What Should be Included in a Bride Speech?
In her speech the bride might like to thank the guests for coming along, give special thanks to all those who have helped out with the day, and give acknowledgement to special friends and remember loved ones who aren’t there on the day. She will also likely want to thank the parents. Last, but by no means least, she will say some special words to the groom, her new husband; maybe a special memory that she has of when they first met, what it was about him that made her fall in love with him and also to tell him she is looking forward to the years ahead with him.
As it is generally not expected for the Bride to give a speech at a wedding, she can make it as short or as long as she wishes (my advice is to keep it at around the 5-7 minute mark). It is also not important for her to cover everything and thank everyone – it’s generally the Groom’s role to do this when giving his speech, so, assuming that he is doing one, then the main duties can be left to him (thanking the guests, etc).
Speech Structure
For the purposes of advising how the speech can be structured, we’ll assume that you want to cover most elements.
Your speech should start with a short introduction and make some reference to what a wonderful day you have had. You should thank all of the guests for making it such a special day, can thank them for travelling to the wedding, compliment them how nice they look and also thank them for the gifts (if appropriate).
If you plan on making some toasts, you can move on to these. You can toast the bridesmaids, parents and the groom, telling him how much you love him and perhaps giving some information on how you both met and the proposal.
Once the toasts are over you can start thinking about finishing up. You may want to reference the honeymoon if you are going on one (though this isn’t essential), thank the wedding venue and all their staff for looking after you so well (again, not essential), and thank all of the guests, on behalf of both yourself and your husband, for joining you in your special day.
If your husband will also be speaking, it’s probably best to check with him as to whom he will be thanking. You don’t necessarily both want to thank all of the same people as it could become repetitive for the guests.
Make it Unique (Make it Rhyme!)
I love it when people break away from tradition and make their weddings a little more unique and fun. One great way to do this is to make the bride speech rhyme.
A rhyming speech is more fun to listen to for the guests, and is actually much easier to present, especially if you aren’t used to speaking in public.