Father Of The Bride Speeches

In the traditions of most cultures, the father of the bride gives his daughter away at the wedding and hosts the wedding reception celebration that follows.

Not that long ago, it was automatically assumed the bride's father would also foot the bill for the wedding reception - and still is in many places. These days, at least in most western societies, there is often some cost sharing arranged between the families and the wedding couple. Affordability and the kind of reception wanted are matters to consider when planning the wedding.

Whatever, the father of the bride is still expected by tradition to act as the host and welcome the guests in the first speech at the reception.

This traditional role as host may also lead on to the role of wedding master of ceremonies, to arrange the formalities and introduce and thank the various speakers and other participants, throughout the wedding reception.

Sometimes a professional master of ceremonies (MC) is engaged instead, especially at society or celebrity weddings - or there may be someone among family and friends with special talents who is asked to perform the wedding MC duties instead. Occasionally, the best man assumes the wedding master of ceremonies role.

Find out more about the duties of a wedding MC in this guide to being a Wedding Master Of Ceremonies.

1. Warm Up The Crowd: As the first speaker, the father of the bride wedding speech is starting cold, with a crowd that is just meeting up and settling in for the reception, and the speaker needs to reach out to the crowd and get them involved. The easiest way is to talk about some shared experiences and get some nods of agreement happening, and a buzz as people comment to the person beside them. Topics might include: the wedding ceremony, the celebrant's contribution, how the bride looks, the bridesmaids and their dresses, others - especially mention of the flower girls and the ladies - in the wedding party, the weather (good or bad, there is always something to say!) and the venue for the reception. Recently shared experiences are great conversation starters. A little humor tossed in helps to break the ice, especially if something worth a laugh has happened during the wedding ceremony or the lead up to it.

2. Welcome The Guests: As host, the father of the bride traditionally welcomes the guests. Mentioning a few key people by name and indicating where they are sitting helps to put names to faces. Special mention is often made of the groom's parents and other senior family members on both sides, well known personalities, and guests who have traveled a long way or otherwise gone out of their way to get to the wedding. People who have made a special contribution to the wedding in some way, whether financially or in kind, such as arranging the wedding flowers, icing the wedding cake and so on, might deserve a mention and thanks.

3. Tell Them What To Expect: People generally relax more when they know what lies ahead. A brief outline of the reception formalities and entertainment, if any, that has been arranged builds some anticipation and interest. The best man's speech is often looked forward to, and a source of humor worthy of some prior build up.

4. Some Personal Comments: It always helps to build rapport with your audience when you speak with feeling, and some comments about your emotional reactions to the wedding so far will often get some positive feedback from the guests.

5. Fatherly Comments About The Bride: Personal comments about the wedding generally lead on to the traditional affectionate words from a father "losing" his daughter to her new married life. Every father has something to say, and should take this opportunity - but every father will approach it differently. A story telling approach is always sure to capture interest. Some may be emotional, some funny and some poetic - just so long as it comes from the heart.

6. A Few Words Of Wisdom For The Couple: Often a father of the bride has some wise words of advice to contribute to the newly weds as they embark on their new life together - which may be serious or a source of great hilarity, depending on the approach taken. Again, a story or two will always go down well. There is almost always something interesting or funny about the courtship of the newly weds or the married life of the bride's parents that may not be well known and makes a good tale to share with the guests. It helps if there is some moral or advice for the future to draw out of the story.

7. Toast The Bride And Groom: Finally, the father of the bride proposes a toast to the bride and groom and their marriage. A few well chosen words usually accompany the toast. They may be words of wisdom, something poetic or even romantic, a quotation or a witty remark that brings a smile to everyone's face.

The speech may end with the toast, or it may conclude with a brief thanks for the attention and an invitation for the guests to enjoy the reception to follow.

One thing about the father of the bride speeches at weddings is that very few giving the speech have had much experience in this role. Not many come to the task who already have several married daughters.

You can save a lot of time and effort when preparing your wedding speech by calling on the collected wisdom and experience of numerous other fathers who have already "been there, done that". There may be nothing worse than overlooking someone important and hurting their feelings, or getting the wedding etiquette wrong and ruining the reception for your daughter. It pays to take a little effort to get everything right.

Thankfully, the resources are readily available, and can be downloaded to get you started on your shortcut to preparing your wedding speech right away.

Sample speeches give examples to draw ideas from, and to act as a template or framework you just have to edit with your own words.

Checklists make sure you don't overlook important things or people - and remind you what you should ask whoever is planning the wedding.

Popular wedding jokes, toasts, quotes and poems are available for you to select from, or at least to get you started with some inspiration for choosing your own words.

Most fathers of the bride are not experienced public speakers, and will appreciate a few simple speaking tips to help overcome those nerves and to make sure you can be heard.

All these resources are available as a download package or by post from Daniel Stevens, who has prepared a very popular and well proven guide, which I highly recommend. It has received a lot of testimonials from very satisfied users. It's a simple way to quickly prepare your speech with confidence you are doing it right, and that it will be a resounding success.

A wedding reception is the time for light-hearted banter and good fun. Every speaker is expected to have something to say that the audience will laugh at. There are serious moments, of course, but a wedding reception should be a happy event with a lot of laughter.

Most of us don't go to weddings very often and perhaps don't have a good stock of wedding jokes to tell. Two comedians from Canada, Lee and Mark, have assembled a collection of clean but funny wedding speech jokes that are a great resource for anybody who is giving a wedding speech.

You can download this joke book and start selecting some appropriate jokes for your speech right away.

You should, of course, try to adapt your jokes to appeal to your audience.

The good news is that family and friends at a wedding reception are very forgiving. So long as it's obvious your heart is in it, you can get away with almost anything when it comes to your speech presentation. In fact, the best advice for most fathers giving a father of the bride speech is "just get out there, and do it for your daughter".

Here are some basic tips to successful public speaking:

• Prepare some notes, so you don't get lost if your mind goes blank.


• Stand up straight, keep your chin up and breath deeply. It helps you speak more clearly.


• Don't fidget - and definitely keep your hands out of your pockets, away from those keys and small change!


• Speak to the people at the back of the room - look at them as you start to speak, and speak loud enough for them to hear you. Keep that volume throughout the speech.


• Look people in the eye as you speak - it helps to build rapport - but don't stare at just one person all the time!


• Speak slowly and clearly, and keep to the point without rambling.


• Try to relax and communicate how you really feel as sincerely as you can.


• Remember, people love hearing stories much more than listening to lectures.

Find out more about What Makes a Good Public Speaker?