Father Of The Bride Speech At The Wedding Reception

Tradition has it that the bride’s father is the host of his daughter’s wedding. In times past that meant paying for the reception too, though this is not often automatically assumed today. In keeping with that custom, the bride’s father usually acts as the host for the wedding reception.

In some cases a professional master of ceremonies is engaged, especially for celebrity weddings. For most weddings the bride’s father is least expected to give an opening speech and propose the toast to the bride and groom at the start of the wedding reception, and may continue as the wedding MC.

There are five key steps to a good father of the bride speech.

The first thing to say is a few welcoming words that create the right atmosphere and put the guests in a celebratory mood for a happy wedding reception. The objective is to persuade the guests to relax. A good way to achieve this is to mention the wedding ceremony, how fabulous the bride looks, the environment for the reception or even the weather — whatever everybody will have an opinion about — and how much you look forward to meeting the guests and enjoying the wedding reception with them.

Next, as the host, the father of the bride welcomes the guests. It is customary to introduce any special guests, especially the groom’s family and anyone who has traveled some distance to get to the wedding. Absent guests are often mentioned as well, especially folks with close associations with the bride or groom but who could not get to the wedding. A dearly loved grandparent or favorite uncle who has recently died is often mentioned at this point.

A third vital section of the speech is to create interest about what is to come at the reception, such as the highlight of the best man’s speech and entertainment scheduled during the reception. Any plans to follow the reception could be referred to. Your guests will relax more when they know what lies ahead.

Next, in their wedding speech most delighted fathers want to make a few comments from the heart about their daughter, the lovely bride, among their friends and family. Choosing what to say here is often the most difficult part of the speech for many fathers to prepare. There are many ways to express your love for your daughter. Telling endearing or funny stories about your daughter as a child and during her courtship, and quoting from poetry, are popular choices, but every father has a unique approach.

Finally, to place the attention of the wedding reception firmly on the newlywed couple it is usual for the bride’s father to call for guests to join him in a toast to the bride and groom. Choosing the right words for the toast is an important step in preparing the speech.

All fathers of the bride will inject their own style of speaking, humor and emotions into their speech around this simple five stage framework.

Few fathers will have much experience speaking at their own daughter’s wedding. Most will find a professionally prepared wedding speech guide is very helpful. Speech outlines or templates, and examples of father of the bride speeches, can be downloaded, along with checklists of things and people that should not be overlooked. Time saving resources, such as popular wedding toasts, jokes, quotes and poems are available to select from. Not only do such resources save time preparing the father of the bride speech - they also lift confidence.