A Guide To Writing

Now that the time is fast approaching and your wedding day is just around the corner, it is time you sat down and put some thought into your bridegroom speech that you need to give at the reception. Tradition for most cultures dictates that the bridegroom gives his speech right after that of the father of the bride, so you should have something in mind that you would like to say and just how much you want to include.

By most traditions, your speech should follow that of the father of the bride at the reception, and the best beginning is to have a good opening line. There are all kinds of sites on the Internet that can give you ideas for good opening lines for your bridegroom speech, but mainly remember that your purpose is to catch the attention of the crowd and hold it, and sound sincere in all you say. Some guys like to start out with a quip about the wedding, or something on the jokey side, where others admit they are nervous in the opening line, or still others start out conservatively and just welcome everyone before they move into the body of the speech.

Now is the time, after the opening line; to show your appreciation to the folks gathered there and to give thanks all around to those who have contributed to making the day possible. In a more traditional bridegroom speech, the bridegroom would start off by thanking the parents of the bride for all their contributions and support; then thank his own parents for his upbringing and all they have done for him and their contributions; and then thank the guests for all the beautiful gifts and the fact that they came to the wedding; and so on. Sometimes the bridegroom will thank the minister and the bridesmaids, and the best man—the situation is different in every wedding; but the main factor here is to be sincere and mean what you are saying. Giving this speech is the best time to show everyone gathered just how mature and positive a person you are, and for making a very good impression on them.

Now you can draw on the feeling you have about joining another family, how much your new family and your own family mean to you; and add in some little bits of funny happenings that occurred while you and the bride were putting the day together. Just be candid and poke fun at yourself, and you will see just how easy it is to keep the attention of the group as a whole, because they want to hear funny, cute little things about you and the bride in your own way of speaking.

A bridegroom speech is a good time to tell a little bit about how you met because not everyone in the gathered group of people may know the whole story. There is always some little piece of information that is not known to everyone, and you could mention something like that. Talk about how beautiful your bride is to you, how lucky you are to be in this situation, and how much you love her. Then you could tell some funny thing that happened to the two of you that led to this relationship and to the wedding day. Everyone likes a good chuckle and wants to hear what they think is inside info, just remember not to embarrass anyone during your talk, most of all your wife and yourself, or the in-laws.

Keep in mind that as much as everyone gathered cares about you, they don’t want to listen to you for the whole reception; so keep the bridegroom speech moving along at a good pace, keep everyone hanging on your words and laughing along with you, and all of you will have the time of your lives. This is not a performance but rather just a heartfelt expression of what the day and the event means to you, and the livelier you make it and the more fun; you and everyone else will enjoy it tremendously. To finish the speech, you may want to close with a tribute to friends, or a short poem, or a toast to your wife, your parents, your in-laws, the bridesmaids; you get the idea.

If you have your notes in order, and you are prepared to give your bridegroom speech when the time comes; you will find that you will have the time of your life talking up in front of the crowd and they in turn will enjoy every minute of listening to you. Just don’t let the talk drag on and on because people will get antsy and bored, so keep it light and funny and emotional, but not ponderous. Remember the group gathered in front of you is there to wish you well and they want only the best for you and your new bride, so most anything you say, if it is said from the heart and in a meaningful way, will be well received and remembered by the group as wonderful.