Father of the bride speeches are perhaps the most difficult of all the wedding speeches. First, the father of the bride usually gives the first speech at the wedding reception, and has the unenviable role of warming up the assembled guests. Many of the guests from the two sides will be meeting each other for the first time and may be uncertain what to expect. They need to be encouraged to relax and celebrate the happy day. Secondly, the bride's father, speaking on behalf of himself and the bride's mother, is usually experiencing mixed emotions as their daughter moves into married life.
As the bride's father you may feel your speech is a daunting challenge, but you will have a sympathetic audience of friends and family at the reception. Add a little help from a detailed father of the bride speech preparation guide, with sample speeches, speaking tips and ideas for jokes and toasts, and your confidence will quickly return.
Traditionally, the father of the bride is the host of the wedding reception. In times past he probably met the bill, but these days the expenses are often shared. The role of host nevertheless usually still falls to the father of the bride. For some weddings, especially society weddings, the family may engage a wedding master of ceremonies to act as the host but often as not the bride's father takes the lead.
As the host the bride's father usually begins his speech by welcoming the assembled guests, and will often pick out a few prominent members of the wedding party from both sides and introduce them to make sure everybody knows who they are. This is also a great opportunity to acknowledge special contributions that have been made by individuals to the success of the wedding. This can range from acknowledging aunt Matilda's wedding cake icing skills through to thanking family and friends who have made a special effort to attend the wedding, such as travelling a long-distance or getting a hospital pass. Absent friends and family can also be brought to mind and acknowledged.
A great way to warm up the crowd and get them on side is to talk about shared experiences on the day, especially at the recently completed wedding ceremony. There may have been an especially moving moment, or an amusing incident, to talk about; or perhaps the weather, good or bad, can be mentioned. At the very least the bride and bridesmaids deserve an acknowledgement for their herculean efforts to dress up for the occasion, and how beautiful they look. The speaker's aim should be to get some audience reaction, even just a few nods and smiles.
Another traditional part of the father of the bride's speech is to welcome the groom into his family, and to acknowledge the merging of the families from both sides. A little advance preparation to learn about the groom's family and to acknowledge individuals who are very important to the groom will be greatly appreciated.
The first speech at the wedding reception is the right place to let people know what to expect during the event. The opportunity should be taken to build a little anticipation for the highlights to follow. The other speakers should be mentioned, not least the typically very entertaining speeches by the best men and the groom. These days the maid of honor may also speak, among others. Mention should be made of any special entertainment that is planned, and of course there will usually be important moments to mention, such as the cutting of the wedding cake, tossing of the bouquet and the first dance.
Sometimes the father of the bride faces an awkward moment in his speech if there has been an earlier separation from the mother of the bride, who was also present. Both may be there with new partners. It is important to remember that the wedding reception is to celebrate a special day for the newly married couple, and to avoid a comment that might be a reminder of any past marital discord on the part of the parents. The wedding reception is a time for good humor and to look to a positive future for the young couple. Proper acknowledgement and some generosity of spirit towards the bride's mother and her contributions to bringing up the bride is appropriate, and will be appreciated by the guests.
The wedding speech by the father of the bride is traditionally a last opportunity for him to offer some worldly advice to his freshly married daughter and her new husband about their future life together. These words of wisdom are often mixed in with some stories from the past about his daughter as she grew up, and about the courtship of the couple. This part of the speech is often a mixture of emotions, from an expression of deeply felt feelings over the day's events to hilarious tales from the past to entertain the crowd at the expense of the newly married couple. In some ways, this is the hardest part of the speech to prepare. The best advice is to simply be led from the heart and say what you feel, and say some nice things that will have your daughter dabbing a tear from her eye.
Finally, the speech by the father of the bride customarily ends with an invitation for everybody to join and drink a toast to the bride and groom. There are many creative ideas and pithy sayings available to draw inspiration for the few words that may be chosen to accompany the toast. However the toast is presented, the traditional aim is to end the speech by placing the focus of the wedding reception firmly on the newlyweds. It is their day.
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