Perfect Your Wedding Speech

Free Speech By Claudia Gocoul

The ultimate guide to slaying the perfect speech for brides, grooms and everyone in between

Speeches. They fill everyone with anxiety. Whether you’re a member of the bridal party clamming up at the thoughts of speaking to a room full of familiar faces, or a wedding guest waiting patiently for it all to be over so you can dig in to the bread rolls, speeches are a necessary evil. With that in mind, we’ve got an idiot’s guide to getting through speech prep.

It’s a rule that can be applied to almost anything, but prior preparation prevents poor performance. A wedding speech is no time to wing it. We’re not saying write it down and read it word for word but a general guideline is to jot down key points and, above all, keep it short.

That said, as with modern weddings, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to speeches. Tradition may dictate that the father of the bride speaks first but that’s your prerogative. The beauty of your big day is that it is fully customisable. Buck tradition and let your gals get the party going, better yet, start proceedings yourself. Stuck on what to say? We’ve got your back.

For The Lady In White

If Meghan Markle can walk herself down that last stretch of aisle in Windsor Castle with the world watching, you can give a little speech. It might not be traditional for the bride to stand up and say a few words but we’re calling time on that outdated notion because, frankly, it’s sexist. When are you ever going to have the chance to address a room full of your nearest and dearest again? Don’t let tradition hold you back. Beauty Editor Aisling Keenan got married in September 2017 and took it as a given that she would be taking to the mic come speech time. “To be honest, there was absolutely no way that I wasn’t going to speak on the biggest day of my life. I don’t understand why any bride wouldn’t

if that was something they felt confident to do.” For Aisling, addressing the room was important to ensure all the right things were said to the people who had made her day so special. She explains, “My bridesmaids spoke about me, my dad spoke about me and my husband’s best man spoke about him, but he didn’t really say lovely things about him, he told funny stories. I really wanted to make sure that people got to find out how good he

is to me and how excited I was to marry him. I wanted to be able to say lovely things about my husband. I also wanted to thank everyone personally for all the work and effort they put into my wedding. It’s all very well for the groom to say, ‘The bridesmaids look fantastic today’ but bridesmaids do so much more than look fantastic. I wanted to acknowledge that as well.”

For The Man Of The Moment

You’ve done all of the hard bits. You asked her Dad for her hand in marriage, you popped the question and you survived that nerve-wracking wait at the top of the aisle, you even managed to recite your vows without developing a stutter. Surely you deserve a break from all of the attention? Not yet. The speeches have to be given and the wedding party is rooting for you, so give it one last push across the finish line before sinking a well-earned tequila. Drawing a blank? Our top tip is to leave the jokes to the professionals. Your wedding day is not the occasion to announce your foray into stand-up comedy. Keep it short and keep it sweet. On the subject of keeping it sweet, speak from the heart. Share a story that means something to you both, be it your first date, the first time you said ‘I love you’ or even your first holiday. Anything that will make your new wife smile a little brighter.

While we’re on the subject of your new wife, don’t forget to call her that - it’ll bag you more than a few cheers from your guests. P.S: Don’t forget to compliment the mother of the bride, bridesmaids and, of course, your own mother. They’ve been up since the crack of dawn

Your wedding day is not the occasion to announce your foray into stand-up comedy

getting beautified, and it only took you ten minutes, they deserve the shout out.

For The Guy Behind The Stag

Best man duties dictate that you have to have all of the wedding guests crippled with laughter at your speech, right? Wrong. The best man is obliged to bring the rings, not the craic. No matter how tempted you may be to flex your gassest side, proceed with caution. Your adventures with the groom and co may be hilarious in the local over a pint, but when it comes to wedding speeches, it’s very important to know your audience. Our top tip? Team up with the maid of honour before the big day to run through your speech. She’ll be brutally honest. Teacher Holly Tempan celebrates her second wedding anniversary next month and credits her ‘man of honour’ with the most rousing speech of the day. Holly says, “I opted for a man of honour as opposed to a maid of honour, so you could almost say he was like our best man. Shaun is unfiltered at the best of times so I’d be lying if I was to say I wasn’t a little worried as to what he would say. Shaun kept it simple but managed to squeeze in a lifetime of inside jokes which could only elicit a chuckle from me, my now husband and my nearest and dearest. It was clear that there was no Googling involved, he spoke from the heart.” It’s simple. Keep it clean, keep it short, sprinkle in a few inside jokes and you’re on to a winner.

For The Gal Gang

Last, but by no means least, is the girl gang. As bride Aisling Keenan mentioned, your bridesmaids have done a whole lot more than simply walk ahead of you up the aisle. They’ve been there every step of the way, from those early days of the relationship to now. Why shouldn’t they have their say? The key to speeches really is keeping them as short as possible, so elect a spokesperson amongst your #BrideSquad to share a few words.

Celebrity make-up artist Sue Brophy has sat through many a round of speeches in the name of make-up touch-ups, she says the most memorable are those given by the bride's BFFs, “One of the most lovely speeches I’ve ever heard was at a wedding last year. The bride had a whole host of bridesmaids, each of whom had written a couple of lines on their favourite story with the bride. The maid of honour read them out and the whole room laughed, cried and nodded along. The stories were all so different, no one was bored for a second.”

The key to speeches really is keeping them as short as possible