Archive for July, 2009

Wedding Speeches – Do You Know These Tips?

wedding speeches come in a variety of forms such as wedding speeches for the bridegroom, the best man, the bride’s father and others. Wedding speech is an important way to thank the guests, wish the couples, or they can add a touch of humor to the special occasion and make it much more memorable for everyone who is a part of the wedding.

There are no real hard and fast rules for delivering wedding speeches. One can write one’s own wedding speech or get them written from professionals for adding a classy touch to the wedding. Generally the wedding speech of the bride is one filled with words of wisdom, while the wedding speech of the best man can be light and humorous.

Tips for a Good Wedding Speech

Unlike formal speeches a wedding speech has to be a relaxed one without any pomposity to it. The speech should have light touches of humor so that the atmosphere becomes lighter. It is always a better idea to prepare the wedding speech two to three weeks before the wedding because an improvised speech cannot be as polished as the one prepared in advance.

If one is not very sure of one’s writing ability one can take the help of professional writers who can do the job best. All that one has to do is to provide the writer some of the personal information about the families so that they can add that much needed personal touch to the wedding speech.

If it is the wedding speech of the father of the bride or the groom they can include the memories of their children as well as the likes of their children. Parents can also add some lighthearted events that occurred while bringing up their children. The speech by the elderly always comes from experience and hence is full of words of wisdom and their hopes for the bright future of the couple.

The best man’s speech can be made humorous by adding some really humorous event that the best man and the groom shared during their friendship. It is also a good thing to mention your hopes for the future of the happy marital life of the couple.

The most important wedding speech is by the bride and the groom in which they can mention their first meeting and share their experiences with the guests. It is important in their speech to thank their parents and the guests who attend the wedding ceremony. The couple then can declare their love for one another. Generally the first wedding speech is delivered by the bride’s father.

Jerry Leung designs Modern Chinese Wedding Invitations. He runs a website on Wedding Vendor Directory. Be sure to check Asian Wedding Favors – Lucky Bamboo Wedding Favor.

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Best Man Speeches – How to Master the Art of Wedding Speeches

So your best buddy just asked you to be his best man on his wedding day. No big deal. You get your tux ready, your shoes your slick hair and the perfect cologne to attract all the single ladies at the reception. Then you are good to go!

No wait, you just hit your forehead with the palm of your hand remembering that the best man just doesn’t party hard during the bachelor party, stand behind the groom during the ceremony and get wasted on the wedding reception but he has to make a speech. That’s right, “The Best Man’s Speech”, the kind of speech that not everyone is too eager to make.

Since not all guys have the guts or the ability to make good and memorable speeches in front of people, this usually translates to jittery knees, sweaty palms and for the really weak of heart, alcohol intoxication; enough for them to find guts to say something without remembering that dreadful night.

best man speeches don’t really have to be this way if you know the right trick. You can save yourself the anxiety or the embarrassment if you know the dos and dont’s of delivering a great speech.

No need to panic when this situation arises. Calm yourself and gather your thoughts. It is not really as difficult as eating a wedding cake that tastes like paper. Trust me; you don’t have to take endless trips to the open bar before you make your speech. It is about full preparation of what you need to say about the bride and groom.

You should already know the groom pretty well. But if the bride isn’t really close to you, take some time to know some things about her before the wedding. Think about how you want the audience to respond. It’s either you want to crack them up or just keep it serious without sounding cheesy or disrespectful. And you also need to think about what you want to wish the newlyweds for their future.

It is best to write your thoughts down so you will not forget the highlights of your speech. You need not read it directly from the paper while doing your speech to avoid looking like you are making a state of the nation address. You can write down some of your favorite memories with the groom and write down information you’ve learned about the bride too. Prepare a good message that can make the couple feel their closeness to you. This way, they will be very appreciative of it. End your speech in an upbeat manner making you ready to make a toast.

It is not necessary to write an essay. Keep it short but heart- felt. 5 to 15 minutes is fine enough not to put everyone to sleep or giving them an idea of throwing you the flower vase on their table. Review your speech or share it to someone who can give an honest opinion about it.

Just remember, you are making a speech for someone dear to you and that should not give you any reason to feel nervous. These steps will help you produce a successful speech. Give the newlyweds a speech that they can cherish and for the audience to smile or laugh at. So just relax and enjoy the moment!

Ted Davidsen has used his own experience giving best man speeches at friends’ weddings to produce his website dedicated to wedding speeches. If you follow the simple steps listed at http://www.simplyweddingspeeches.com you’ll be well on your way to giving the perfect wedding speech!

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Speeches

Wedding rehearsal dinners are very cherished and personal events and are usually held just prior to the wedding night. Out of the entire wedding celebrations and festivities, the wedding rehearsal dinner is the one special event which bride and groom are likely to enjoy and remember than any other wedding event. But wedding preparations tend to be so hectic that the composition of a well versed speech may prove to be a very stressful situation for many.

A wedding rehearsal dinner is considered to be a rewarding experience for the new couple and their families as it is conducted on a smaller base and is more intimate. Only the close relatives of both the bride and groom are in attendance whereas, a wedding reception hosts hundreds of guests whom the bride and groom barely know. The bride and groom have a golden chance in the rehearsal dinner to acknowledge all the people who have helped in the wedding arrangements. The dinner can be held in any place, whether a backyard, a rented room or can be in form of a barbecue.

Arrangement of a wedding rehearsal dinner comprises of getting the best man, maid of honor, father of the bride, and other family members to practice their speeches. The best man and maid of honor will practice giving a short speech before dinner and the father of the bride will also give a welcome speech for all the guests. The bride and the groom may also put some sincere thankful thoughts into words and give a short speech to honor all their guests.

It is advisable to write your speech well in advance say about two weeks before the wedding. Keeping the speech short and sweet is the key to catching your audience’s ears. The speech should be simple and usage of difficult words and literature style should be avoided as that tends to get boring. An easy, heartfelt speech is sure to gladden the new couple and the guests more than a one with heavy handed words. An ideal wedding speech would be about 4 to 5 minutes, composed of words dedicated to the bride or the groom’s positive qualities and memorable moments of life. It is also important to adopt a light, frank tone rather than droning on in a matter of fact way, preaching way as this may cast a dull tone over the festive atmosphere.

The most embarrassing situation would be to blow up your chance at delivering the speech. Practice well in front of a small audience to boost your confidence before the rehearsal dinner. A wedding speech is considered as a gift for the bride and groom if composed and delivered well, as a speech on their special occasion is something that will last forever in their memories.

All in all, a wedding rehearsal dinner will be gracefully ended by giving a toast to the happy couple. A round of drinks will be passed and final bows made. Champagne is considered most appropriate for such an occasion.

Need help FAST with wedding rehearsal dinner speeches? Learn how to write and deliver a speech that will leave them all speechless! Get help writing your wedding rehearsal dinner speeches here!

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Father of the Bride Wedding Speeches – In 3 Easy Steps

Since a father daughter relationship is based on profound and significant memories, a father of the bride speech is an event much looked forward to. The father shoulders wedding responsibilities of the daughter such as ensuring that his daughter makes it to the wedding on time, aisle walking with her and then handing her over to his future son in law. A perfect speech would include expressions and emotions with a sprinkle of humor in it to liven up the atmosphere. Three simple steps will guarantee that you have a killer father of speech composed for the grand occasion.

However you should remember a few points when writing and delivering your speech. Write in a flowing, elegant style and memorize your speech well. It should comprise of three parts: beginning, body and ending. Practice in front of a mirror if you are experiencing spells of nervousness. It is advisable to practice in front of people to boost your confidence. This will also allow you to have your mistakes exhibited beforehand. When delivering your speech make eye contact with the guests and especially your daughter and son in law. This makes them feel special and more attentive to your speech.

Beginning: An introduction of yourself and then an acknowledgement of all the guests will be the first step. Thank all your guests for coming to the ceremony, and then inject a little humor in the speech by dwelling on the countless hectic and wild moments which you experienced during the planning and accomplishment of the wedding. Stress on using heartfelt and simple words rather than quoting phrases from a book.

Body: To enhance your body of the speech, talk about your daughter and her accomplishments. Dwell on her childhood and funny incidents and her importance in the family. Talk about her contributions, and pay compliments to her beauty. Then keeping a lighthearted tone, applaud her choice of a husband. Speaking of your son in law will comfort and gladden your daughter that you have taken pains to know more about him. Admit to everyone freely how proud you are of your daughter and her husband. Since a wedding ceremony is the most poignant moment of your daughter’s life, make sure that she enjoys and appreciates your speech. You can also include in your speech as to how you see her in the role of a loving wife and mother in her days to come.

Closing: Your ending lines can reflect on a little advice to the newlyweds and to honor their vows well. Most fathers get stuck up as to how to end their speech in a most appropriate and elegant manner. The most simple and graceful way out is to present the newlyweds to the guests and raise a toast for their happiness and long life. Your toast will be backed up by applause and cheering from the audience and this will be a cue to make your bow and with style hand over the stage to the shining couple of the evening.

Need help FAST with father of the bride wedding speeches? Learn how to write and deliver a speech that will leave them all speechless! Get help writing your father of the bride wedding speeches here!

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Do the Order of Wedding Speeches Really Matter?

Back in the day, you didn’t see the flurry of wedding speech activity that you do now. You probably heard from the Father of the Bride and the Best Man. And, that was pretty much it. But nowadays, everybody and their brother want to get up and toast the bride and groom. So, with this plethora of people, what is the proper order of wedding speeches in today’s world? Or does it even matter?

The Origin of the Wedding Speech or Toast

wedding speeches, or toasts, originated in the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Greeks and Romans would raise their goblets to their Gods hoping to gain favor. The Greeks would also perform toasts to avoid being poisoned. The Greeks were a suspicious bunch. You never knew who your enemies were. So, when the Grecians would gather for celebrations, they would all drink from the same pitcher and spill a little of their wine into the next person’s goblet. This would ensure there was no funny business going on.

The Romans began a practice of dropping a piece of burnt toast into the wine to absorb any impurities. Back in those days, wine would go bad easily. The burnt toast would make it taste better. When the Romans invaded Britain around 55 B.C., they brought the practice with them. The word "toast" comes from the Latin word tostus, meaning roasted or parched. The word stuck and over time, also referred to salute with a drink.

What should the Order of wedding speeches Be?

Well, that all depends. Are you a traditionalist, or a non-traditionalist?

If you are a traditionalist, the Best Man gives the first wedding speech. He generally toasts the bride and groom, and also acts as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

Following the Best Man’s speech, the groom will rise to respond, toast his bride, thanks the parents and so on.

Others may speak at this point. Finally the Father of the Bride will give his speech and thank everyone for attending.

If you are a non-traditionalist, all the rules fly out the window. The rules are: there are no rules. Spontaneity is the way to go and lots of people get up to toast the bride and groom. But, generally, the order of wedding speeches will go as follows if you are a non-traditionalist:

*best man speech
*Maid (or Matron) of Honor Speech
*Father of the Bride Speech
*Parents of the Groom Speech
*Groom Speech
*Bride Speech
*Any other Guests of Honor Speeches

Who Else Can Give a Wedding Speech

The other Guests of Honor are a long and illustrious list. It basically means anyone the bride and groom deem close enough to them to give a speech. But here are some ideas on who can give Guest of Honor Speeches at a wedding reception:

*The bride’s or groom’s siblings
*The bridesmaids (collectively or individually)
*The groomsmen (collectively or individually)
*Grandparents
*Godparent
*Guardians
*Close Relatives
*Cousins
*Best Friends
*Coworkers
*Bosses
*Children of the Bride or Groom
*The Wedding Officiant

Any of these people can give a speech if prearranged and okay with the bride and groom. After all, there is such a thing as too many wedding speeches. You don’t want the party-goers to be bored to tears.

So does the Order of wedding speeches even matter anymore? Not really. The days when wedding etiquette was etched in stone are long gone. More important are the thoughts conveyed during the speeches. As long as the bride and groom feel incredibly special and loved on their big day, the order of the wedding speeches does not matter.

Cherie Stirewalt has been in more weddings than she can count. Learn how to write and deliver and wedding speech that will leave them all speechless. Download your guide to writing wedding speeches today!

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Three Keys to Writing Flawless Wedding Speeches

You’ve been helping for months to get the bride and groom ready for the big day. You’ve attended fittings and tastings and showers and parties. But have you prepared for the big speech you’ll have to give at the reception? Does it make you sick just thinking about speaking in front of so many people? Well it shouldn’t. wedding speeches are a cinch if you know what to do.

Fact: seventy-five percent of all Americans suffer from a fear of public speaking. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. You can use the tactics the pros use to overcome their fear of public speaking and apply it to wedding speeches.

Be Prepared

Write your wedding speech a full 3 weeks in advance. To get yourself jumpstarted, think about your relationship with the bride and groom. Ask yourself some basic questions.

- Where did you first meet the bride or groom?
- What made you realize these people were an important part of your life?
- What makes their relationship special?

Jot these notes down. Then look for inspiration in the form of a famous quote, song lyric or poem. A site like famousquotes.com is a good place to start.

If you aren’t a writer, get some help. There are terrific guides you can download that will walk you through step by step on the dynamics of writing a wedding speech. Check out a site like wedding-speeches-2-go.com for more information on a wedding speech guide.

Practice

The worst thing you can do is wing it. Unless you are some kind of phenomenal speaker, you need to practice…in front of an audience. Then in front of a mirror. Get to the point where you are comfortable with the wedding speech.

Memorize the speech if you can, or at least practice enough that you do not have to read directly from a piece of paper. The speech will sound better and more sincere if you are relaxed and comfortable during delivery. Which means, practice, practice, practice. Reading from a script will sound like you are…well…reading from a script.

Know Your Audience

In most cases, guests at a wedding reception are people that know you, care about you, and want you to succeed. Don’t be afraid. Talk to them like you would talk to them in a conversation. They are your friends, not your enemies. But remember to follow a few common sense rules while giving wedding speeches.

- Use appropriate language. This isn’t a bachelor party. Eliminate the potty mouth.

- Don’t embarrass either the bride or the groom. Things that may have been hysterical to you might not be funny to them or their families. Paint them in a flattering light. It’s their day, not yours.

- Don’t bring up the exes. This should go without saying.

Remember, giving a wedding speech is a great gift you can give to the bride and groom. This is an opportunity for them to hear how much they mean to you. So, follow the suggestions above, get help if you need it. But, overall, have fun and don’t be afraid to give wedding speeches.

Cherie Stirewalt has been in more weddings than she can count. Download your guide to writing wedding speeches today!

Article Source: ArticleSpan

How To Give Wedding Speeches That Will Be The Talk Of The Town!

One big tradition at weddings that is both anticipated and dreaded in equal measures are the wedding speeches, but with just a little bit of time and effort you’ll be able to deliver the perfect wedding speech, even if you are not used to public speaking.

The speeches at a wedding should offer warmth, humor, and words from the heart; however, they often flop, with off color humor, clichés, and stuttering words. Whether you are the father of the bride, the best man, or even the bridegroom, you need to take time to find out a bit more about making a wedding speech that is more than acceptable – but excellent. So, let’s take a look at the three common speeches that occur at a wedding – The Bridegrooms Speech, the Best Man’s Speech, and the Father of the Bride’s Speech.

Father of the Bride Speech

Usually this speech is the first one that occurs at the wedding. The toastmaster calls on the father, and then it’s your moment to shine. This is a time to offer a heartfelt speech proposing happiness and health for your daughter and her new husband. It’s fine to have some humor, but it needs to be fitting for the wedding. Avoid putting down your new son-in-law, making crude jokes, or making the speech about yourself. This is a time to show love, admiration, and well wishing for the new couple.

The Bridegroom Speech

Once the father of the bride has concluded his speech, then it’s time for the groom to give his speech. This is a time to thank your parents for all they’ve done for you and a word to the bride’s parents is acceptable as well. Also, thanking those who brought gifts is important as well. Basically this speech should be addressed to all in attendance, thanking them for caring enough to come, and it can even be used to thank the wedding party as well. The bridegroom’s speech is not the time for hilarious stories or off color jokes. Spending some time mentioning your love for your new wife is also an excellent addition.

Best Man’s Speech

This is usually the speech that ends up many people cringe if the best man is less than loquacious. While many feel the need to tell crude stories and rude jokes, this is really the time for an appropriately funny speech that is light hearted and entertaining. This is a great time for some light humor, a few stories about the best man, and some anecdotes, as long as they are appropriate for the wedding. Remember why you are friends with the bridegroom and why he asked you to be best man. What funny stories can you tell that are suitable for the guests? While the idea is to humiliate the groom slightly, you shouldn’t go overboard and especially remember that the guests will comprise of a range of age groups and backgrounds and while some of them may appreciate blue humor, there are many who would be deeply offended.

Giving wedding speeches is always nerve-wracking, but with some preparation, careful thought, and a bit of practice, you’ll be able to really give a great performance. If you liked this article read more at http://www.simplyweddingspeeches.com

Article Source: ArticleSpan

How to Write Great Wedding Speeches

Weddings are always happy occasions and it is a time to celebrate the many joys of life. Friends and family of the married couple gather together and celebrate with the newly-weds as they begin their new life together. Every one of the guests wants to share in the couple’s joy, to congratulate and to wish them the best. Many people and perhaps even you, however, experience some difficulties when being asked to give an impromptu wedding speech. Certain situations tend to make people forget what they were going to say. Some people will mumble some generic congratulations and be done with it, while others will be thinking hard to find something more fitting for the occasion and come up with odd or interesting things for their wedding speeches.

Good wedding speeches add life and zest to wedding celebrations. But such speeches are few and far in between to be found. Instead, most wedding speeches fall flat. So, what should be done? The speakers clearly have the responsibility and must rise to the occasion. The is a time that they must not let the wedding guests down. Those who are gifted deliver excellent speeches at the spur of the moment seemingly with little effort. The rest of us have to work hard to putting thought to paper with speech preparations at least a month before the big day.

When delivering wedding speeches, one should talk about the groom, the bride, the family and friends at the same time not leaving out the guests who have taken their time off to attend the wedding celebration. The best wedding speeches capture the spirit of the moment and add zest to a great family occasion.

To ensure a smooth flow during the delivery of your wedding speech, a good idea is to rehearse the wedding speech before the big day. A speaker’s thoughts must flow smoothly and most importantly add to the joy of the occasion. The delivery is extremely important: People tend to notice more often how you speak rather than what you’re saying. You have to appear confident in front of the guests. Some people find themselves able to write a proper speech, but when they start to read what they have written they realize that such a speech would not come out of their mouths. Some popular ways to overcome these difficulties will be using speech writing software or taking a pre-written wedding speech samples from the internet.

Another method is to hire professional writers who are experienced in composing wedding speeches. Usually a professional writer submits several draft speeches to you for review so that you can choose the one that best suits you.

Miriam Boh is the owner of WeddingCeremonySpeech.com. To get more tips on how you can write and deliver wedding speeches or wedding reception speeches with poise and confidence using your own customized inspirational speech, go to http://www.weddingceremonyspeech.com

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Wedding Speeches – Do You Know These Tips?

wedding speeches come in a variety of forms such as wedding speeches for the bridegroom, the best man, the bride’s father and others. Wedding speech is an important way to thank the guests, wish the couples, or they can add a touch of humor to the special occasion and make it much more memorable for everyone who is a part of the wedding.

There are no real hard and fast rules for delivering wedding speeches. One can write one’s own wedding speech or get them written from professionals for adding a classy touch to the wedding. Generally the wedding speech of the bride is one filled with words of wisdom, while the wedding speech of the best man can be light and humorous.

Tips for a Good Wedding Speech

Unlike formal speeches a wedding speech has to be a relaxed one without any pomposity to it. The speech should have light touches of humor so that the atmosphere becomes lighter. It is always a better idea to prepare the wedding speech two to three weeks before the wedding because an improvised speech cannot be as polished as the one prepared in advance.

If one is not very sure of one’s writing ability one can take the help of professional writers who can do the job best. All that one has to do is to provide the writer some of the personal information about the families so that they can add that much needed personal touch to the wedding speech.

If it is the wedding speech of the father of the bride or the groom they can include the memories of their children as well as the likes of their children. Parents can also add some lighthearted events that occurred while bringing up their children. The speech by the elderly always comes from experience and hence is full of words of wisdom and their hopes for the bright future of the couple.

The best man’s speech can be made humorous by adding some really humorous event that the best man and the groom shared during their friendship. It is also a good thing to mention your hopes for the future of the happy marital life of the couple.

The most important wedding speech is by the bride and the groom in which they can mention their first meeting and share their experiences with the guests. It is important in their speech to thank their parents and the guests who attend the wedding ceremony. The couple then can declare their love for one another. Generally the first wedding speech is delivered by the bride’s father.

Jerry Leung designs Modern Chinese Wedding Invitations. He runs a website on Wedding Vendor Directory. Be sure to check Asian Wedding Favors – Lucky Bamboo Wedding Favor.

Article Source: ArticleSpan

Tips For Your Wedding Speeches

In most cases, the closest family members or friends of the couple will have the chance to deliver wedding speeches. You will certainly need to prepare for it if you are asked to give a speech in a weeding.

In fact, it is not that easy to deliver a speech in front of so many people. And at the end of the day if you are not a professional speech giver. Are you thinking that you have nothing to say? Do you think that it will be very stressful when you are speaking in front of so many people? It is true that it can be stressful when you are speaking in front with a lot of people. However, with enough preparations, you will certainly find it a lot more easier. And below are some tips for your wedding speech.

It is suggested that your speech should not longer than four minutes. You may think that it will be a lot easier since four minutes is a short period of time. However, it is not totally true. Delivering a speech for four minutes can sometimes more difficult than delivering one for ten minutes. This is because you may not enough time to talk about every message you want to convey. You will certainly want to talk about a story of the couple. However, can you really do it in four minutes? You need to have an opening and a closing for your speech. So the fact is that you do not have four minutes for you to talk about the story.

Below is an outline you may probably want to follow when you are preparing your wedding speech.

As mentioned, you will need to have an opening. You should try to keep the opening short. One or two sentences about the couple will be good enough. For example, you may just comment on the wedding dress and suits and use it as the opening.

Then you will start the story you want to talk about. It can be something like how the bride and groom met, or how they became together. If possible, you should try to spend not more than three minutes on this part. You should try to have a sense of humor when you are talking about that. But remember there is only a thin line between being humorous and being rude.

The lastly it is the closing and toast. You will try to make it touching and brief. And normally you will only spend like 15 to 30 seconds on that.

Remember that it is your honor to have a chance to deliver a wedding speech. As a result, you should try your best to do so and try to prepare it really well.

Jerry Leung designs Red Color Personalized Wedding Invitations. He runs a website on Balloon Wedding In the Air. Be sure to check Unique Wedding Favor Ideas.

Article Source: ArticleSpan