I knew when I decided to propose to my girlfriend that getting the ring right was only the beginning of my stress. I understood that planning the wedding, although fun and exciting, was going to be a massive headache. However, I didn’t realise that writing my speech was going to be so difficult!
I began by trying to write my own groom speech, thinking foolishly that if I just spoke from my heart it would be fine. It wasn’t! Then I went in search of groom speeches online in the hope that I could use them for inspiration.
It didn’t take me long to realise that there aren’t many groom speech examples available that are not in dozens of speeches on YouTube. I decided wasn’t going to use any of that free stuff because I didn’t want to say anything in my speech that would be recognised as belonging to someone else.
I must admit that I started to panic. This wasn’t a good frame of mind to be in when I had to make decisions about the wedding and help my fiancée, Sue, decide on decorations, table coverings and even the colour of the napkins.
The last thing I needed to be doing was stressing over the groom speech!
Although I didn’t want to copy the speeches I saw on the Internet reading other guys’ groom toasts really helped me to create a plan for writing my own.
I found that they all have a similar structure and are written in a similar manner. Even the funny groom speeches have a structure to them and by following that same structure I started to jot down ideas for my own speech.
I realised that there are people you need to thank and certain things you need to say – especially when addressing your bride – that an important part of the wedding speech.
Obviously copying other groom speeches is not the way to go. However, I did find that watching other speeches and reading examples of wedding toasts gave me a better understanding of what I was expected to say in my own speech. This greatly helped me write a speech that many people still mention to me today.
