Father of the Bride Speech – Make Yours a Success

Aug 2, 2009

Tradition has it that the bride's father is the host of his daughter's wedding reception. In times past that meant paying for the reception too, though the costs are usually shared these days. In keeping with that tradition, the bride's father is usually expected to act as the master of ceremonies for the wedding reception.

Sometimes a professional wedding MC is engaged, especially for celebrity weddings. At most weddings the bride's father is the member of the wedding party who will give the opening speech and propose the toast to the bride and groom at the start of the wedding reception.

There are five key elements to a good father of the bride speech.

At the outset it is usual to say a few welcoming words to set the scene and create a celebratory mood for a great wedding reception. The primary aim is to get the guests to relax. A good way to achieve this is to talk about the wedding ceremony, the beautiful bride, the venue for the reception or even the weather -- anything that everybody has an opinion about -- and how much you are looking forward to sharing in the celebration that is yet to come during the reception.

Secondly, as the host, the bride's father welcomes all of the guests. It is usual to introduce any special guests, especially the groom's family and those who have gone out of their way to be at the wedding. Missing guests are often acknowledged at this stage also, especially family members or friends with close connections with the bride or groom who have been unable to make it to the wedding. A loved grandparent or favorite uncle who has recently passed away is often mentioned at this point.

A third key component of the speech is to build some excitement about the schedule for the reception, such as the highlight of the best man's speech and any entertainment planned for during the reception, and for afterwards. Your guests will relax more when they know what is in store for them.

As a fourth step in their wedding speech, most proud fathers want to say a few kind words in public about the bride, their daughter. This is often the most emotional part of the speech to present for many fathers. There are no rules about how to express your love for your daughter. Telling funny stories about your daughter meeting the groom and quoting poetry are popular approaches, among your choice of other ways to express yourself.

Finally, to place the attention of the wedding guests firmly on the newlywed couple it is customary for the father of the bride to offer a toast to the bride and groom. Some fathers spend a lot of time selecting the right words for the toast.

Every father of the bride will use his own way of speaking, humor and emotions into their father of the bride speeches around this or a similar basic five step speech plan.

Because few fathers will have much prior experience speaking at their own daughter's wedding, most will find a professional wedding speech guide can be very helpful. Speech outlines and sample wedding speeches are available, along with checklists of things and people it might be embarrassing to overlook, and time saving resources, such as popular jokes, quotes and poems to select from.