How to Write and Deliver an Epic Wedding Speech

If you’ve been entrusted with making a wedding speech, preparation is key. 

After all, someone that you love has asked you to say a few words on the biggest day of their life. You might be the father of the bride, the best man, or even the matron. However, the fact remains that you need to stand up in front of friends and family to deliver a speech. What should you say? How should you say it? 

We totally understand that you’re feeling pressure. Even if you’re an experienced public speaker, a wedding speech is unlike any other type of delivery. It needs to be personal, heartfelt, and humorous at the same time. 

So, how do you write and deliver an epic wedding speech? 

Read on as we reveal the steps you need to follow. We explain what to include, what to avoid, and how to prepare. We also touch on how Arvin AI can help you deliver a memorable speech that sheds a few tears of joy on the big day. 

What you should include in an epic wedding speech

First and foremost, what should you say in your wedding speech? This depends on numerous factors, including what role you’re playing on the day and how you know the bride and groom. 

Still, you need to make sure you cover the following crucial bases to knock your wedding speech out of the park: 

✅A personal touch: You need to add personal stories and anecdotes to your wedding speech. Keeping it generic and producing a carbon copy of another speech simply won’t do. You’ve been asked to speak for a reason, so don’t shy away from personal stories and experiences. 

✅Just enough material: How long is the perfect wedding speech? Well, attendees won’t thank you for talking for 20+ minutes while they wait for their meal! Keep it short and sweet – somewhere between five and ten minutes is perfect for most speeches. 

✅Thanks: Depending on your role in the wedding, you need to know who to thank. This is easy to do – make a list of the relevant people and note why you need to mention them. It’s an easy win and should be a big part of your speech. 

✅Humour: You don’t have to become a stand-up comedian overnight, but your wedding speech should be humorous. People want to hear something lighthearted and fun, so don’t be overly serious! 

Wedding speech topics & issues to avoid 

Now you know what to include, are there any topics to avoid? Here are some things to bear in mind:

❌Previous relationships: There’s very little reason to mention a previous relationship in a wedding speech. You risk upsetting the people involved, so avoid mentioning a person’s dating past on their special day. 

❌ Drunkenness: While a little Dutch courage might help to deliver your speech, don’t go overboard. Getting drunk while standing up to speak in front of your family and friends is a big no-no. Also, don’t dive into drunken stories from the past. This shines a bad light on the people involved and isn’t a good look. 

❌Graphic stories: While we all love a good anecdote, keep things civil and polite in your wedding speech. After all, there are likely to be kids listening on, so don’t cross the line into inappropriate storytelling. 

❌Personal jokes: When people tell personal “in” jokes in wedding speeches, it alienates most of the guests at the party. Therefore, keep the wedding speech as broad as possible and make sure the audience can relate to the stories that you tell. 

How to prepare your wedding speech in five simple steps 

Okay, start with a deep breath. Then, follow this five-step process to put together your epic wedding speech: 

Step 1: Think 

It can be tempting to dive straight into a wedding speech template when you’ve been asked to say something on someone’s big day. 

But before you do this, stop and think. What do you want to say about the people getting married? Why have they asked you to speak? Don’t underplay yourself by copying someone else’s wedding speech, as you almost certainly have a unique perspective on the marrying couple. It helps to jot down some initial ideas about key topics you want to cover at this early stage.

Step 2: Research 

During the research phase, you can arm yourself with a few key wedding statistics. Perhaps drop in the fact that one-fifth of couples meet online (perhaps like the bride and groom). Or, mention that, according to Pinterest, Bali is the most popular destination for loved-up honeymooners, which could help the bride decide on her honeymoon if she hasn’t already.  

You don’t need to go overboard with stats, but they can be helpful. You can also extend your research by asking the bride and groom’s friends and family for anecdotes. If you have stories you want to share, fact-check them and get specific information you can include. 

Step 3: Write 

With some ideas in your head, it’s time to get them down on paper. Or, if you don’t like writing by hand, open a Google Doc or Word Document and start typing. 

When you start jotting your ideas down, they don’t have to be well-formed sentences. Just start writing what comes to mind, and you will notice that the speech takes shape by itself. 

If you need help writing the speech down, our AI Speech Writer can help to bring things together. As a starting point, our AI Speech Outline Writer will help you with a structure, enabling you to cover all bases naturally.

Also, if you’re not particularly confident, our Grammar Checker Tool will save you from any embarrassing missteps and ensure your grammar is on point. 

Step 4: Share 

At this stage, you need some feedback. We’re not suggesting sharing your wedding speech on Facebook, but you should send it to someone you trust. Ideally, the person should know the bride and groom so they can relate to the content. 

When you share your speech, ask for specific feedback. For instance, is it funny? Does it go too far with a particular anecdote? Should you leave out a specific reference? 

Ultimately, you’re the person delivering the speech, but asking someone you trust to look over it will give you confidence. It will also prevent you from delivering some material that’s inappropriate. 

Step 5: Practice  

The last step is to practice. After all, practice makes perfect. 

We recommend practising your wedding speech in front of the mirror. You don’t need to learn it off by heart, but if you can memorize most of the text, it will help with your delivery. 

If you’re super nervous, consider bringing a few friends together to deliver the speech in front of them. Though it seems scary at first, this experience will help you on the big day!

Recap: Writing a killer wedding speech 

The most important thing when planning a wedding speech is to be prepared. The earlier you start writing down ideas and researching, the easier it will be to rehearse and deliver the speech on the big day. 

You can follow our simple five steps to create, practice, and deliver an epic wedding speech. Also, when jotting down ideas, follow our tips for what to include and what not to mention when speaking at your friend’s wedding. 

If you’re unsure where to begin after jotting some ideas down, consider using our AI Article Writer for wedding speeches. You can then sprinkle personal anecdotes and stories throughout while making changes as and when you see fit. 

Wedding speech FAQs