After walking your daughter down the aisle toward the man who promises to love and care for her through all his life (as if you’re not already doing that), the day has probably already been a handful to you. But you’re job is not done yet. You still have to deliver the traditional father of the bride speech, which is always much anticipated. You may also see how to start a speech.
Of course, the big man of the family is forced to show a little vulnerability on his little girl’s special day. That ought to interest more than a couple of pairs of ears.
Whether this is your first time giving a daughter away, or you’ve witnessed marriages more than Mr. Bennet has, a few helpful pieces of advice can still go a long way. After all, her wedding day is one of the most important milestones in her life. You may also like appreciation speech examples.
Of course you wouldn’t want to ruin such a perfect memory with a bad speech. Which is why this article will be devoted to helping you write a heartfelt father of the bride speech on your baby’s wedding day. You may also check out presentation speech examples.
Sources for Wedding Speech Examples
Dad Libs for His Speech
Parent’s Wedding Speech
Things You Can Talk about in Your Speech
If your daughter’s wedding ceremony will follow the traditional sequence of general speeches, then you, as the father of the bride, will be the first one to talk, and your speech’s main content is what people will be waiting for. So, of course, aside from a few niceties and congratulations, people are expecting at least one or two special stories from you about your baby girl.
Here are a few topics you can talk about:
1. Your daughter’s best childhood stories.
Since you and your wife are the only two people who have known the bride for literally all her life, people expect you to have an extensive archive of childhood stories. From the bride’s infancy, to the slow shaping of her character into becoming a little lady, and, eventually, a young woman ready for a new life, you have witnessed it all. You may also see how do you write a speech.
The rest of the audience didn’t. So they would appreciate it if you share some of the beautiful bride’s diaper stories. In fact, even the bride would want to hear you talk about that part of her life as well. It would not only be entertaining, it would also be a great chance to walk down memory lane and reminisce the days when you were the only man in your little girl’s life. You may also like thank-you speech examples.
2. Your new son-in-law.
This is a classic subject in father of the bride speeches. People just want to hear you talk about the man with whom your daughter is going to spend the rest of her life with. People would also want to see the groom squirm as you tell the tale of the first time he’s been introduced to your family, and your first impressions of him. (Although he and your daughter have tied the knot, there’s still a big chance that he’s at least a little intimidated by you. Use that to your advantage.) You should also acknowledge your in-laws who, whether you like it or not, are now a part of your family. You may also check out speech examples for students.
3. Your own love story.
Since you are one of the more experienced men in the crowd, having already settled down with a woman and reared amazing kids along the way, people would want to hear your perspective on love, life, and marriage. Share stories about your personal struggles as a married man, or just as a man in love. You might be interested in orientation speech examples.
Teach the innocents in your audience about the real world that they’ve gotten themselves into by getting married. Give them pieces of advice on how to not only survive the married life but also to enjoy it.
4. A few funny stories.
An unwritten rule about wedding speeches tell us that we must start our talk with something funny. A little joke can already help us gain the full attention of the crowd (probably because we’ve said or done something they think is funny and they’re waiting for us to do it again) and set the mood of your simple speech. Also, being successful at making a whole crowd laugh is an effective way of calming your nerves and boosting your confidence to deliver the rest of your talk.
5. A few serious ones too.
Weddings are a roller coaster ride of emotions, especially for you and everyone close to the couple. People will laugh, they’ll cry, they’ll be overwhelmed, and then they’d cry again. Your speech should have the same element too. It should be able to elicit different feelings and reactions from the audience and the couple. Also, your daughter would appreciate it if you do more than joke around on her wedding day. You may also see campaign speech examples.
Use your speech as a chance to say the thing’s you’ve always wanted to say to your baby girl, even if it means you’d cry a little (especially if it means you’d cry a little). She’d love to see the sincerity.
6. Your desire to bond with your in-laws.
As we’ve mentioned above, these people are going to be a part of your family now.
Which means that this is not going to be the last event that you’d all attend. There are a lot of issues stemming up from in-laws who just can’t get along. Keep that from happening to you by starting your relationship with them with the best foot forward. And there’s nothing like a speech, witnessed by more than a handful of people, to show your genuine intentions in wanting to get to know them. You may also like acceptance speech examples.
Full Father of the Bride Speech
Father of the Bride’s Speech
Father of the Bride’s Speech Guide
Things You Can’t Talk about in Your Speech
You may be thinking why there are, let’s just call it, wedding speech taboos included in this article. The answer is simple, really. If you want to know all that there is to know about the father of the bride speeches, simply knowing what to include is not enough. You must also be aware of the things that your basic speech shouldn’t contain.
So prepare a pen and start taking notes because, in line with that, here are some of the things that your speech will do better without:
1. Profanity
First of all, your speech does not need profanity. Also, don’t you think it’s important that we stick with the wholesome, inspiring dad for at least 5 minutes? You are only given a couple of minutes up on that stage. Let’s not waste even a second on a single profane word. You may also see launch speech examples.
2. Anecdotes of sexual escapades
Have you ever heard of the grandma rule? Because we just found the most perfect setting for it—your speech. The grandma rule states that if you don’t want your grandma to hear a particular story about you and what you did, perhaps the whole wedding reception shouldn’t hear about it either. Great rule, right? Now, picture sweet old grammy listening to your speech, and go edit it.
3. Badmouthing the family name
Because why would you? Especially on such a special occasion. It’s uncommon for families to have a little misunderstandings, but a wedding is not the place to talk about it. Get over your differences for once and celebrate this momentous occasion. You may also see welcome speech examples.
4. Racist remarks or jokes
As a general rule, just don’t say anything that may offend anyone.
5. Really long stories that aren’t very important to the event
We know. You have a lot of stories prepared up your sleeve. However, not all of them are wedding speech-worthy. It would be best if you just choose the cutest, or the funniest, or the most tear-jerking story out of your extensive pile. The others could wait until the next family dinner. You may also like tribute speech examples.
6. Blabbering
Sometimes, when we talk, we can’t help digressing from the main topic that we are supposed to be discussing. But since you’re only going to have a couple of minutes on the stage, it’s best if we try to focus on the real reason why you’re going to be standing up there. You may also check out middle school speech examples.
Even when you are just practicing your speech, try to time your performance. If it’s longer than necessary, cut off some bits to give way for the really important ones. By doing so, your speech will have more content, less nonsensical talk.
7. Tales of the couple arguing, or any particularly nasty embarrassing story
First of all, this is supposed to be a perfectly happy moment with nothing but pure bliss and a lot of happy tears on the couple’s faces. Let’s not dampen their moods by reminding them of a fight from histories ago. Also, although embarrassing stories are highly encouraged, we should know what is too much and what isn’t. Extremely derogatory anecdotes will not make anyone happy. You might be interested in leadership speech examples.
Expected Content of Wedding Speeches
Father of the Bride Speech Example
Top Tips to Polish Your Speech
The right length of a father of the bride speech is somewhere from 5 to 7 minutes. Anything longer than that and you’d lose 80% of your audience’s attention, because even adults only have the attention span of an infant especially when there’s food dying to be eaten and selfies waiting to be taken. So keep it at a minimum. You may also see wedding speech examples.
Also, it’s only natural that you have some pretty personal things that you want to say to your little girl, especially today since she’s officially a grown woman who is about to start creating her own life. But not everything you want to say should be heard by an entire crowd. You may also like special occasion speech examples.
Showing your appreciation and support of your daughter’s marriage and general life choices can be part of your speech, but for more personal things, it’d be best to write it down for your daughter to read in private. Some things just have to be kept within the family. And it gives you the chance to write your daughter an official letter.
Another important thing to remember when you actually deliver your speech is to not print an entire copy of it. It’s not a pretty sight. As an alternative, you can bring cue cards that you can use as a reference when you forget where you are in your speech (which, by the way, is completely normal).
Instead of fumbling for words and getting so unutterably lost, you can steal glances on your lifesaver (the cue cards) to get right back on track. It would also make your speech more natural in comparison to holding a full-paged paper. Or, you can improvise a little.
Clearing your throat tells your audience that you are about to say something really important, or that you want them to settle down and listen to you. They won’t suspect that you just forgot what you’re going to say next. A peck on your daughter’s cheek is also a great silence-filler while you try to remember your script. You may also check out youth speech examples.
Or, to be more genuine, you can admit, with a little embarrassed laugh, that you’ve forgotten the rest of your speech because you are just so overwhelmed by emotions. After all, your daughter just got married. This tactic can earn you some sympathetic claps and smiles instead, which is very helpful in calming your nerves and reducing your mortification. You might be interested in dedication speech examples.
Wedding Speech Example
Funny Father of the Bride Wedding Speech
Father of the Bride’s Talk
Your speech on your daughter’s wedding is perhaps one of the most important talks you will ever have to make. It will make the act of giving your daughter away to her husband final because you will be acknowledging it in your speech. With this thought in mind, you must try your best to give the best father of the bride speech that you can. You may also see retirement speech examples.
With these what-to-dos and what-not-to-dos, you already have a reliable set of tips that can help you in making your speech and in presenting it.
