Giving a speech on your wedding day can be daunting – especially if you’re not used to public speaking. If you want to make sure that your speech is memorable for all involved, follow our great groom speech template to help you on your way to an amazing day!
1. Establishing a Strong Opening
Before you start speaking, ensure you have your guests attention – perhaps chink a glass or tap the microphone so everyone knows the groom’s speech is about to get underway!
2. Acknowledge The Special Moment You are Sharing
Good evening ladies and gentlemen – or afternoon of course – and thank you joining me and my new wife on our wedding day! A simple opening like this – referring straight away to your new wife, is bound to get a big cheer from the whole room!
3. Understand Who Your Audience Is
Many grooms feel the pressure knowing that their new partner’s parents, their own parents and new spouse are all waiting to hear what they have to say! But with a bit of well thought through groom speech preparation and planning, you can deliver a great speech that is suitable for all the new in laws and key guests. Remember to keep your wedding speech respectful and you won’t go far wrong with keeping the in laws happy!
4. Include a Few Well-Timed Jokes
A perfect groom’s speech will include a few appropriate jokes – the key word being appropriate! Keep it clean – now’s not the time to embarrass your new wife or the bride’s parents! The best man speech might not be quite so clean of course!
5. Always Remember To Express Your Gratitude
Traditionally, the groom’s speech will include a few words thanking the wedding guests for attending. Thank the new in laws and of course your parents too – don’t try to over-impress the bride’s mother and father of the bride by waxing lyrical about them and then only briefly mentioning your own parents of course! Give them each equal measure. The best man, ushers, maid of honour and any bridesmaids should all be thanked too.
6. Focus on Your New Partner
The best wedding speeches are always from the heart. Now is the time to focus on your other half with a few words about how generally amazing they are! The best groom speech examples avoid cliches and instead focus on kind words from the heart – keep eye contact with your new wife and add in a personal story or two to express how much they mean to you.
7. Don't Overstretch Yourself
This is your big day. If public speaking isn’t your thing and you’d rather be spending your time relaxing on the wedding venue dance floor, that’s absolutely fine! No one is expecting you to deliver the all-time best ever groom speech – especially your new spouse! So keep it simple, from the heart and don’t put too much pressure on yourself on your wedding day.
8. Take Time To Consider The Structure
Take time during the wedding planning stage to talk about your groom’s speech with your new wife to be. They may well have some groom speech tips of their own for you and an idea of what would help with your speech on the big day. There are lots of thank yous to get through so consider how you’re going to structure this – for example if you’ll include gift giving during your groom speech or save time by giving these out privately. Consider what other people will include in their speeches too – if your father in law is mentioning absent friends in his speech then perhaps don’t include it in yours to avoid repetition.
9. The Perfect Length Of Time Is Exactly 8 Minutes
Don’t worry – you don’t have to speak for half an hour! Studies show the perfect grooms speech is eight minutes long! But don’t feel the need to go into too much detail just to reach the magic eight minutes – the main focus should of course be on quality, not quantity!
10. End On a Strong Note
Traditionally the groom’s speech ends with a mention to the best man and a final toast to the bridesmaids. However, many groom speech tips suggest mentioning the best man and bridesmaids earlier in your speech and reserving the last toast on your wedding day to your partner – keeping the focus on the two of you at your wedding on your big day can only be a good thing! In your closing lines you can of course mention the best man as you introduce them if they are next in line to give their speech.
Our Wedding Speech Guide: Handling Nerves
Giving a groom’s speech can be a nerve-wracking experience. You want to make sure that you do justice to the occasion while also ensuring that your words are meaningful and memorable at your wedding reception.
To help you prepare, we’ve put together a guide with everything you need to know about how to handle your nerves and give a speech that everyone will remember.
Use a mirror to practice:
Watching yourself deliver your speech in a mirror is great preparation for all eyes being on you at your wedding reception!
Don’t get drunk beforehand:
A quick sip of something for Dutch courage is fine, but no one wants to see a drunk groom’s speech – particularly the in laws! Reward yourself with another swig at the end of your speech instead when you give the final wedding toast!
Smile and take a deep breath:
This is your wedding – and, no matter how much groom speech preparation you’ve done, just enjoy it and have an amazing day.
The Groom's Speech: FAQs
How long should a groom's speech be?
Eight minutes is said to be the perfect length of time for a great groom speech – but don’t worry too much if you’re a bit above or below this. Quality over quantity every time when it comes to the groom’s speech!
Who should I thank in my speech?
Thank yous are absolutely expected in the groom’s speech. Traditionally in the groom speech you should thank everyone for coming to the wedding, both sets of parents, the best man and any ushers, and the maid of honour and any bridesmaids.
What are some things I should avoid talking about in my speech?
Avoid using in-jokes that perhaps only you and your closest friends will ‘get’ – you’ll quickly lose guests attention if you crack in-jokes from the stag do that other people just don’t understand!
Maybe ask the best man to avoid telling too many in-jokes too – you’ve got the new father in law to impress, remember!
Avoid cliches if you can – a wedding speech full of saying how amazing the bride/father in law/best man is will leave people cold. You don’t have to go into too much detail – but sincere words about why your partner or key people in the wedding party mean so much to you will go down well in every groom speech.
Don’t just reel off a long list of thank yous – remember to keep things personal and sincere in your groom’s speech.
What is the best way to end my speech?
Reserve the final wedding toast of your groom speech for your partner and get ready for the whole room to erupt in a cheer!
How do I start writing my speech?
Get inspired for writing a great groom speech by reading a few speech tips just like this! Follow a groom speech template and you’re already half way there to delivering a great wedding speech.
