The ultimate test, delivering the groom speech at my own wedding.
I’ve been writing best man, father of the bride, bridal and groom speeches for a number of years now and I’ve loved every minute of it.
What I didn’t know, was that speaking at my own wedding would be a different kettle of fish entirely. After writing for everybody else’s wedding, I made the decision last year to tie the knot myself. Thankfully, my partner agreed.
As the wedding drew closer friends and family were mounting the pressure on me to write a fantastic speech. Expectations were very high, and rightly so.
I didn’t know how this added pressure would affect my nerves, even as a professional speechwriter in the wedding business. As this was not only a speech for my guests, it was likely to become a time where my professional abilities were being analysed by my nearest and dearest.
Thankfully, it was a complete hit. As I always tell the Grooms I write for, a good balance of humour and sentiment never fails.
I’ve provided some excerpts from my speech below for people to read. Usually, I would never share a speech I’ve written, as I have strict confidentiality agreements with my clients. However, because it’s my own speech, I can share away.
‘With that said, fairy tale really is a good way to describe how I met Soph, and how we’ve ended up here today (god help her). It’s also happened rather quickly. We met just over two years ago, I moved into her flat a week later, we were engaged a year after, bought a house, and now married a year after that. You’ll be pleased to know we’re quite organised and are midway through planning our divorce.’
‘She’s bagged herself a younger, fresher model to keep up with her unnatural levels of energy, excitement, giggles and of course, the regular bouts of crying for no reason’
‘Now, the last, but certainly not the least person I want to thank, is the most incredible person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in all my life. That person I can now smugly call my wife. There aren’t many primary school teachers who are willing to accept the word cock in their surname.’
These are just small examples of how you can mix sentiment and humour to really complement each other and deliver an emotional impact. If you would like to read the full speech please feel free to get in contact and I will gladly send it over to you.
