An outline is an excellent idea to make sure that you do not forget to include the important things which etiquette demands. These can include thanking the guests and thanking the groom’s family. There may be telegrams to read out or special announcements. You could thank distant relatives for making a special journey to be there. And all importantly, there are the toasts to remember at the end of the speech.
To begin with, it may be a good idea to introduce yourself. Although the majority of the people there will know you already, there may be some friends or colleagues of the bride or groom who may not have met you yet. This may even raise a smile in the audience and immediately lighten the mood both for you and them.
Thank everyone for coming. It is a nice touch to thank individual people and this can add several minutes to the speech. Make a special mention of your wife, and anyone who has worked hard to plan the day. Thank the your side of the family and also the groom and his family. If people have sent on their apologies and congratulations, then these can be read out.
Tell everyone how proud you are today. It might be a nice moment to compliment the bride on how lovely she looks. This leads naturally on to reminiscences about your memories of the bride growing up. This is not a good day to decide to pull out any embarrassing stories, but a few humorous anecdotes will go down well. It is an emotional day. No-one will blame you for being sentimental.
Do not at this point, try to do a stand-up comedy routine. Although people are all there to have fun and enjoy themselves, this is not the right moment to try out your new material. You may have been sent some hilarious jokes about how marriage is an institution, but this is probably not the right time. If you are in any doubt at all about how suitable a joke might be, leave it out of your speech. It is better to tell a few people in private later on than to tell a room full of a hundred people who don’t laugh!
You may now wish to tell everyone how proud you are to include your new son-in-law into the family. How did you meet him? Did he ask for her hand? People do love to hear personal details such as these. Did he propose in an unusual way? All of these can be included in your speech.
That only leaves a good toast to the happy couple and your job is done. Hopefully this outline has helped you to formulate some sort of idea about what to include in your speech.
Adam Rogers is known for his wedding related articles and blogs. If you like this article you would also want to check similar Father of the Bride Speech Outline articles as well as other father of the bride speech articles at WeddingSpeechDigest.com
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