So you are getting married, and you have the task of speaking at your wedding (aka the groom speech)… because you are the groom of course. While there are different styles and formats to this, I am going to share (in my opinion) a simple, easy to follow guide that hits all the points needed. Mix that with having a bit of a laugh, making it memorable and meaningful. To top it all off with a few public speaking hints to make not just your day… but your speech a successful and memorable groom speech. I have been a groom, best man (spoken on those occasions) and helped guided others in delivering a great wedding speech. This blog post is written by a man for a man.
Ultimate Groom Speech Guide With Examples
Start Your Groom Speech By Thanking your new Father in Law
Traditionally the order of speeches are as follows – Father-in-law, the best man then yourself. As he just spoke before you, it is always nice to acknowledge him for his kind words and for any help given towards the wedding.
Thank the New in-Laws
Now you move on to your new family/ now in-laws (mother, father and any brothers/sisters). You should start this off by saying some nice things about them. It could be on things such as how welcoming they were if you asked for their blessing and their support and so on. I talked about how they helped me coordinate the surprise engagement.
Your own Family
Time to talk about your own family and how they raised you into becoming the person you are today. This can also include other people who also had a hand in raising you such as grandparents or someone who is not related but a parental figure. Make it meaningful, and you will hit a home run with the crowd but also not too soppy that everyone starts to cry.
Bridesmaids
Before you even talk about them, firstly compliment them on how beautiful they look. This is guaranteed to get you a small applause and maybe a wolf whistle (directed at them). You should focus this part of the speech on talking about how helpful they have been during the whole wedding process. It could be about organising the bridal shower, wedding dress shopping, making invitations and so on. Please note that traditionally the bride does not do a speech (that said I have been to many weddings where they do). If she does not speak then remember that you should refer to yourself as ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. This is because you are also speaking on her behalf especially when thanking people for their help with the wedding.
Best Man & Groomsmen
Now, this is the easy part of the groom speech… your mates/friends. Talk about each of them and how you met them. Mention some funny stories about them, and this also gives you the opportunity to “correct” any over exaggerations from their speech 😉
Everyone Who Helped To Organise The Wedding
Thank as many people as you possibly can for the things they helped with. From your family, her family and friends that went out of their way to help you both. It is a good idea to check with your soon to be wife before the wedding so that you do not leave anyone out. The last thing you want to do is not mention someone who spent the better part of their week putting together invites, organising a surprise and so on.
Your Wife
This is the most serious part of the groom speech as it is now about your new wife. In this section, you should talk about how much she means to you. You should mention things like how you first met, how you feel about her and so on. Be meaningful and try not to copy/paste from something you read online (unless it is specifically meaningful to you both). If you have done it right, everyone will have a tear in their eye. You can top it off and give your wife a little kiss to end that part on a high!
Handover
The handover is where you are about to hand over the microphone back to the MC. Just thank everyone for attending and to enjoy the rest of the night.
Specific Tips For The Groom
The below tips are specifically for the groom and his speech. These are based on the many groom speeches I have seen in the past.
- Do not get drunk. While this tip is not unique to the groom, the simple fact is that this is your wedding. I have seen grooms completely drunk on their wedding day and not live it down from his bride and family for years to come. The groom more than anyone else needs to deliver a great speech especially to his brides family who will make comments about it years to come.
- Do not make jokes about the bride. Sure the best man can roast the groom but it is considered poor taste to roast ones bride. A little joke is fine but embarrassing your bride will result in a father-in-law dragging you outside for a little ‘chat’.
- Your speech has to be better than the others. What I mean by this is that does not have the be the funniest, longest but at least well prepared with the right amount of emotion. A sloppy groom speech where you do not know what your saying will always result in your bride and family saying “Why did you not you prepare… it was your wedding”.
Groom Speech – That’s A Wrap
That’s it and how you can relax and enjoy the rest of your night. If you follow the simple steps above you should have a pretty heart-warming and awesome groom speech.
Below is an example of a Groom’s speech from a client’s wedding, feel free to use this as inspiration. Check out the direct link on our YouTube channel the How To: Groom Wedding Speech Guide.
Feel free to check out our other wedding speech guides down below. Here we give you guides for the perfect speech on your wedding day (or anyone else speaking).
- Wedding Speech Handy Hints – A great straightforward guide for all wedding speeches
- Groom’s Speech – You Are Here 🙂
- Best Man Speech
- Father Of The Bride Speech
- Father Of The Groom Speech
- Bride Speech
- Maid Of Honour Speech
- Bridesmaid Speech
- Groomsmen Speech
- Wedding Guest Speech
- Cringy And Worst Wedding Speech Guide – A basic guide of what NOT to do
Let us know if this guide helps you with writing your speech. Have you been to a wedding and heard a great groom speech? Or did you hear one that could have been better? Let us know and join the discussion below 🙂
Dimitri Cassimatis is the Marketing Manager at Pink Caviar Events, a corporate event management and styling company based in Sydney, Australia. With a background in marketing and communications, Dimitri brings a wealth of expertise to his role, including strategic planning, branding, and digital marketing. He is passionate about creating engaging content that resonates with Pink Caviar’s target audience and helps to drive the company’s growth. Dimitri is also committed to staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in marketing, and regularly attends industry events and conferences.
