The day of your daughter’s wedding will be one of the biggest moments of both of your lives, which puts a huge amount of pressure on you as one of the main focuses of the occasion. You will feel much calmer on the day if you have prepared well and are sure that you understand exactly what is required of you. One of the moments at which you will be most central to proceedings, and which can be far more stressful that the simpler task of walking your daughter down the aisle, or even your dance with the new bride is your speech at the reception.
One way in which you can prepare for this is to learn the expected Father Of The Bride Speech Etiquette. This will help you to make sure that nothing is left out of your speech and that you fulfill your responsibilities for the reception.
The father of the bride is usually the first to make a speech. You are considered to be the host of the reception, and among your other duties, such as welcoming the guests, you will be seated at the high table and expected to make sure that things keep flowing as planned. There may be a Master of Ceremonies, who will take on a lot of this responsibility, but otherwise you should stand up and catch the attention of the room in order to make your speech, and you should also introduce the nest speaker, who will usually be the Groom. (Once he has spoken he will generally introduce the Best Man.) Your daughter may also like to make her own speech, as might your wife, so the speeches may be organized differently.
You should begin your speech by welcoming everyone who has come to celebrate your daughter’s wedding. You can also welcome the parents of the groom into your new combined family.
The next section of your speech should concentrate on your daughter. Tell everyone how beautiful she looks today. If you would like to tell a special story about her, perhaps from her childhood, then this is your chance. Choose something that will bring up happy memories for her, and which reflects your relationship with each other. Father of the bride speech etiquette says that you should concentrate upon your daughter as this is her day, and try to say something about her that will show her how much you care.
Next, you should speak about the groom. Welcome him into the family, perhaps with a personal touch, although you shouldn’t talk about him for too long because he and his best man will also be speaking. Your focus is on your daughter; leave the groom for the best man to speak about.
Your next topic should be married life. You might like to offer some advice from your own experience, perhaps with reference to your own wife, or to be more general. This could either be completely serious, or you could add in a few jokes- there are plenty of examples which you could borrow from the internet.
This can be an important part of Father Of The Bride Speech Etiquette, particularly if you have a slightly unconventional family history. In this case you may want to give some more general advice about life and love. Say something genuine, but make sure that you say something hopeful and meaningful.
If on the other hand you have had a wonderful married life, then this is the chance to show how grateful you are for it.
Your next job is to give thanks to all the people who have helped to make the wedding what it is. Express your appreciation of the caterer and anyone else who has worked on it, such as the vicar.
You should end your speech by raising a toast. The waiting staff should have been advised to make sure everyone’s glasses are refilled in time for this. Raise your own glass and make the first toast to the bride and groom.
Father Of The Bride Speech Etiquette expects your speech to be fairly conventional, and heartwarming rather than outrageous.
