Grooms Wedding Speech

Order of Speakers:-
1st: Father of the Bride 2nd: The Bridegroom 3rd: The Bride 4th: The Best Man

The second speaker should be the Groom. He should thank the bride's father for the toast in his opening words. He is responsible for tributes to the bridesmaids and everyone involved in the arranging of the wedding.
He should be complimentary to the Bride's family and romantic to the bride. You can include some humour, but it should not be derogatory in any way to the bride or her family.

When writing your wedding speech, visualise how it will work. For this reason, you will find below examples of text and hints on toasting and leading applause, etc. Include these notes in your written speech in brackets, to remind you what to do.

Format: Divide your speech into three sections: 1: Opening, 2: General Chat, and 3: Closing & Tributes

The Opening should be informally spoken without script. However, you don't need to memorise your speech word for word. Take it with you as it is perfectly acceptable to read from it, but do look up at the guests as often as possible.

Opening
Thank the bride's father for his toast - E.g:-
"Thanks for that...DAD!" (the "Dad" can be emphisised with maybe a little bow.)

Then maybe say something romantic to the bride:-
e.g:
"And thank YOU (e.g.) Julie, for saying 'Yes'"

General Chat

You can say something about how you first met the bride and why you wanted to get married. Obviously, this would be personal to you and cannot be written for you.

Then, maybe follow with some humorous story:
E.g:-
"Well, this really is a great day for Julie and me, but unfortunately, not all weddings are happy. I heard about this elderly man in his seventies who really wanted to marry a girl who was only twenty-two. Obviously, she wasn't interested. So he prayed to the angel Gabriel and miraculously Gabriel appeared to him and said: "Try harder, get fit and do what you can to look younger, then I will take care of the rest." So, the old guy joined a top gym where he developed a great muscular body. Then he had extensive cosmetic surgery and the result was so fantastic that the girl finally agreed to marry him.

Just as they were coming out of the church, a truck went out of control and killed him. When he got to heaven, the old man was furious and went straight up to Gabriel and asked him why he'd let such a thing happen. "I'm so sorry, " Gabriel said, "But I just didn't recognise you!"

Closing & tributes

Mention everyone involved by name, where possible.
E.g:
"And now, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank The Reverent John Taylor" (or name of Priest / Vicar / Rabbi / Registrar. etc.) for such a lovely ceremony. Special tributes also to the bridesmaids for helping to make Julie (the bride) look so beautiful and I'm sure we'd all like to express our appreciation for everyone involved in organising the reception and lovely buffet. In fact, our thanks to everybody who has contributed to make this such a special day."
Then lead the applause - the guests will follow suit - this avoids any embarrassing silence as you sit down.

Go to Wedding Speech Tips.