Father of the bride speech (1 Viewer)

[DavidG58]

I have had 11 months to sort this out, now have 7 days

What on earth do I have to say, to who, about whom, for how long, funny / not funny?

????????????????

and its a GP weekend (much easier to watch that and follow FUN) !!

David

 

[MHVirgins]

David, I was my son's Best Man earlier this year. I found it very difficult to strike a balance between being his Dad and his Best Man.......judging by the feedback of the guests it all worked really well:thumb:
No heavily prepared speeches, but I had plenty of practice whilst I was working, speaking to small and large audiences. Phone me if I can be of any help to you.
Regards, Bill

 

[DavidG58]

David, I was my son's Best Man earlier this year. I found it very difficult to strike a balance between being his Dad and his Best Man.......judging by the feedback of the guests it all worked really well:thumb:
No heavily prepared speeches, but I had plenty of practice whilst I was working, speaking to small and large audiences. Phone me if I can be of any help to you.
Regards, Bill

Thanks Bill

Stand by your phone when I get even more desperate later in week

David

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mousy]

David, we still have 7 months to go...my OH has watched a few speeches on you tube, some good, some god awful, it's a good start.

My advice is to be yourself, keep it shortish, speak from the heart, tell your daughter how beautiful she looks, how proud you are, wish them both well and thank all for coming.

If you can begin by telling a little funny story of when she was little that always goes down well, however, don't do what a friend did at a wedding we went to recently....basically managed to insult his wife, daughter and most family members by trying to get a laugh at their expense, berated the daughter for dropping out of uni, ended speech by saying he was just glad she turned out to be his when she was born! Exit Stoney faced wife!

Good luck :thumb:

 

[dogman]

http://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-speeches/example_father-of-the-bride_speeches_3/
Try a google search, generally comes up with something, take a look at the link, there are many others.
Best of luck, have a great day.
Cal

 

[Gromett]

Got asked to make a speech once... It went like this.

"I was asked to make this speech, he also asked that I keep it short".

I then sat down

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DiggerJon]

Wedding speeches

I had to give my sister away at her wedding. I was short and to the point!

"I can honestly say in this instance that it is far better to give than to receive". I than sat down.

We never did get on!

 

[TheBig1]

you should try preparing speeches for funerals... get them wrong and you cant apologise afterwards

with some experience of speaking in public and the diplomacy needed, the best advice i can give is..... make bullet points to direct the flow but dont get tied down to "you must memorise this speech and repeat it verbatim within x minutes". be yourself and speak from the heart without insulting anyone. keep it as brief as you can without missing the vital parts (hence bullet points, write down the names of the in-laws for instance)

there is no such thing as the perfect speech, but there are plenty of awful ones. so long as you remember to thank the right people and welcome new family along with making the married couple feel special, you will have done just fine. jokes are great for breaking the ice or getting over nerves, but if the joke falls flat recovery makes it worse be careful.

 

[grasscutter]

Having done a couple of best man speeches and even taking the whole service for my father in laws funeral as he was an atheist I would say :-
Be as natural as you can. No one expects you to be a stand up comedian. Display how proud you are of your daughter and hopefully your son in law. There probably is a small amusing incident you can recount without causing embarrassment. Enjoy telling people about your daughter.
Don't worry if its not a long speech. Real quality and love are far more important.
Good luck.:thumb:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Angus dog]

Here is an opener for you.
Pick someone from the room whom you know really well.Thank them for coming,especially because you know they had a little trouble through the week,in that they had a fire at their house.You understand that their library was badly burned and unfortunately BOTH books were destroyed!

Even worse than that they had only coloured in ONE of them!

Good luck

 

[B-well]

David just tell the truth from your heart how lucky both families are. deep breath and go for it.

your emotion and proudness will stand out:thumb:

 

[FIDGET]

Hi , I was father of the groom , when it was my turn to speak I kept it short and explained to my son, the best bit of advice I could give him or any man was always have the last word in an argument with the other half ,

" it is YES DEAR" !!!!!!!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Scout]

practise with a vidio camera, make sure you have a prop like a glass of water to pick up when you pause.

dont drink too much befor hand,

 

[Lord Mac]

I went to a wedding a couple of years ago the father of the bride stood up and said "I am doing away with convention and am going to let my wife do it" and sat down. The look on the wifes face.

 

[Roryboys Dad]

The shorter the speech the better if you're not used to public speaking.

Do not ramble on beyond a couple of minutes as the threshold of patience by the Guests is very low as they consider the liquid refreshment beckoning them as soon as you shut up.

Do not drink alcohol before making the speech - there’ll be plenty of time to catch up later

Do not insult anyone - there’ll be plenty of time to catch up later.

Do not keep looking down the cleavage of the good looking bridesmaid's dresses - there’ll be plenty of time to catch up later.

Make sure your fly is fastened before you stand up - you're the one hoping to be the centre of attention not your crotch area.

Have a bl**dy long drink when you've finished the speech - you'll deserve it!

Have a look here for some cracking good ideas of what to include - or leave out of the speech - www.hitched.co.uk

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[old-mo]

I`ll send you some of my jokes, if you want...

 

[Sandancers]

If the happy couple have any shared interests / hobbies you can make reference to them in a humourous way.

For instance, my daughter and her now husband are into target rifle shooting. I made reference to this pointing out to her husband that she was the better shot and that no husband has ever been shot by his wife while in the process of hoovering, washing the dishes, ironing etc.


Main thing is, don't worry about making mistakes, everyone there is on your side, you'll not fail the exam !!!

 

[movan]

David, whatever you say just make sure you speak clearly and loudly enough for the people at the back to hear.... speak to the back wall. You will think you are speaking loudly .......... you arn't!!! It is just nerves makes you think that. There is nothing worse than sitting there listening to someone mumble ...

Whatever you say will be wonderful to your family and friends and that is all that matters... say what you would like someone to say to you if they were handing you over to someone else's care. I am sure it will go well... good luck to you and your family and ENJOY THE DAY.:thumb: Joy

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Linda and Steph]

Just remember that the toast at the end of your speech will be the first to the new couple. End with something like ...

In the years to come they will be called many things - George and Mildred, one will be called the husband, one will be the wife, or the other half .. in time they will be known as mum and dad then grandma and grandad. But now, it's up to me to ask you to raise you glasses and, for the first time, drink to the future happiness of Mr and Mrs ...

 

[Phill D]

a few points from me for what they are worth.

prepare a few brief notes as reminders of the thread of your speech and a little practice / preparation. theres nothing worse than "it will be alright on the night" even professionals have put together a framework of what they are about to say. dont waffle and dont speak to long.

look up the tinternet theres loads of speech examples to pilfer.

look up historic events that happened on the same day as the wedding and use some of them in your speech and then add their wedding day just too show how important an event it is.
complement her on how she looks and him on how lucky he is to have her; and how proud you are on this day. toast, sit down.

 

[DavidG58]

Thanks and thanks again

Some great advice, some made me cringe but thanks Mo!!

I am a big bloke, who people often think a little scary, I do manage to offend without any intent (see some of my posts) but I am as soft as they come

Even checking through these tips of yours has given me moist eyes

Bullet points it will be, remembering to compliment, hoping to compliment all that I should

Brief and loud

and do my best not to drink (alcohol) before I speak

and try not to cry

many, many thanks

David

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[micky drip]

I used this opening line at the weddings of both my daughters :-

"You may have seen a tear in my eyes as we walked down the aisle (pause)
It`s just that the last time I spent so much in one day I bought a house

 

[lorger]

Haven't had to do father of the bride yet as my daughter is only 16 few years to go yet I hope. Although I have been best man on 3 occasions, you could start with how emotional day its been today even the cake is in tiers (tears).

Then you could say along the line of, lets raise a glass to the two most important people of the day so can we all be upstanding and raise a glass to. Wait for everyone to stand, then as their expecting you to Taost the happy couple toast the bar staff.

I was best man once for my friend and his wife who where both in the armed forces so most of the guest where also in or ex armed forces and the wedding was in Northern Ireland I stood up and said being best man is like being asked to sleep with the queen you don't really want to do it but you no its an honour to be asked, didn't go to well

I have this slogan on my office wall
Fail to prepare then prepare to fail

 

[SharonL]

I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job David as some have said, there'll be help on the old tinterweb about the "formalities" of who the father of the bride should thank etc but my two-pennorth tips would be:

* think back to find a treasured memory of your daughter, maybe something you've shared together that will make it truly personal and memorable
* take your time, pause when you need to
* make eye contact
* and remember to breathe!
* and smile
* and enjoy it!

Have a great day

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job David as some have said, there'll be help on the old tinterweb about the "formalities" of who the father of the bride should thank etc but my two-pennorth tips would be:

* think back to find a treasured memory of your daughter, maybe something you've shared together that will make it truly personal and memorable
* take your time, pause when you need to
* make eye contact
* and remember to breathe!
* and smile
* and enjoy it!

Have a great day

that's me crying again, I have no chance on the day :thumb:

 

[SharonL]

that's me crying again, I have no chance on the day :thumb:

I'm the same, cry at the drop of a hat!, best make it a funny treasured memory then eh hun?

 

[TheBig1]

Haven't had to do father of the bride yet as my daughter is only 16 few years to go yet I hope. Although I have been best man on 3 occasions, you could start with how emotional day its been today even the cake is in tiers (tears).

Then you could say along the line of, lets raise a glass to the two most important people of the day so can we all be upstanding and raise a glass to. Wait for everyone to stand, then as their expecting you to Taost the happy couple toast the bar staff.

I was best man once for my friend and his wife who where both in the armed forces so most of the guest where also in or ex armed forces and the wedding was in Northern Ireland I stood up and said being best man is like being asked to sleep with the queen you don't really want to do it but you no its an honour to be asked, didn't go to well

I have this slogan on my office wall
Fail to prepare then prepare to fail

I prefer all the P's

[HI]Poor Planning and Preparation leads to Pi$$ Poor Performance[/HI]

has stood me in good stead over the years

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[grasscutter]

I`ll send you some of my jokes, if you want...

At all costs make sure you ignore the quoted post.:thumb:

 

[TheCaller]

I would reiterate Joy's advice. When you stand up, pause, look round the room & address your opening sentences to someone at the back of the room. If you are nervous, talk to the clock on the back wall, or the picture of the queen if it's a traditional village hall. Take your time, don't rush.

Once you've got going, look round the room at other people, but keep returning to the back wall to check you are still talking at a volume & speed that will be heard clearly at the back. If you don't feel you are talking too slowly, then you are talking too fast.

Jokes that fall flat are embarrassing for all involved & we judge our stand-up comedians by the standard we see on the telly. They've been practising. Unless you know you are really good at telling jokes, I wouldn't attempt anything more than an amusing aside. I know I'm hopeless, sadly.:Sad:

A few heartfelt remarks about your daughter & a welcome to your new son in law are the essentials. If you know you are going to struggle to keep emotions in check, there isn't much point in preparing a huge speech that you are going to struggle to make through the tears. Turn it to your advantage - say that seeing your wonderful & beautiful daughter so happy with this fine upstanding chap makes you feel so emotional that you can hardly speak, so please join with me in raising a toast etc etc. It's ok to shed a tear so long as it doesn't dilute the champagne.

As everyone else has said - relax & enjoy the day. The sad news is, they haven't come to hear your speech anyway.

 

[B-well]

David why not invite funsters to wear their badges at the back with a FUNSTER banner to the big day,oh: this should bring a smile to you with memories of all these comments posted.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}