Dec 26

6 Wedding Speech Etiquette

There are three traditional speeches that are delivered during the wedding reception. While there are no exact rules in the content and delivery of each speech, there are wedding speech etiquette that are best observed.

Improper language – Profane words are sometimes used to emphasize a point or give a highlight to a part of your speech. Although this has become quite acceptable, many listeners at wedding parties still prefer to hear clean speeches. If, as the speaker, you need to use vulgar words when delivering jokes or when driving your key points, it is best to substitute ear-friendly words with very strong words instead. Your audience is diverse – comprising of children, adults and very old people – and majority of them may not find profanity humorous.

Unhappy topics – The wedding is an occasion for happiness, thus any reference to sore topics must be avoided. Even if there is a pressing need to mention something about a recent tragedy, for example, try not to highlight it. Talking about a tragedy is a sure fire mood killer. In the same manner, don’t mention anything about unhappy marriage, divorced couples or annulled couples – no one really wants to hear about these things on a happy occasion.

On chewing gums and getting drunk – Habits like chewing gum are best not taken in formal occasions like weddings. Unless it plays a role in your speech, don’t do it. It’s the same thing with alcohol. Because of their high levels of anxiety, some wedding speakers help themselves with a sip of alcohol. While alcohol can help a great deal with calming your nerves, it is still advisable to refrain from taking a sip of any alcoholic drinks.

Lengthy speeches – It is never wise to deliver very long speeches. Even if you are an entertaining speaker and is capable of pulling off excellent speeches, your audience does not have the patience to listen to an hour-long speech. So as much as you can, make your speech short. Anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes is okay. Make the entire speech concise, each line of the speech meaningful and make it a point that it nails the messages you want to send across.

Personal stories of relationships – It is not uncommon to hear speakers at weddings to talk about their own relationships. Although a lot people do this, it is never proper to mention your own relationships in other people’s weddings.

Distasteful jokes – It is perfectly fine to talk about funny experiences which really happened to either the bride or the groom or crack jokes about marriage.

But, there are particular jokes that cross the line of wedding speech etiquette. These include jokes of sexual nature, jokes about past relationships of either the bride or the groom (these can be mentioned if either of them had given the speaker permission), and jokes that uses irreverent language or slang as these could offend the majority of your listeners. Cracking jokes that connote these topics is also a big no-no.

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