Did you groom give a speech?

[MagsyMay]

Been wondering about this... I've been to several weddings where the groom gives a very short speech, thanking the bride's parents (if they paid/contributed) and otherwise saying a few sweet things to his new wife. Do you plan to do this? I know this might be somewhat cultural, but what is the norm in your area? If you have seen this, how does the timing work on such a speech? After the bride's dad and/or BM/MOH speeches or before?

ETA: GAHH, YOUR groom, not "you" groom, of course!

 

[Haven]

My husband and I both gave short speeches at our wedding.
So did our parents, my MOH, and his Best Man.

They were all very short though, don''t worry!

 

[kittybean]

Neither DH nor I gave a speech--we kept it to just the best man, maid of honor, and MC. At most of the weddings I''ve been to lately, the groom hasn''t given a speech.

 

[KatyWI]

My DH did say a few words. He hadn''t been planning on it, but I urged him to.

I really wish I could remember what he said, because all I do remember was that it was so sweet, funny, and touching, especially considering he did it so spur of the moment. Aww.

 

[noelwr]

yes, my groom gave a speech. we thought it was customary!

the best man gave the first speech and the groom the 2nd.
the groom thanked the best man for his speech, thanked the officiant (brother-in-law), everyone for coming, and thanked our families, and then thanked me for loving him.

 

[purselover]

We''re both planning on saying a few words after the other toasts.

 

[sunnyd]

FI will thank everyone for coming and blah blah. Something quick so we can get to dancin''!

 

[meresal]

DH gave a "Thank you for coming speech" at the RD. Not at the wedding.

I have seen a "Thank you for coming speech" at a wedding by the DH, and it was cute. But in all the weddings I have been to, I have only seen that once.

 

[emeraldlover1]

Both of us gave short speeches at our RD thanking everyone for helping and for coming in our bridal party. At the wedding neither he nor I gave a speech.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

I''m planning on doing a quick thank you at ours as I don''t think fi wants to himself lol

 

[MagsyMay]

Thank you all for the responses! Our wedding is 9/11 and my FI is in the military so we chose that day party because that day has had a very large impact on FI''s life and our life together. It is also my parents'' anniversary, so I thought it would be cute if FI gave a little speech about those two things, toast to my parents and whatnot... He says he doesn''t think he could keep it together, which I love, because a crying FI melts my heart! We''ll see what we decide, but I''m glad to hear it is not totally uncommon!

 

[merrymunky]

We only had two speeches. Best man and Groom.

My husband actually wrote his in the form of a poem. It was quite a tear jerker actually.

 

[tlh]

My DH toasted. it was short and sweet. We followed the traditional toasting format.

Traditional order of toasts (before dinner):
Father of the bride – welcomes guests and toasts the bride.
Groom – offers a toast to the bride
Best man – offers a toast to the couple. (Then the best man may call upon the minister to offer a blessing if that is intended, and invite everyone to enjoy dinner.)

OR

Other options for toasting
If you want to have many other toasters or need to include some people who may not be part of the official party, you may vary the order. Here is one suggestion:
The father of the bride toasts his daughter
The father of the groom toasts his son
The best man toasts the groom.
The maid (or matron) of honor toasts the bride.
The bride toasts the groom
The groom toasts the bride
Other people then join in.

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

We will be doing a formal thank you at the RD - which I am sure FI will wind up doing as I will no doubt start bawling half way through.

At the wedding, since we will be awarding prizes for those who wear costumes, we figured we would use that time to thank our guests for coming.

 

[wannaBMrsH]

We had the Best Man started off and he gave the most touching toast that no one really wanted to follow. It was truly amazing and I was in hysterical tears when he finished and then said it again in Spanish so that my family understood! (It wasn''t very long, but he doesn''t speak any Spanish!) I was so touched and he just blew me away with his awesomeness.

Then my Maid of Honor gave her speech and she said, "I can''t believe I have to follow David (BM), there is nothing I can say to top that except to Thank God for giving me the best big sister a girl could hope for and to thank Him for sending her the best husband share her dreams with. I think you are perfect for each other and David already said everything else. I love you both."

My Dad followed and he was very emotional (and he doesn''t speak English very well) and he said "Thank you all for coming" and went to hug the best man.

That was it...my boss gave a spontaneous toast after him and his boss couldn''t be outdone and gave a toast as well.

DH then thanked everyone for traveling to the wedding and for being there for us. That was it.

I''ve seen some amazing toasts from the groom to his bride, but I don''t really know what is traditional.

 

[charbie]

haha- im the one who gave a quick speech spur of the moment because we had no one to bless the meal, and realized it right before the meal was to be served. i said, "anyone who knows me that if there is ever an opportunity for me to speak in front of a large group of people...let''s be honest, i''m gonna do it. we want to thank everyone...blah blah...bless this food....blah blah blah...."

i did it right before everyone got food, and i''m happy i did it.

 

[ozsparkle]

Hi, we had My dad, His Dad, MOH, Best Man, then DH and I stood up together and each spoke which felt great to stand up in front of everyone as a united couple for the first time. We thanked everyone for their help and said some lovely words to each other, and really just made it up on the spot. I''m glad we did it!

 

[musey]

My husband and I both gave short speeches (not prepared) after cutting the cake. Just thanking everyone for coming, thanking those who helped us, etc.

There were speeches from the bridal party (2 groomsmen and 1 maid of honor) and fathers during the cocktail hour. The moms opted out.

 

[blackbetty]

I gave a short speech thanking everyone, especially our parents. The MOH & BM spoke, but no words from the groom or parents.