When I got married, I AGONISED over my speech! And that comes from someone who, before becoming a photographer, spent 17 years talking in between songs on various commercial radio stations up and down the UK.
What if no-one laughs? What if I offend? Worst of all, what if it’s just not interesting? *
As a wedding photographer, I’ve seen a few speeches in my time. They weren’t all funny. Some were very heartfelt and moving. Others stuck to the traditional basics and did the thank-you’s and handed out gifts. As long as you prepare what you want to say before hand, you’ll be fine.
If you want to throw in some humour, there are two ways you can go about it;
Wedding Photography at The Elvetham in Hampshire
Wedding Photography at The Elvetham in Hampshire
1. Books.
You can scour the web for these. A few to consider is one from Confetti which give you the basics to work with. Another one I found was one from Bob Monkhouse. It’s a little dated in parts, but he’s a man who knows a lot about public speaking and gives a lot of tips and jokes that have stood the test of time. I hear his lines at many a wedding and they still get great laughs!
2. Real life.
You have to remember that your “audience” will know of you or your new wife or both of you. They are already on your side. So when you tell an anecdotal story about you, your wife, family or in-laws it’s likely they are going to know a bit about them already and see the funny side.
It’s also a good idea to test out your speech on someone you trust and can give you honest and objective feedback to help you sharpen your delivery on the day.
But in the end, as long as you can just be yourself, you’ll be fine.
* In the end I opted just to tell stories about the both of us, I wrote a few lines about my wife being a teacher (“I already know this speech is a C+” etc), how her parents skilfully avoided a situation where I could for their daughter’s hand in marriage and my fears about the wedding dress design (which she had been winding me up about in the months leading up to the big day). It was mildly funny, and as I was delivering a speech to friends and family it went down very well… to my immense relief!
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