduction is similar for every type of wedding speech.  Basically, you want to identify yourself as half of the people in the audience will not know you.

Here’s a sample introduction from a best man speech:

“Ladies and gentleman, I’d like to take a few moments of your time to first thank all of you for being here to share this wonderful day with Robert and Sophie. I must pause to say that the bridesmaids are looking wonderful, and are only outshone by Sophie, who I’m sure everyone agrees looks stunning  today. What a beautiful bride!
Actually, I’m still trying to figure out what Robert did to deserve this beauty.
It’s been a huge privilege to be asked to be the best man, and I couldn’t say no, since a few years ago I conned Robert into doing the honors at my wedding, where he had a lot of fun telling embarrassing stories about my childhood. So, now it’s my turn. Revenge is sweet, my friend!
For those of you who don’t know, Robert and I grew up next to each other, and I really can’t remember a time when we weren’t best friends. We’ve been through everything together, from pre-school, to the horrors of kindergarten, middle school and braces, to high school, college, and now even weddings.”

As we can see from the opening few paragraphs of this best man speech, a few things have been accomplished:

  1. the best man complimented the bride
  2. the best man introduced himself as the best man and explained his relationship to Robert – (childhood friends)
  3. he established the tone of the wedding speech which is light hearted

 

“I couldn’t have wished for more from a best friend my entire life, and he’s always been there for me. Sophie, I know he’s a rock solid man who will always be there for you now.
For all of you who don’t know, John and Sophie actually met in a very unique way. They both happen to frequent the same gym, and the first day that he saw Sophie walk in the door of that gym, he sort of walked, or fell rather, right off the back of the treadmill. So, I guess you can say he’s the one that fell first.
For some reason Sophie actually said yes to that first date, and things just progressed from here. In fact, ever since that first date, I haven’t stopped hearing about her. I have to say, Sophie, you’ve made my best friend a better man, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather see in his life today.”

In the body of the wedding speech, the best man tells a relevant story about the bride and groom.

  1. he tells a quick story (only 30 seconds) about how the bride and groom met and fell in love. The audience cares about this type of story as most people have no idea about how the bride and groom met.
  2. he compliments the bride again with a warm hearted comment about how the bride has made the groom a better man
  3. the best man has stayed consistent with the tone of the speech which is short and sweet

“So today, it’s my extreme pleasure to ask everyone to stand once again and raise your glasses to Robert and Sophie. I wish you well, my friends. May your life be one of laughter, joy, and love together – forever!”

Finally in the last part of the wedding speech, the best man gives a toast to the bride and groom. It is a simple toast that wishes the couple well.

As you can see, when you break down a best man speech into 3 simple parts (intro, story, toast) it is an easy task. If you’re nervous about public speaking, using a short speech like the one above is a great strategy.


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Free Best Man Speech

by Alex Thornton on November 23, 2011

I wanted to share a free best man speech with my loyal readers. Please click on the banner if you want to see 20 more best man speeches.

———————-

I cannot think of a time when I’ve been more terrified of saying the wrong thing. You see, Mark is my best friend, and this is the biggest day of his life so far. That’s a lot of pressure for me not to screw this up. I have already been threatened with the “beats” in the parking lot if I say anything inappropriate.

So if I seem nervous, that’s because I am. I’m over here sweating and Mark and Melissa are just laughing and having a good time.  The expression on their faces says it all. These two are totally in love, aren’t they?
Believe it or not, these two have always had that expression on their faces, whenever they were around each other from the day they first met. I remember that night vividly. Mark and I were down at our favorite bar for the night, and spotted these two girls sitting by themselves, so we stroll over and sit down next to them and start talking—don’t worry the story gets even worse. So we’re going through the usual small talk and the girl I’m talking to is clearly not that interested in me. It was Sally, in case you’re wondering, she’s over there with the other bridesmaids. Don’t worry Sally, I’m not bitter. As a matter of fact you and all of the bridesmaids look stunning in those outfits.

Back to the story – so I struck out with Sally, but John and Melissa just clicked. The bad part came when the girls’ dates came and chased Mark and I off–but not before Mark got Melissa’s phone number.
From pretty much that night on, they were inseparable. You could see it in their eyes that they were absolutely in love with each other, and you can still see that today. Just look, aw come on, don’t look away Melissa. See those beautiful smiles everyone? Those are the smiles of two people completely in love.

It is my duty to leave you with a little bit of advice about marriage.  “Love one another and you will be happy.  It’s as simple and as difficult as that.”

So on to the part I’m sure you’re all looking forward to, the drinking and the dancing! But before we start the celebration in earnest, first please raise your glasses high for my best friend Mark, and his beautiful new wife Melissa.

—————–

If you enjoyed this free best man speech and are looking for more best man speeches, click on the banner below!


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How to Use Wedding Quotations

by Alex Thornton on November 16, 2011

An effective technique for opening your speech is to use a quotation about love and marriage. The opening is the hook of your speech. It is what draws in the audience. It is absolutely crucial that you nail this part of your speech. You want to spend the majority of your time writing and rehearsing the opening and the conclusion. The reason is that after a few days, the only parts of your speech that will most likely be remembered are the opening and conclusion.
There are three primary objectives to any opening. Firstly, you must grab the audience’s attention. The second objective is to give the audience an idea of what you will be speaking about. Finally, the opening also sets the tone for the speech. The tone might be humorous, sentimental or anything else but you do want to set the tone. It can be difficult to follow a speech that bounces around. I remember reading one speech that was hysterical and then shifted into some serious philosophical thoughts on love.
However, a well placed quotation can be used in the body or even in the toast of the speech. The reason quotations are usually found in the introduction is because the speaker does not want to disrupt the flow of the speech. It is not important that the quotation is famous but rather that the quotation used is relevant. For example, I remember one quotation for a Best Man speech that used
the quotation by an unknown author: ‘Love is a symbol of eternity.  It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.”

 

I remember another wedding speech where the speaker actually related the quotation to the couple who was sitting by his side. As they were staring into each other’s eyes he said, Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said, “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.”


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Maid of Honor Speech Example

November 9, 2011

I thought it would be useful to dissect some actual video of a wedding speech. I’ll provide the color commentary of what the wedding speaker has done well, and offer some criticism as well. In this video we have a maid of honor speech delivered by the sister of the bride. First of all, the [...]

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Another Sample Best Man Speech

October 28, 2011

  Here’s a sample best man speech that is short, slightly humorous and easy to deliver. It was written to be delivered by a still single best man. ———————————————————————– It’s time for the best man’s speech everyone – and that’s me. This is my chance to tell a few old stories about my friend Bill, [...]

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Best Man Speeches

October 10, 2011

Writing best man speeches should not be viewed as a daunting task. Most men who have little experience writing best man speeches also have little experience with public speaking. Aubsequently, they experience a lot of anxiety as the wedding day approaches. Most men cannot even see that being chosen to write best man speeches is [...]

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Compliments for the Bride

September 27, 2011

One of the things that is difficult in the father of the bride speech, groom speech or best man speech is how to compliment the bride. I’ve compiled some compliments for the bride. Generally, you want to have one paragraph of your father of the bride speech pay homage to the bride.   To say [...]

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Wedding Toast

September 18, 2011

One of the major points of anxiety before any wedding is having to deliver a poignant and touching wedding toast. The public speaking components of most weddings is actually viewed as the least enjoyable part of the wedding by the bride, groom and the best man. The reason for this of course is because the [...]

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