The groom’s wedding speech is often about covering all bases. It doesn’t have the bravado and general LOLs of a best man speech, the gushing and poignant words of a bridesmaid speech, or all the nostalgia and tear-jerking words of a father of the bride or groom speech. Instead, a groom’s speech is half admin, half emotion; kind of like an Oscar acceptance!
A chance to shout out the wedding party, thank the ushers, and tell your new in-laws how chuffed you are to be part of the family. To help you write your speech – and to make sure you don’t leave anyone out – we’ve put together a handy groom’s wedding speech checklist. You’ll thank us later!
A groom doing a speech solo is more common, but we’ve also seen lots of couples do their thank you speech together, as well as brides making speeches too (more ladies on the mic please!). Our list covers all bases and standard family structures, but tweak it as is appropriate for you and your crew. We can guarantee if you hit all the points on the list below, then you will have covered all your bases. Hopefully it comes in handy for whatever kind of wedding thank you speech you’re making.
Groom’s Wedding Speech Checklist
(In no particular order, but this order makes for a nice crescendo!)
- Thank the guests for coming – give a special shout out to anyone who’s come a long way.
- Thank any staff or suppliers who worked on the day – only those present.
- Thank the celebrant – if present.
- Thank anyone who helped in the lead up to the day (outside of the wedding party and immediate family) – any one who gave lifts, stitched bunting, glued centrepieces, etc.
- Thank anyone who took part in the day itself – ceremony readings, music, wedding cake baker, etc.
- Mention your new parents in law and siblings – this is a good time to tell them how happy you are to join the family, how welcome/terrified they made you feel, how you promise to be there for their son or daughter/brother or sister..
- Mention your siblings – be specific about things they helped you with or special memories. This is also a good time to mention any other special family members, grandparents, step-parents, etc.
- Mention your parents – if both your parents are present, thank them both individually, usually an anecdote about the kind of person they’ve taught you to be goes down well.
- Thank your wedding party – make sure both sides get a mention, though it’s fine to gush a bit harder about your best man!
- Thank your other half – for marrying you, for looking fabulous, for being wonderful, and all the other good things you can think of. Remember to tell them all about why you love them and why you can’t wait to get started with married life!
Need more help with your wedding speeches – we’ve got you covered!
Listen & Subscribe to The One Fab Day Wedding Podcast
Episode 22: Wedding Speeches 101
You can listen to the One Fab Day Wedding Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and search them on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
