What Makes a Memorable Wedding Speech?

When you’re chosen to give a speech at your best friend’s wedding, you can see it as a blessing or a curse. It’s a blessing because you’re regarded as someone worthy of the task. It’s a curse because, well, wedding speeches can be hard to get right. One wrong step and you’ll ruin the mood. Scary, huh?

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How to Write a Memorable Wedding Speech

Fear not! We have just what it takes to write a memorable wedding speech. Follow these tips and you’ll be fine.

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#1. Introduce yourself

Unless everyone attending is a close friend, you definitely need to introduce yourself. State your name,  your relation with the bride and groom, and how long have you known each other.

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Keep everything in one sentence or two and don’t bother adding details. Here’s an example: “My name is Joey and I’m Chandler’s roommate. We’ve known each other for a decade or so.”

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#2. Say thanks

Common courtesy dictates that you should thank the couples for giving you the chance to do the speech. Yes, even if your social anxiety tells how just how troublesome the whole thing is. Your speech is an important part of the wedding ceremony and that should not be taken for granted.

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#3. Tell a story

Stories and memories of your friendship will warm up everyone’s heart. Share your most memorable moments with your friend. Just remember to never share the embarrassing stuff!

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Embarrassing stuff about the bride, groom, and basically any other people in the room should be kept a secret. You may think it was hilarious, but the wedding speech is absolutely not the medium to share it.

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#4. Congratulate the newlyweds

It’s their big day and showering the newlyweds with heartfelt congratulations is totally acceptable. Doesn’t matter if it’s cheesy or borderline cliché. Just tell the couple just how awesome they are.

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#5. Skip the jokes

Your sense of humor may not click with the other families and friends attending the wedding. People will cringe and things will go awkward. Yes, that may sound like a stretch, but are you willing to risk it?

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If you insist on telling some jokes, let the couples know beforehand and make sure they’re OK with it.

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#6. Keep it short

Keep your speech under five minutes. You’re not the only one who wants to share a thing or two about the couple, right? Anyway, long speeches are boring. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

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#7. Practice

The delivery plays a big part in determining if your speech will be memorable or not. If you’re stuttering the whole time, even the most well-written speech will be incomprehensible. People will remember it, but not in a good light.

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Spend some time to practice your speech before the big day. It will help you a lot with the delivery. If you’re writing the speech on a computer, be sure to check for misspellings. It’s not an essay, but misspellings can be dangerous when left unchecked especially when it comes to speeches.

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Conclusion

Even when you’ve never done any wedding speech before, you can still write a good one if you follow the tips above. Just remember that the speech is not about you — it’s all about the bride and groom. The content and wording of your speech should be in line with that very fact.