Is It OK to Read a Wedding Speech? The debate over whether it's OK to read your wedding speech ends here. Since not everyone is great at public speaking, experts say it's fine to bring notes with you, so long as you're familiar with your script. The important part is to show your love for the couple.
Unless you're a professional actor, it's probably best not to trust the whole thing to memory – but reading out your speech can be really dull for guests to listen to. The best thing you can do is thoroughly familiarise yourself with your speech and then reduce it to a few notes on cue cards.
Whether it's time to toast your best friend on his wedding day, congratulate your son on his Bar Mitzvah or celebrate your Mom's 70th birthday, it's perfectly acceptable to use paper or index cards to keep you on track. Practically, having your speech in front of you takes the pressure off.
You're already nervous, and there's absolutely no reason to add another hurdle for yourself. It is perfectly acceptable to read your speech from a printout. Keep it to one typed page. You really do not have to talk for that long.
Do not read your speech off of your phone. The backlight from your device can discolor your face in photos and videos. Plus, we associate phones with distractions. Put your phone away and instead, print or handwrite your speech on paper.
Lay on the charm and keep anything crude out of your notes. A maid of honor speech is not the time for crass language, inside jokes that most of the wedding guests won't understand, or anything else that might make the bride or her family uncomfortable.
As long as your fact isn't buried in a script, your audience doesn't care that you're reading. They just want to connect with you and get value from the ideas that you're presenting to them.
It is okay to read the father of the bride speech. No one is required to get a certificate in public speaking before giving wedding speeches, so it's fine to have notes as long as you have at least practiced beforehand.
How long should wedding speeches and toasts go? No matter how long you've known each other, try to keep speeches under five minutes. In fact, three minutes is the sweet spot. Even if you have countless things to say, three minutes can feel a lot longer than you'd expect.
Avoid using cliches
Research by Hitched found that phrases like 'I've never seen two people so in love,' 'make each other laugh,' and 'I can't wait to see what the future holds for you,' are among the top clichés used in speeches by wedding guests.
Before you take the microphone, practice a bit of positive visualisation, take a few deep breaths, and above all, smile. This will all help you to relax, enabling you to deliver a confident, engaging speech that your audience will remember for all the right reasons.
You don't need to learn your entire speech by heart. But if you can memorise your opening sentences and closing sentences, that fact will give you great confidence. And the start and the finish are what the audience remembers most.
It's up to the couple getting married to decide if they're going to have readers and then who those readers might be. Of course, if they come to you and ask what role you'd like to have in their wedding day, you can offer to be a reader.
Traditionally, the father of the bride is the first to speak in the wedding speech sequence, especially if he has contributed financially to the wedding. The bride's father's speech should include; — A welcome to all the guests, and an expression of gratitude for their attendance and participation in the wedding.
While every wedding is different, the mother of the bride typically delivers their speech during the wedding reception following the father of the bride's speech. In some instances—whether the father is deceased or unable to attend—the mother of the bride will kick off the wedding toasts by going first.
A ring dish or jewelry box is a great wedding day gift. Many ring dishes and jewelry boxes can also be personalized with the bride's new name and wedding date to make it a keepsake she will never forget. If you want to give a really generous gift, you could gift a piece of jewelry with the ring dish or jewelry box.
Unfortunately, this makes you look down instead of out at your audience, forcing an immediate loss of confidence and presence. The great news is you don't need a script. Presenting without reading off notecards or slides isn't impossible, and you don't have to worry about memorizing your entire speech word-for-word.
Wedding Speech Opening Lines: Simple and Sincere Opening Lines. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you (name) for the kind introduction." "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. As (name's friend/relative), I'm delighted to welcome you all here tonight."