Singaporebrides | Weddings 101
April 2021
How to Write an Amazing Wedding Speech in 6 Steps
Writing your wedding speech can be a daunting task. We have some wedding speech examples and tips to help you bring the house down!
Your wedding is the perfect opportunity to tell your loved ones just how much you love and appreciate them, especially as they’ve gathered to celebrate your newest milestone and shower you with their blessings. While your heart may be full of emotion and gratitude on your wedding day, it can be difficult to convey them eloquently on the fly, especially if you’re a little drunk and a lot nervous! Take some time to write your wedding speech beforehand, and practise delivering it too.
You can choose to give your wedding speech together as a couple, or thank the people in your lives individually; just be sure to figure out beforehand who’s saying what and who’s going first, so you don’t end up being repetitive.
In your wedding speech, you’ll want to thank and appreciate the most important people in your life, such as your parents, siblings, bridal party, and close friends, and also thank them for their help with the wedding. You should also thank your guests for taking the time to celebrate with you. You can share a sweet anecdote or two about your journey as a couple, and finally, end with a thank you and a toast to your new spouse.
Janice and Gerald’s Magical Harry Potter Wedding at Orchidville by Click! Photography
Wedding speech examples
It can be daunting to write a wedding speech—not to mention delivering it! We break it down into manageable parts for you and offer some examples of how you might thank the people in your life.
1. Start your wedding speech with a welcome for your guests
“Good evening. Thank you for joining Jasmine and I on our very special day. Tonight, we’re very happy and honoured to have you all with us. Seeing you all here together means the world to us both.”
2. Thank your parents and your in-laws
“To Mum and Dad, thank you for your love and unconditional support my whole life. Thank you for making sure we never lacked anything growing up, including wise advice on our studies, careers, and relationships. You’ve taught me so much, and given me the freedom to grow into my own person. You’re the best parents anyone could ever have, and I love you both deeply. Your marriage is an inspiration, and you’ve shown me how marriage is about understanding, patience, love, and forgiveness. I hope that what David and I build will be just as special as your marriage.”
“To my new Ma and Pa, thank you for welcoming me into your family with such open arms. Thank you for all of the wonderful dinners you’ve invited me to, and for your patience when teaching David and me some of your delicious recipes. We also truly appreciate all of your help with the wedding. The tea ceremony you organised was so beautiful. And thank you for raising such a fine son. David’s respect for family, his hard work, his strong character—they are a credit to you. I am blessed to have him as my new husband.”
3. Shout out to your siblings
“To my big brother and partner in crime, thank you for always taking the heat when we get into trouble with Mum and Dad, for cracking me up with a lame joke even when I beg you not to tell it, and for helping me with all my un-IT-savvy questions. And of course, thank you for introducing me to David. I might still be on the shelf if it weren’t for you.”
“To my little sister, my built-in best friend, and my maid of honour, I love you. Thank you for being my support system and my listening ear. Thank you for all the frank fashion advice, and for always being my plus one to workshops and craft sessions when I ask. Thank you for all of your help planning this wedding and for staying up so many nights working on DIY projects with me; I couldn’t have done this without you!”
Yiguan and Zaini’s Beautiful Mixed-Culture Wedding at The Villa Botanic Gardens by We Made These Photography
4. Thank your bridesmaids and groomsmen, and everyone who helped you out
“To my groomsmen, thank you for standing by my side today and braving unnameable food and undignified challenges with me this morning. I also thank you in advance for all of the alcohol you’re going to drink in my stead later.”
“To my bridesmaids, you are my oldest and dearest friends, and I’m so honoured to have you in my bridal party. Thank you for your love and support over the years, and for all of your help during the wedding. Thank you for being here for me once again on this special day. I love you all.”
“To all of our wonderful friends who helped us emcee, usher, coordinate, and decorate, thank you so much!”
5. Finally, share a little about your journey and thank your new spouse.
“Last but definitely not least, I’d like to thank my new wife. Jasmine, the day I met you, I knew my life was going to change forever, and today, you’ve made me the happiest man on earth. You are the smartest, most beautiful, and most caring woman I know. I’m so lucky you agreed to be my wife, even though you’ve seen me do the moonwalk. I can’t wait to go on new adventures with you, and I know that together, we can brave anything.”
6. End with a thank you for all of your guests
“Thank you, everyone, for joining us as we celebrate our new chapter. We hope you enjoy the rest of your evening!”
Jane and Rob’s Intimate COVID-19 Wedding at The White Rabbit by Hong Ray Photography
Wedding speech tips
Take note of these few extra pointers when preparing your wedding speech, and you’ll be ready to slay your audience!
1. Write it down
Unless you’re a Toastmaster with a lot of confidence and experience at public speaking, don’t try to wing your wedding speech! Start writing your wedding speech at least a few weeks before your celebration to give yourself time to polish it.
2. Avoid inside jokes
Try to keep inside jokes to a minimum as a consideration to your other wedding guests who aren’t privy to your punchline.
3. Keep it short and sweet
Time yourself giving your wedding speech and aim to keep it under five minutes, especially if there will be a number of other people giving speeches.
4. Don’t overshare
Grandma going to be at your wedding? You might want to leave out your pregnancy scare story. If your boss and colleagues will be there, you might want to edit thanking your bridesmaids for listening to your work rants.
Ivy and Julius’s Epic Mountaintop Pre-Wedding Shoot on Trolltunga, Norway by Juanmoley Fotologue
5. Coordinate
If you’re each giving separate wedding speeches, remember to sit down and share your speech content so you don’t have too much overlap, or have very different tones with someone being very formal while the other cracks a lot of jokes. Plan your time too, and try to have both speeches roughly equal in length.
6. Practice makes perfect
Finally, practise, practise, practise! Once you’ve edited and polished your wedding speech, it’s time to stand in front of a mirror and practise delivering it. Get comfortable with the flow of phrases, and get familiar with which section comes next. With lots of practice, you’ll feel less nervous once you’re on stage.
7. Respond to other wedding speeches
While totally winging your wedding speech isn’t recommended, a little improvisation is great and adds a candid touch to your speech. For example, if your speech is after your best man, feel free to defend yourself in the story he just maligned you with. Or, you can thank your dad or your bridesmaids for their sweet words.
We hope these wedding speech examples and tips help you write a killer speech!
Credits: Feature image from Yeon Hee and Pei Qian’s Elegant Destination Wedding at Andaz Singapore by John15 Photography
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