Father of the Bride Speeches | Father of the Bride Speech Examples

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Witnessing a wedding ceremony is exciting in itself. Celebrating the momentous event is even more anticipated. Besides the heartwarming traditions done by the bride and groom during the celebration, there is the delicious meal shared by the newlyweds and the guests who have witnessed the wedding. But the wedding celebration is not all about the fun activities and food. It is also about the solemnity of wedding speeches, which are prepared by special people important to their lives to welcome them into the amazing union they have both willingly entered together.

Who Gives Wedding Speeches?

The time for giving wedding speeches is an intimate moment shared by the bride, groom, families, friends, and guests. The bride and groom specifically choose who will be giving the wedding speeches. The honor of giving the wedding speeches is usually given only to those really close to the couple. These usually include the parents, maid of honor and best man. There really is no standard to be followed as to how the speeches will be given. But as a general unwritten rule, the father of the bride goes first. After her father, her mother may follow then the parents of the groom. Subsequently, the best man would deliver his speech and toast followed by the maid of honor. Special friends not notified to make a speech are most likely welcome to give one if they wanted to.

Preparing Your Wedding Speech

Wedding speeches should not be a challenge for anyone assigned to deliver one. It can even take less than a minute. Avoid making wedding speeches that are more than three to five minutes in length. You would not want to bore the newlyweds and the guests with all your incessant talking. It should be short but simple and remarkable.

Wedding speeches should be heartfelt messages or advices. You can insert a few jokes or unforgettable experiences with the bride or groom, but wedding speeches should never make the couple or the guests present uncomfortable. Of course, it should be respectful and in honor of the bride and groom.

Practice makes perfect as well. If you should ever be faced with the task of delivering a wedding speech, it will not hurt you to prepare as much as you can. You could list a number of all the things you want to say in the delivery of the wedding speech. Later on, you can narrow it down to the most essential and interesting things only. Making an outline and drafting it first before making the final wedding speech is very helpful.

If you are shy in making speeches in front of people, it will help if you practice in front of a mirror as frequently as you can. It would also help if you ask someone to help you out by pretending to be an audience at the wedding reception.

But the most important thing in making wedding speeches is that it should be sincere and interesting. It should show how much you care for the couple. The bride and groom will definitely appreciate genuine wedding speeches than speeches taken from books, magazines and the Internet.

Eric Hartwell
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/wedding-speech-techniques-124790.html

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The 3 most common wedding speeches fall under the headings of the bride’s father’s speech, the bridegroom’s speech, and, last of all, the best man’s speech.

The toastmaster should call upon the bride’s father to propose a blessing of “health and happiness to the bride and groom.” Try to make it heartfelt and genuine because crudeness is inappropriate. A little humor, however, is fitting. The toastmaster is often the best man but could also be someone that has been especially employed for the position. Professional toastmasters are available for an appropriate fee and can take a lot of the pressure off the occasion. . The bride’s father will have his blessing preceded by welcome messages to the groom’s parents, all relatives, and all the guests. Finally, he’ll utter some words off in appreciation and admiration of his precious daughter and bless her and her new husband their future marriage.

The groom will typically reply with a speech of thanksgiving to his own parents for their contributions to his character, health, and current success. He will gives thanks to the gift-bearers and mention those that couldn’t attend due to illness. In other words, he’ll be conciliatory and considerate to all members of the group. He could even toast the bridesmaids and thank them with a small gift as a token of thanksgiving.

The best man will then arise, usually on behalf of the bridesmaids, to give a heartfelt, funny, and light-hearted speech about the groom. This is a familiar scene in movies whereupon the best jokes, anecdotes, and stories are brought up. This is a critical point in the selection of a best man.

Obviously, giving a speech at a wedding is prefaced with an acknowledgement of your role and the person or people you’ll be giving the speech to … here are some good tips for preparing and delivering an excellent speech to a lot of people for the first time …
Write down your notes a week and half ahead of time.

Rehearse for at least a week so that you won’t need to fully rely on your notes.

Thank the parents for donating time and gifts for the wedding arrangements.

Relax.

Leave them wanting a little more.

Be brief, frank, honest, and nice.

Compliment the whole group. Compliments always win smiles.

Keep your toast less than 5 minutes to avoid lots of yawning.

Leave out racy, inappropriate, crude, vulgar, or embarrassing jokes unless no one would be offended or annoyed.

Let your guard down and be natural.

Practice your speech in front of others.

Let your personality grab the attention of those in the audience. Be yourself and let it just flow out.

Interject quotes and jokes from books or the internet to complement your speech.

Sincerity is better than anything. Even if you mess up a line, your sincerity will more than compensate.

This is a not a test, essay, or exam – enjoy it.

Focus on friends in the room and deliver your speech to them personally. That will make it easier than reaching out to the whole audience.

Alcohol will probably make you less capable, off-center, or a little tipsy, and it might disrupt the speech’s content. Stay sober.

Follow the instructions outlined above if you have to learn how to make a speech at a wedding. And try to make sure that someone gets it on video at least.

Eric Hartwell
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/the-wedding-speeches-125084.html

Technorati Tags: bride speeches, father of the bride speech, father of the bride speech examples, father of the bride speeches, father of the bride wedding speech, wedding speech

1. Don’t tell mother-in law jokes. There will usually be one or two mother-in-laws present and you could spoil the day by offending them. You never know what people will consider funny so it’s safer not to tell such jokes.

2. Never tell smutty or rude stories. Take a warning from the photographer who caught on video the father of the bride thumping the best man because he had spoiled his daughter’s wedding by giving a blue speech. The bride was crying in the background. Smutty stories are not suitable for an occasion where there is mixed company particularly on a day when people are particularly sensitive. Besides there may be clergy present or elderly people who would be shocked.

3. Forget the groom’s unsavoury past. Best men are often tempted to tell stories about what the groom has done in his wicked past. It might offend the bride though and it is safer to mention some incident where he lost your luggage on vacation or knocked you out in a friendly football match rather then mentioning his success with other women.

4. Never thank the hotel staff. They are paid to do this job and you don’t thank the florist the chauffeur or the photographer for doing their work. If they do a good job send a letter of thanks or recommend a particularly helpful employee to the management if you wish.

5. Don’t give away family secrets by mentioning a sore subject like alcoholism or gambling. Weddings speeches should be gracious and positive.

6. Never talk about previous marriages. This is a new start for the couple and past marriages should not be mentioned. If the children of a previous marriage will be present check with the couple whether or not they should be mentioned.

7. Forget saying “And now I wish to thank” and then give a long list. If there are people to be mentioned they should be woven into the wedding speech by saying something warm-hearted or witty about them.

8. Never say something that someone else will be saying. The father of the bride traditionally toasts the couple for instance. If you are acting as best man or speaking in another capacity you should check it with the couple as to who is giving the toast to the bride ad groom.

9. Always check before mentioning a deceased family member. Some people might find it too sorrowful for you to do so on what should be a happy day.

10. Don’t go on too long. A good wedding speech is about content not length.

Remember a speech should be short

Leave them longing for more

So cut it short

They’ll be shouting “Encore”.

Niamh
http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/wedding-speeches-ten-top-tips-on-what-not-to-say-or-do-120156.html

Technorati Tags: father of bride speeches, father of the bride speech, father of the bride toasts, father of the groom speech

Being selected to give a wedding speech is a great honor. However, it can also be a bit overwhelming. The thought of standing up and giving a speech in front of your friends and family is enough to give anyone butterflies. But it doesn’t have to be if you follow a few simple rules. Here are 4 steps to delivering the perfect wedding speech, regardless of whether you’re writing a maid of honor speech, a best man speech, or a father of the bride speech.

Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. There are plenty of pre-written speeches
on the Internet. Of course, you don’t want to use them as they are, but they
can act as an excellent model for crafting your own wedding speech. Take the best from each one and make your speech truly unique.

Start preparing as soon as possible. Practice is the key to delivering a great wedding speech. Whenever you think of a great story, introduction, or anecdote for your speech, be sure to write it down.

Feel free to add some humor to your wedding speech. Weddings are certainly a joyful experience, but there are also a lot of tears that will be shed. Laughter is often a much needed release that helps everyone to relax and enjoy the evening.

Wedding speeches should be heartfelt messages focused on the bride and groom.
The key to writing a great speech is to write from the heart. Write something real and you can’t go wrong. It’s not so much about “saying it right” as simply saying something meaningful.

Mathew Reed
http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/wedding-speeches-4-tips-for-making-it-great-671272.html

It doesn’t need to be long.  It doesn’t need to be complicated.  But because a wedding toast happens at such an emotional and sensitive point in time, many people worry entirely too much about it, and make it a lot harder and more stressful than it needs to be.  Just follow these three simple guidelines and you’ll do fine.

1.  Open with a joke:

Please remember that this is a toast, not a roast.  However, many who are adept at public speaking know to “break the ice” with an amusing anecdote or humorous story.  Whether you are the best man, maid of honor, father of the bride or anyone else who will be speaking, chances are that you know something interesting and funny about the groom or bride that no one else does.  Keep it short, nothing too embarrassing, and certainly keep it clean enough for a mixed group.  This is not your opportunity to try your hand at stand-up comedy, though.  The idea is to get the attention of the room focused on the moment, share a lighthearted laugh, and move on.

2.  Get serious:

The point of the wedding toast is simply to honor the couple.  That’s why you are all assembled, so offer them your sincere wishes, put into your own words, expressing exactly how you feel and showing that you’re not afraid to say it.  Think of a short phrase that’s easy to remember which will trigger the rest of your words.  You don’t need to worry about an overly eloquent speech, nor should you try to “wing it” and struggle with spontaneous creativity.

3.  Raise the glasses:

As a wedding DJ and videographer, I”ve witnessed hundreds of receptions, and you may be surprised at how many folks get caught up in the moment, become too nervous from a fear of public speaking (which is mostly the needless pressure they put on themselves), or lose their notes entirely or can’t read them in the dim lighting of the room.  If there are champagne, cider, or other drinks in hand at the reception, remember to raise the glasses in tribute.  That’s it!  Some of the best wedding toasts I’ve ever heard have followed this easy outline.  Good luck with yours.

Cameron Carpenter
http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/3-simple-guidelines-for-a-successful-wedding-toast-719214.html

1. It goes without saying that you should mention the bride and groom in the wedding speech. It means doing your homework and finding out something about their foibles or hobbies. So if the bride collects shoes for instance you might wonder how the groom is going to afford to keep her shod. If the groom is a keen sportsman you might say something about that it’s now time he took up Do-it-yourself instead.

2. It’s gracious to thank the hosts for their wonderful hospitality.

3. It’s appropriate to say something witty and wise about marriage itself and what it means. You might use an old saying or a piece from a poem or a piece from the Bible.

4. It’s nice to mention the parents of the wedding couple in some way. So if the groom’s father is an avid golfer, for instance, you might laughingly compliment him on actually taking the day off for his daughter’s wedding. If the bride’s mother is a wonderful cook then you might say how lucky the groom is to be marrying into a family who will feed him well.

5. If you are speaking as a bride or groom it would be nice to mention your parents and how much they have done for you during your growing years. You could say that you hope to build your marriage on their happy relationship.

6. The groom, of course, should mention how much he loves his new wife and how beautiful she is looking on this special day. The bride, if she is speaking, should mention her happiness at being married to such a wonderful man and how much she loves him.

7. The groom should toast the bridesmaids while the best man should respond to the toast saying how lucky he is to be surrounded by such lovely ladies!

8. It’s gracious to say something about the wedding service itself and how much it meant. If there are clergy present it is nice to thank them for the trouble they took to make it meaningful.

9. A wedding day is a day for being upbeat and positive and never mentioning anything that would upset the mood of the day. It’s definitely a day when you say all the right things about people so if a father who has been absent for years turns up you might mention that his son has inherited his lovely singing voice or good looks but never speak about his unfaithfulness.

10. A wedding speech should mention those who cannot be present due to circumstances or ill health. So if gran is too old to come it would be nice to speak kindly of her saying how much she is missed. Above all it should make all those who are there happy that they are sharing in the wonderful occasion.

Niamh
http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/wedding-speeches-ten-top-tips-on-what-to-say-or-do-120153.html