When it comes to common wedding toast mistakes, forgetting to thank someone is one thing – but saying the wrong thing altogether in your father of the groom toasts could be a complete disaster! This is something I desperately wanted to avoid, so looked up a number of great tips to help you avoid this embarrassing situation.
Please The Bride – it’s her day after all
Your son has finally found the love of his life, that one woman he wants to marry so one of the worst things you could possibly do is to start talking about previous relationships – no matter funny you think the story may be. It might seem obvious, but believe me I have seen grooms, the best man and even the father of the groom that do it! Even if you want to compare your new daughter in law favourably, most brides will not appreciate it – especially on the most important day of their life!
You should also speak favourably of the bride at all times. Though it may seem fitting to add a slightly teasing joke, this is not the right situation for it. In my speech I stuck to what I knew the bride and groom would want me to say, and it worked!
Alcohol
No matter how well you might have prepared your speech (and do prepare as much as possible, it will pay off!) your number one worst enemy could be alcohol. This has the potential to bring just about anyone down, making them say the wrong thing. I was really wary of this and decided to hold off much drinking until the speech was over. I didn’t even have one to settle the nerves, it was too much of a risk and I’m glad I did!
Some Other Tips
One thing that made the idea of my father of the grooms speeches stressful to me was the fact I didn’t plan ahead properly, I left a lot of it until the last minute. And not planning ahead means being in a lot less control of what you say, and having less confidence that you won’t succumb to stage fright. Luckily there are now plenty of sources of help online for those who want even a funny wedding speech that doesn’t offend anyone.
Lastly I want to say that, no matter how well you say things, going on for too long isn’t going to go down well. Try to work on your speech so it doesn’t take an hour to deliver!
Why would someone start a site on writing wedding speeches? Well, I did. And do you know why? Because when I needed to write my own father of the groom wedding speech I could use all the help I could find.