Wedding speeches are one of the best parts of any wedding day, but if you’re the one giving the wedding speech, then it can often be nerve-wracking.
Feeling nervous about your wedding speech? We've got your back!
You’ve written it, you’ve rehearsed it, and now you have to deliver it. (gulp!) More people fear public speaking than anything else, but there’s no need to panic about delivering your wedding speech. Have a stiff drink (just the one!) and follow our guide to delivering the best wedding speech! Whether you’re the groom, best man, father-of-the-bride, maid of honour, bride or just a very special person!
INTRODUCE YOURSELF
There may be a possibility that not everyone at the wedding will know who you are. So be sure to introduce yourself at the beginning of your wedding speech and your relationship to the couple, if you’re the first to speak. And if your speech is following another, kindly acknowledge the person who spoke before you.
USE THE NEW MARRIED TITLES
Grooms especially can score serious brownie points for using “husband and wife” or “Mr and Mrs – basically the new titles that the bride and groom have just obtained. Brides will love to hear this from the groom for the first time when they give their wedding speech.
KNOW YOUR SPEECH (BUT USE CUE CARDS)
Practise your wedding speech at every opportunity. If your memory is poor, then practice will help you to get familiar with the flow of the speech. If your memory’s great then you’re lucky. In both circumstances we advise using cue cards. Why? Weddings are weird things. Wonderful, beautiful, amazing but weird. They’ve got the power to suck all logical thought from your brain and replace it with loved-up nonsense. Cue cards give you a comfort blanket and, if you use them right, they don’t need to distract from the speech. Give copies of your cue cards to at least two trusted friends to carry on the day and take comfort in the fact that you have something written down.
SLOW IT DOWN
The speeches are one of the highlights of the day. When you’re nervous it’s easy to speed up, so pace yourself and take deep breaths.
LOOK CONFIDENT & MAKE EYE CONTACT
Try and make eye contact with the guests throughout your speech and look at the person you're talking about when you’re addressing them (for example, when you’re thanking them or telling them how chuffed you are that they married you). Don’t look at anyone who has their phones out and are filming you. Those people you can ignore! Making eye contact with people is hard in this situation, but it garners attention and displays confidence.
CONSIDER A MICROPHONE
If your wedding venue has high ceilings, or you’ve got a large number of guests attending your wedding, it’s probably best to use a microphone. You definitely want everyone to be able to hear you!
BE ANECDOTAL
Anecdotes and personal stories are two essential components that help you deliver an amazing wedding speech. You’ll have loads of stories about the bride and groom, or the two of you, so choose some highlights and string them together with a common theme.
LIVE IN THE MOMENT
It’s a great idea to write your speech ahead of time, we definitely recommend that. But we also think it’s a lovely idea to leave some space at the end to express how you really feel in the moment. There will be a lot of new emotions being felt on the big day, so make sure you embrace them.
TEST OUT YOUR JOKES...
It’s a good idea to test out jokes on someone or even double check them with the bride or groom. This will help you give any overly inappropriate innuendos the heave-ho if necessary!
FINISH THE BEST WEDDING SPEECH WITH A TOAST
You always want to try and finish your wedding speech with a toast, and say the right thank-yous. Any excuse to lift that glass of champagne and bring everyone together!