Things You'll Need:
- Computer
- Internet connection
- Time!
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Step 1
Before you even start to write your groom’s speech you need to find out if the bride is happy for you to make a speech on behalf you both, or if she prefers to make her own speech. It normally goes without saying that the father of the bride and the best man will both make speeches, but you need to find out if the maid of honor or any bridesmaids want to make speeches, as these are optional.
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Step 2
You need to understand the order in which the speeches are normally made, so that you know who you have to follow and who you need to introduce next. The order is normally as follows: father of the bride, mother of the bride (optional), groom, bride (optional), maid of honor (optional), bridesmaids (optional), best man. This list is not exhaustive.
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Step 3
You need to understand the composition of your wedding reception guests so that you can avoid saying anything that could cause offence or embarrassment. Wedding audiences are notoriously hard to write for as they are so diverse. If in any doubt it is best to play safe.
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Step 4
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel and write your groom’s speech from scratch, you have enough to do organizing a wedding to go down this route. Having said that don’t waste your time trawling the web for free speeches, because you will only end up with rehashed garbage, and you deserve better than that. There are much better sources for high quality sample speeches, and these will be given later.
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Step 5
If you have decided to make a speech on behalf of the bride and yourself, then you should start the speech off with ‘My wife and I’. You should start by thanking the father of the bride for his speech (and the mother of the bride if she also made a speech) and also acknowledge what he has said. Unless you can see a copy of his speech beforehand you are not going to know in advance what he is going to say, so this part of your speech will have to be made up on the fly.
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Step 6
You then need to thank all of the people involved in the wedding preparations, the ceremony, the reception, and all those who have attended and may have given gifts. This should be done in such a way as to avoid it seeming that you are simply reading out a shopping list. Try to inject a little humor into it, but not at the expense of the people you are thanking, or at the expense of people who are not present at the time. Most importantly you need to thank both sets of parents, and in doing so you need to make them feel important and special, as it is a big day for them too. If the bride and groom are making separate speeches, then it needs to be decided who is going to thank who. You don’t want to be thanking some people twice and others not at all.
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Step 7
Once all the necessary people have been thanked you could talk about how you first met your wife. You could mention the experiences you have shared together, the special qualities she has, and what makes her so special that you want to spend the rest of your life together. Mention how beautiful she looks today, and how exited you are now that you have started your new life together. Set out your shared vision for the future.
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Step 8
You should end by saying a few words about the best man. Quickly run through how you met, what you have been through together, and why you asked him to be your best man. You should conclude by having a humorous but gentle dig at the best man, you may as well, it’s his speech next and he will surely bring up something that will embarrass you. Finish off your speech by inviting your best man to give his speech and asking him to be gentle with you (he won’t!).
Comments
tracysmith159 said
on 7/17/2009 Good article. I heard some pretty bad speeches at weddings and a few that left us all confused.
soanyway said
on 7/17/2009 Great information, but I would still "trawl" And take a little from this and a little from that! Great article. Welcome to eHow. I have recomn'd you. Pay it forward to all! ;-)