Congratulations on your forthcoming Special Day - Here we have endeavoured to supply you and other parties to the wedding with some help, tips & ideas.
Wedding Speeches......
There are three generally accepted speeches usual to a wedding reception they are, bride's father's speech, the bridegroom's speech and lastly the best man's speech. No further speeches are required although other speeches are permissible; it is not unusual for example for the bridegroom's father to give a short speech of thanks to the host and hostess for the occasion, or the bride to have a "best woman" give a speech.
The Bride's Father....
The brides father should be called upon by the toastmaster (or the best man) to propose a toast of 'health and happiness to the bride and bridegroom'. Before doing so he would normally welcome the grooms parents, relatives of both families any other guests and welcome the groom to his family and say a few words about his daughter.
The Bridegroom.....
The bridegroom replies on behalf of himself and his bride, taking the opportunity to thank his parents for there love and care during his youth, for the start they gave him in life, and for their good wishes for his future and that of his wife. He will also take this opportunity on behalf of his wife and himself to thank all those present for their gifts.
Should there be any close members of the family who could not attend the wedding because of illness, they should be mentioned and be wished for a speedy recovery.
To conclude, the bridegroom will propose the toast of the bridesmaids, and thank them for a job well done, he may also present them with a small gift as a token of their appreciation.
The Best Man.....
It is the best man's duty to respond to this toast on behalf of the bridesmaids, his speech should be light hearted and fun. It should be the high spot of the reception and it is very often his ability to make this particular speech, with humour and interest, that is the deciding chapter on the selection of the best man. (no pressure then!)
Speech Delivery Tips.....
Read your speech or memorise it?
Few people are willing to trust everything to memory. An alternative is to thoroughly familiarise yourself with your speech and then reduce it to a set of brief notes on cue cards. The advantage is that your speech will not sound as if it is being read word for word. But if you do decide to read it, nobody will mind.
Practice.
Whatever you decide - rehearse it. Then rehearse it again - until you are sick of it. That should be about right.
Slow Down!
What ruins more speeches than anything else is a nervous speaker going too fast. He doesn't pause to let his points sink in and doesn't wait for the laughs he wants. His audience is then so busy trying to catch what he's gabbling about that they don't have time to laugh. Oh dear - no laughs. What does our speaker do? Panics and accelerates even more. Result - disaster! Even experienced speakers get suffer this urge to speed up. Don't give in to it.
Body Language.
Stand up straight and look confident. Even if you are reading, look up and at your audience from time to time. Eye contact makes them feel you are talking to them, and it will help you with your pauses.
Laughs
If you expect a laugh - wait for it. If it doesn't come tell people they were supposed to laugh and refuse to go on until they do. That will kick start them. Don't begin again until the laughter has died down - enjoy it. Study professional comedians - you'll learn a lot.
Interruptions.
Enjoy interruptions, especially funny ones. They provide thinking time, and hey… people will remember it was your speech that got the laughs; they won't remember that it wasn't always your lines.
Drink.
Don't drink too much before speaking. You might think it helps, but your audience won't.
Two final important points to remember:
1. The audience is on your side. They want to enjoy your speech - give them the opportunity
2. If you get a totally unexpected laugh - check your flies!