A question I am often asked is “who normally makes speeches at weddings and in what order do they come”? Well traditionally the speeches are in the following order:
1) Brides father – who after thanking everybody for attending, maybe talking a little about his daughter and welcoming his new son-in-law to the family; proposes the main toast of the day to the Bride & Bridegroom.
2) The Bridegroom – who again after thanking everybody for attending; maybe talking about his lovely bride and possibly apologising in advance for his best man’s speech!; proposes a toast to the bridesmaids.
3) The Best man (men) – ‘He’ or ‘she’ traditionally says some ‘nice things’ about the Bridegroom and his wife and then proposes a toast to them.
Of course this is 2012; so anything goes...sometimes the Bride says a few words, sometimes the Bridegroom’s father or even the chief Bridesmaid....it doesn’t really matter. The only bits of advice I give is to keep each speech to approximately seven minutes (shorter is fine, but any longer and people start to switch off)...don’t swear; not everybody will have the same sense of humour...and if you aren’t a comedian, don’t try and be one; if you speak from the heart all will be well.
Making a speech at a wedding can be a daunting task for anybody...a good Toastmaster should be there by your side; helping and encouraging you and ready to step in and support you if you struggle or falter. (Certainly a lot of father’s of the bride start to cry during their speech; after all it is an emotional time).
If you need any more help or advice get in touch: www.friendlytoastmaster.co.uk
