Father of the groom speeches are increasingly more and more common at modern weddings.

First of all, I’ll outline the structure of the father of the groom speech. You can view an example of a father of the bride toast that follows a traditional structure. Although the speech is delivered for a bride, the structure for the father of the groom is similar. Your speech will only be about five minutes in length so you will want to make sure that you edit your speech.

Father of the Groom Speech Structure

1. Welcome all of the guests. Traditionally, the father of the bride is considered the host of the wedding but if you have contributed financially, then the father of the groom is considered a co-host. You want to specifically mention out-of-town guests. It is important to emphasize out of town guests who have traveled great distances to attend your son’s wedding.
2. Mention people who were particularly helpful in organizing and executing the wedding. For example, you might have a sister who organized the catering or flower arrangement. Thank these special people near the beginning of your father of the groom toast.
3. You will divide the body of your father of the groom speech in two parts. It is customary to pay compliments to the bride. Naturally, you’ll say a few nice words about her beauty and perhaps some of her personality qualities such as her sense of humor.
4. You will then talk about your son. Again, you want to mention unique qualities that you are proud of. A common mistake father of the groom mistake is to list personality characteristics which is quite boring. Tell an interesting story about your son and you’ll add some color to the father of the groom speech. For example, you might tell a story about how nervous your son was during soccer tryouts  but he persevered and eventually was captain of the team.
5. Finally, finish your father of the groom speech with a toast to the bride and groom.

Here’s a sample father of the groom toast:

“It is customary on an occasion such as this for the father of the groom to offer the newlyweds some profound piece of advice, so here it goes … Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love … they blossom when we love the one we married. When children find true love, parents find true joy. Here’s to your joy and ours from this day forward.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand, raise your glasses and drink a toast with me to the health and happiness of Jim and Sarah.

To Jim and Sarah!”

I suggest that you review some father of the bride toasts in order to get more comfortable with the structure of the speech.