Wedding Speeches

alxmorgan

Hello all,

Getting married in a few weeks and I am wondering about the speeches.
Its my best mans first wedding and the first in either family so I have no idea about who goes in what order, who speaks, the kind of stuff they say (so not everyone thanks the same people is what I mean)

Can anyone point me in the direction of something that can help me out ?

thanks,

Clareman

Hi,

The hotel will normally point you in the right direction, they may even have a master of cermonies on hand to do it all for you, if not then this is the order of things that normally goes on at a traditional Irish wedding.

Everyone in to sit down.
Best man welcomes in the Bride and Groom, Mr. and Mrs. Whatever
Best man calls on the priest to say grace.
Eat, it's amazing how many people forget this part.
Grace after dinner.
Best man calls on the father of the bride to say a few words.
Then the groom.
Groom's father.
Bride.
Best man

General rule of thumb for speaches, Father of the Bride goes first, Best man goes last, don't forget to hand over presents to mothers and to toast the bridesmaids.

alxmorgan

Thanks very much.

My bride will not be speaking.

So how do you know this order ?
I'm wondering is there a getting married for idiots or something

thanks,

Clareman

I worked in a hotel for many years and just got to know it

I wouldn't advice going with what should be done, go with what you want. If 1 of the fathers doesn't want to speak, don't speak, don't want flowers, don't have them, etc etc.

The only thing that I would advice, is don't drink too much to try to drown the nerves, too many weddings have been ruined by the best man getting sloshed and deciding to tell a story about the groom that isn't appropriate, remember that the speaches have to be suitable for people aged from 18 to 80.

murphym7

I got married in August, had the speeches before the meal. Major advantage is everyone gets to enjoy the meal and not have the pressure of speeches to do after the meal. I 've been to many weddings where half the top table don't eat their meal as they are freaked out by the speaches after.

I would agree with just having the speeches you want, don't feel under pressure to conform to what everyone else does.

Clareman

Very good point Murph that I meant to mention, speeches before the meal is a very good idea cause it allows everyone to unwind, there's pros and cons to it of course, mainly people might be hungry waiting for something to eat and also the hotel mightn't like it so it'll have to be approved before hand