Giving a wedding speech or wedding toast is hard to do. Sometimes the hardest part is writing the wedding speech. Where do you start? What do you say in your wedding toast? How do you write a godfather’s speech? How do you write a bridesmaid speech? Check out 6 tips for writing an amazing wedding speech.
1) Play to your strengths. Don’t think you have pressure to be someone you’re not, are you funny? Great, everyone loves to laugh. Don’t feel like you HAVE to be funny. If your strength is emotional stuff, don’t try to leave the audience rolling on the floor, tug at their heartstrings. People get too nervous giving a speech, but you don’t have to if you keep it simple and real!
2) Start with a story. Nobody wants a long introduction: a story starts with a bang. Attract your audience and engage them. Also, they are more natural! You won’t have to rehearse it, all you have to do is tell it! This could be a fun memory you shared or something more serious, perhaps a scenario that really showcased the groom’s strength of character or the bride’s incredible heart, etc.
3) Pick a few key things you like about both the bride and groom, before you start writing your speech. What are its best features? The best wedding speeches usually have just a couple of key points, and once you’ve chosen yours, completing the rest of your speech is much easier. If you’re writing your bridesmaid speech, you’ll choose one more pair for the bride than the groom. If you’re the best man writing your speech, choose a few more for the groom than for the bride. Make sure they are REAL things that you and others love. If you say that the bride has a motherly heart and everyone knows that she hates children, people will know that you are faking it. If you are not very close to your friend’s new spouse, emphasize the speech towards the friend you know and love.
4) Once you have your points, think of a story, quote, or metaphor for each one. Now is the time to take a trip down memory lane and think about all those fun times you’ve had together. This makes the speech easier to deliver because it is much more natural and it will also make it much more interesting than if you read it straight off the page. The stories, quotes, and metaphors strengthen each of your points and give the speech a sense of progression. If you can’t think of any stories to work with your points, ask your other friends or parents, someone will have one!
5) Wrap it all up. Once you have your points, it’s time to unite them all in the amazing wedding speech of the century! You do this by taking the things you just said that you love about them and saying why they’re a good match. He is funny, is she smart? Perfect, he’s the next Ray Ramano and she can be his agent. Do you both have a heart to help people? Awesome, they are going to change the world together. This can be serious or funny; the main thing is to take the time to say why they make such a great couple.
6) Toast the bride and groom, wish them an amazing future together and thank them for the amazing wedding. Then go sit down and pat yourself on the back. You just gave the best best man or bridesmaid speech of all time.
