Toast To The Bride

Some Wedding Speech Resources

Today I wanted to point out a couple of places where you can get some good information on giving wedding speeches.

The first, and my most highly recommended resource, is the series of books available from Wedding Speech 4 U. They are electronic, downloadable books, each about 100 pages in length, that are the best resource for understanding, assembling and presenting a wedding speech I have found. They explain in very simple terms what the purpose of a wedding speech is and how to best accomplish it the quickest and easiest way.

If you are in a hurry you can just quickly adapt any one of the pre-prepared speeches written to cover any situation. If you have more time the books will lead you through an enjoyable process of assembling and giving the speech.

I have found two blogs, each by people who recently gave wedding speeches, that offer some very well considered thoughts about how they assembled their speeches. The first blog is about bride speeches. It was assembled by a young woman who was a recent bride. She talks about the common problem of stage fright and a number of other things that went into her bride’s speech.

The other blog is by a young woman who was a maid of honor. Her blog is filled with maid of honor speeches tips. She clearly understands the purpose of wedding speeches is the honor the wedding couple and their families and friends and to thank everyone involved.

If you are interested in wedding speeches I think you will enjoy any of these resources.

Giving a Funny Toast to the Bride

The first bit of advice I want to give is that if you aren’t good at telling jokes and making people laugh then don’t try to give a funny wedding speech. Few things are more embarrassing than watching someone try to be funny when they aren’t.

That being said here are some important factors to take into account when you want to create a funny toast to the bride. First of all, consider the audience. You probably won’t know most of the people at the wedding but you will know the wedding couple and some of their friends and family. Are they people who will appreciate a bit of humor? If the reception is taking place in a church and the mood is rather somber or spiritual as opposed to playful then you probably want to skip the jokes. Will the humor work for people of all ages, beliefs and political persuasions?

The overall goal of wedding speeches is to flatter the bride and groom and to thank and congratulate everyone involved. If you joke doesn’t somehow tie into that message, or especially if the joke is mean spirited or critical then skip it. Retelling a funny situation that happened before the wedding or remembering a funny thing that happened to the bride or groom in the past can be a good funny bit to add, as long as it doesn’t make fun of anyone or won’t be taken wrong. When in doubt, don’t.

Your speech should have a flow and a point to it. You are trying to illustrate the find character of the wedding couple and their friends and family, not make fun of them. General stories about subjects such as the pitfalls of married life can be good sources of humor as long as they are tasteful and don’t in any way make fun of the proceedings.

Also remember that you are not the star. Never give a speech that make you seem more important than the bride and groom.

Why I Created “Toast To The Bride”

For nearly two decades of videoing weddings I have gotten to share in this most joyful day with countless families. Nearly all weddings are wonderful events where most things go according to plans and the things that don’t just create laughter. Except for the speeches!

It seems most people have tremendous fear of public speaking and therefore put off preparing for their toast to the bride. The result is, much too often, painful long minutes of listening someone who’s had a little too much to drink say thoroughly embarrassing things. The important things never get said and people will be wincing for years to come at how Uncle Sal or Joe Bob make a complete ass of themselves.

It doesn’t have to be this way because giving a wedding speech is actually very easy. If one knows the basic rules, anyone could give a perfect, charming wedding speech that everyone would applaud with no more than 30 minutes preparation.

I’m going to attempt to outline what you need to know in this blog. If you find yourself with only hours to go before the wedding and no speech in hand then I suggest you get the little book you can see in the right hand column of this blog. Get it for two reasons: It is an small electronic book that you can be reading three minutes from now, and it is a really good book.

They actually sell you a version especially written for the exact speech you are going to be giving. For example “father of the bride”, “best man”, etc. In each version of the book you will find many complete speeches that you can customize in minutes, or if you have a little more time you can learn what the basic elements are that need to go into the speech and put together your own presentation that will fulfill all the rules of etiquette while leaving everyone feeling good about you and the wedding.

Here’s one more reason to buy the wedding speeches books I recommend. After you buy a book they will tell you how you can help them sell more books and they will pay you a commission for each book you sell. I loved the wedding speeches books I own and love that I can make a little money by helping other people.

There is no excuse for becoming a legend of bad wedding speeches, imortalized forever on video, when you can instead be a star of the day with the perfect comments that the bride and groom will cherish.