In this article I want to present you, briefly, the basic template for the father of the groom speech. It looks like I didn't say anything till now about the
wedding toasts order, so before I begin describing the steps that you should follow when you prepare you speech, I'll talk first about the order of toasts at a wedding, because I consider this to be quite important and everyone involved in the wedding ceremony should know it.
As you probably know, the one that gives the opening speech is the father of the bride, because he's the guest of the event (usually the bride's family is the one that pays for the wedding and takes care of most of the setup, so they're considered the hosts of the event). Next, you're the one that gives the following speech and after you comes the groom and the best man.
These are the most common 4 speeches you'll find at any wedding. Beside these, there are also another 4 that aren't present in every
ceremony, it depends more on the culture/country/tradition: mother of the bride, mother of the groom bride and maid of honor.
So, as you can see, you (the
father of the groom) are the one that gives the second speech. This is ok, because the difficult part is done by the bride's father with the opening toast, so it takes off some pressure of you. Here's the basic template for your speech:
1. Thank the bride's parents
You should always start by thanking the bride's parents for the wedding setup, for their effort to prepare this wonderful wedding. Also, thank bride's father for the opening speech.
2. Thank the guests
Next, you should thank to everybody that made it to the wedding. Some of them came from far distance so they'll feel their effort to make it to the wedding is appreciated, so make sure you thank everybody for being present at your son's wedding.
