The expectation from long ago is that the bride’s father is the host of his daughter’s wedding reception. In times past that meant paying for the reception too, though the costs are usually shared these days. Still, the bride’s father is usually expected to act as the host for the wedding reception.
In some cases a professional wedding MC is engaged, especially for celebrity weddings. At most weddings the bride’s father is the member of the wedding party who will give the opening speech and propose the toast to the newly wed couple at the start of the wedding reception.
There are five key elements to a successful father of the bride speech.
The first step is to say a few welcoming words to set the scene and create a celebratory mood for a great wedding reception. The main objective is to put guests at their ease. A good way to achieve this is to talk about the wedding ceremony, how gorgeous the bride looks, the location for the reception or even the weather — things that all the guests have their own views about — and how much you are looking forward to meeting everyone and enjoying the reception.
Secondly, as the host, the bride’s father offers a welcome to all of the guests. It is usual to introduce any special guests, especially the groom’s family and those who have gone out of their way to be at the wedding. Missing guests are often mentioned at this stage as well, especially family members or friends with close links with the bride or groom who have been unable to make it to the wedding. A loved grandparent or favorite uncle who has recently passed away is often remembered at this stage.
A third key component of the speech is to build some excitement about what will happen during the reception, such as the highlight of the best man’s speech and any entertainment planned for during the reception, and for afterwards. Your guests will appreciate knowing what lies ahead for the reception.
As a fourth step in their wedding speech, most proud fathers take the opportunity to say a few kind words in public about the bride, their daughter. This is often the most difficult part of the speech to present for many fathers. There are no rules about how to express your love for your daughter. Telling humorous stories about your daughter meeting the groom and quoting poetry are popular approaches, among other ways to express yourself.
Finally, to draw the attention of the wedding guests firmly on the newlywed couple it is customary for the bride’s father to offer a toast to the bride and groom. Some fathers spend a lot of time selecting the right words for the toast.
Every father of the bride will use his own style of presentation, humor and feelings into their father of the bride speeches around this or a similar basic five step speech plan.
Because few fathers will have much prior experience speaking at their own daughter’s wedding, most will find a professional wedding speech guide can be very helpful. Speech templates and example wedding speeches are available, along with checklists of things and people that really should be mentioned, and valuable suggestions, such as popular jokes, quotes and poems to choose from.