Celebrating Intercultural Love Stories Through Our Clients

Speeches are such an important part to most weddings, but they really can make or break the day!

This blog will offer some pointers to help with that award winning, memorable (for the right reasons) speech.

Plan it:

Think about what you want to say, write it down, say it out loud.  Even if you think you are a natural talker plan your speech to ensure you don’t miss out important things that you would like to say and to make sure it makes sense and flows.  Don’t leave it till the morning of the wedding when things will be busy and happening and leave your rushing to jot ideas down.  

Set the scene:

Tell people who you are and how you know the couple. So many people start talking and telling wonderful stories but when they haven’t told people who they are and just assume everybody knows it can leave people confused and guessing!  Adding context helps people understand what you are saying and where you are coming from much easier and people are more likely to relate to you.

Know your audience:

It is important to know who is in the crowd and make your speech appealing and palatable to all.  Keep it appropriate and if there are children or grandparents think about the language you use and save everyone the embarrassment or having to cover their ears!  Add in some light-hearted jokes but be mindful not to embarrass the couple.

Evoke emotion:

Be yourself and be genuine.  The best speeches are always those that have you laughing and then have you feeling deeply before bringing out the laughter again. Try to give eye contact and connect with your audience.  

Keep it short:

The age-old adage of keep it short and sweet really does apply here.  No-one wants to listen to you droning on for ages and ages!  Keep your speech to under 10 minutes and realistically aim for around 5 minutes if you can.  Practice and time yourself, record it and watch it back so you can get a feel of what it will be like for the other guests.

End on a high:

Round off either by summarising what you have talked about or how much you have enjoyed the day so far and are looking forward to the rest of it and lastly raise a toast to the happy couple.