Short Wedding Speech

Short speech for a wedding

In the spirit of keeping things brief, these tips will take no longer to read than it takes to make a cup of tea. First, let’s take a quick look at why you might want a short wedding speech.

• You don’t enjoy public speaking
• There are lots of other speakers and you’re conscious of time
• It’s a small wedding
• You want to memorise it

All are sensible reasons for not wanting to speak too long. The next part is how to write a short wedding speech without it seeming too short.

Things you don’t need to cover

The red pen is your friend. Let’s start with the aspects that aren’t necessary.

Best Man speech

You don’t need the following:

• Welcomes – these will be done by the Father of the Bride or Groom who will most likely precede you.
• Thanking people – even if the wedding is being held on the International Space Station or at Buckingham Palace, it’s not your role to be the thanker-in-chief.
• Toasts – simple… you only need one – to the bride and groom at the end.

Father of the Bride speech

• Keep any thanks to a minimum with one or two lines: “Thanks to everyone who’s been involved in making this such a magnificent day – especially my wife/daughter, etc., who did X, Y and Z.”
• Absent friends toast – this is not necessary
• How your daughter met the groom – this will most likely be covered by your son-in-law.

Groom speech

• Suppliers – you don’t need to turn your speech into a film credits sequence. The sous-chef and suit hire company don’t need a mention. Personal thanks to them can come after your big day is over.
• Groomsmen, page boy, celebrant, etc. – not everyone needs to hear their name. Think of your speech as a mini story rather than a roll call of thanks.
• The proposal – if it’s not hilarious, hugely heart-warming or surprising, it’s not needed. After all, people will be pretty sure how the story ends!
• Toast to bridesmaids – this traditionally comes at the end of the speech but is falling out fashion. So, a single toast to your bride would be fine.

Key things to cover

OK, so how about the key things that you’ll want to include. Having written hundreds of wedding speeches, here’s what I’d recommend:

Short Best Man speech

• The icebreaker – a line to let everyone know “here comes the fun!”
• The intro – how did the universe throw you together? Did your paths cross at school, work or the pub?
• The funny – paint a picture of the groom with a few quick stories. Save the longest or funniest till last. Even a short speech should build.
• The heartfelt – what makes this man such a good friend or brother
• The bride – yes, she’s part of this day too so include some kind words about her. Try to include something very specific to her to avoid it sounding generic e.g. a great quality she has.
• Final heartfelt words about the groom or them as a couple
• A toast to the bride and groom

For more pointers – including jokes and structure ideas – take a look at my best man speech tips page.

Short Father of the Bride speech

• Welcomes – you’re probably first up, so start with a big “hello” and some light-hearted remarks. Need some examples? Check out my post on Father of the Bride jokes
• The occasion itself – how proud you are along with thanks to those who’ve made it happen; you might wish to show your appreciation to your wife for raising your daughter here and include a kind line or two about the groom’s family.
• The story of your daughter – try to select a story from each major stage of her life: growing up; school; milestones and achievements; a fun story from her older years
• Welcoming your son-in-law to the family
• The most emotional bit – talk about your daughter’s qualities and what she means to you, the family and her friends.
• Wish the happy couple all the best for the future
• A toast to the bride and groom

For more info, check out my father of the bride speech page. It’ll help you craft a winning speech.

Short groom speech

• Welcomes – as well as thanking everyone for coming, you might want to mention particular people who’ve travelled far.
• Your parents – how grateful you are for all they’ve done for you and any help/contribution they’ve made to the wedding.
• Your parents-in-law – how they welcomed you into the family and thanks for any help with the big day.
• Best Man – I sometimes get questionnaires with as much info on the Best Man and groomsmen as the bride! So, for a short wedding speech, try to be strict with this section. So, a line or two of kind words and a silly joke at his expense.
• Bridesmaids – how they’ve helped your wife in the lead up to the day, and for organising the hen do (a chance for a quick joke there)
• Your wife – how you met; a story from the early days; any achievements in her career or personal life you’re proud of; build up to talking about her best qualities and what she means to you.
• A toast to your wife to end

If you’re looking for inspiration on icebreakers or any aspect of a groom’s speech, visit my groom speech tips page.

Wedding speech length

A typical speech can be anywhere from 1,300 – 2,000 words. How long is that? Well, the key metric is reading speed. At 175 words per minute, a ten-minute speech is 1,750 words. So, if you wanted to speak for 5 minutes that would be 875 words at a typical reading speed. However, do time yourself. Remember, if you’re on a tight speaking schedule, account for audience reaction too.

How short is too short?

As we’ve seen, most wedding speeches involve “admin” – welcomes and thanks and toasts. So, if you restrict yourself to 3 or 4 minutes, you’ll have very little time for unexpected flourishes, jokes and stories. So, I’d recommend at least five minutes if you can. This will allow space to make a little magic once the key welcomes and thanks are covered.

Memorising your speech

If you want a short wedding speech in order to make it easier to learn by heart, here are some pointers:

• Structure and flow are even more important. Write it so that the one section naturally leads on to the next.
• Have a back up on the table e.g. cue cards. A safety net can relax you and make it less needed.

Final thoughts

It can actually be harder to write a short speech than a longer one. Every word counts: there can be no flab, no repetition, no detours. So make every line earn its place, but don’t be so brutal that it doesn’t flow or is all bones and no flesh. Remember: always put the feel of the speech first, not the number of words.