Father of the Bride Speech: Tips to Make it Memorable

Your daughter’s wedding is a big milestone that will be cherished by many. Out of the various wedding speeches, the father of the bride speech can be the most touching and memorable for all. Getting your speech right will help set the tone for the reception and the experience of friends and family. Here are a few ideas to get ready for the big day.

If you don’t have time to read about writing your own speech, get in touch with us on 1300 731 955 or use the contact form on this page.

What to include in a father of the bride speech?

Out of wedding speeches, the father of the bride speech is an opportunity to highlight the bride’s history and personality. A few things to include in a simple father of the bride speech are:

Welcoming guests and making special mention of those who have travelled a long distance
Acknowledging the bride’s parents and family members in attendance
Mentioning any family members who couldn’t attend due to illness or travel restrictions
Telling stories about the development of your daughter and how she became the woman she is today
Welcoming your son-in-law into your family and sharing positive thoughts about him (you don’t need to say too much as this will be covered in the best man speech)
Thanking people who have helped you with the wedding day, including wedding suppliers, such as caterers and entertainers
Include any thoughts from your wife (if she’s not speaking) or the bride’s mother (if you are no longer together and she agrees to this)
Offer them best wishes for the future and propose a toast to the bride and groom.

While we don’t include a father of the bride speech template here, including the points above should be enough to create a memorable father of the bride speech.

Creating a funny speech

As mentioned, humour can be included in your speech. It can be a way to break the ice at the beginning. However, it’s best to avoid telling a standard joke. Instead, tell funny anecdotes about your daughter. It could be funny things she did or said as a child and humorous experiences from her teenage and young adult years. Humour can also be added by giving some ‘marriage advice’ to the groom based on your daughter’s personality. For example. “Just let her choose what you’re going to watch on Netflix and you’ll be fine.”

When using humour in a father of the bride speech remember to avoid being offensive or embarrassing anyone, especially your daughter. This could set a sour tone for the wedding. If you are going to use a joke that you’re not sure about, run it by the bride and groom beforehand to make sure they approve. After all, it’s their day and they should have some input into what’s said.

If you decide to deliver a humorous speech, you’ll also want to include some heart warming elements, including stories.

Speech toast

This is at the end of the father of the bride speech where you share your final thoughts and offer best wishes to the happy couple. Ask guests to raise their glasses for the toast. Sometimes people will stand, but this will depend on the wedding venue (it might be too cramped for people to get up and down out of their seats for numerous toasts by the speakers). Also, you will also want to make sure that the servers understand that you will be proposing a toast and that beverages need to be available for this.

Father of the bride speech outline:

Here’s an outline of a father of the bride speech

Thanking guests for attending
Speaking about your daughter: early years, personality, funny stories
First impressions of the groom and his positive aspects
How the bride and groom complement each other: the things they have in common and how they can compensate for each other through their differences
Words of wisdom and best wishes for the future
Raise a toast to the bride and groom.

Father of the bride speech Australia

Over the years, we have written many wedding speeches for celebrations across Australia. Feel free to get in touch with us on 1300 731 955 or email to discuss your father of the bride speech requirements for the special day.

Father of the bride speech examples

Here’s a father of the bride speech example from the many speeches we have written over the years.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening.

For those who may not know me, my name is Richard, and I have the good fortune to be the father of the bride. Alana and I, along with Janis and Bill, welcome you to Laura and Mike’s wedding and reception.

I know that many people travelled a long way to be here tonight.

Pamela has come from London to be a bridesmaid. Penny has come from Queensland, as have Allen, Laura’s cousin, and Andrea. Andreas’s cousin Jill has come from Ireland. Jill is one of Laura’s Godmothers, so she wouldn’t miss this wedding for anything. Mike’s sister Jessica and her husband Tom have come from New York, and Mike’s brother Chris has also come from London. A long-time family friend, Neil, has come from Singapore.

Looking around the room I see so many family and friends who have known Laura for many years.

My cousin Mitchell christened Laura. Today he came from a busy parish in Newcastle to marry Mike and Laura. Thank you, Mitchell, for making the day so personal.

Many of Laura’s friends are here today — friends from Newcastle, her school years, university and work. Alison and I were lucky to become friends with the parents of many of Laura’s schoolmates, especially when she was at boarding school.

To proudly watch Laura walking down the aisle looking absolutely stunning makes your efforts to be here very worthwhile. We thank everyone for coming to help us celebrate Laura and Mike’s wedding.

There are so many things I could talk about tonight, but I’ll try to be brief.

I’ll start by mentioning that Laura, Mike and Alana and I have spent many weekend hours together renovating their house in Hamilton. Laura’s enthusiasm throughout the renovations was wonderful even though it didn’t always match reality.

The thought of moving on to the next renovation in Brisbane fills us with trepidation. Both Alison and I have thought of moving to Brisbane — if only to avoid any more renovation projects! Now that Laura and Mike are experts, we’ll leave the renovations to them in the future.

All of you know Laura or Mike, but you can’t possibly know Laura as a father knows his daughter. She is so enthusiastic about everything. She gets excited just anticipating. You can probably guess who is always the first one up on Christmas morning. She even gets excited when it is my birthday, let alone her own. Laura is a bright, intelligent, beautiful, loyal and extremely determined young lady. When things get tough, she just goes after it with more tenacity. I don’t think anything could stop her. I love her so much, and I am so very proud of her.

Her soulmate, Mike, perfectly complements Laura with his patience and practicality. He is a very down-to-earth, easygoing, no-nonsense kind of guy. He’s a hard worker and extremely polite.

I recall a night not that long ago when Mike was staying at our home. He had a big night out and came in late and a little under the weather. When he was let into the house he sounded as if he was still at school: “Most rude of me, I must apologise. Extremely rude, I am sorry.” I guess he felt that since he came in so late, he just had to apologize. We also enjoy his wonderful sense of humour. I am proud to have Mike as my son-in-law.

Mike, someone once said that there are only two things that are necessary to keep one’s wife happy: one is to let her think she is having her own way; the other is to let her have way.

Seriously, marriage is a meeting of two minds, two hearts and two souls. It is clear to me that Laura and Mike are a perfect example of this.

Today I had one of those special and rare privileges to walk Laura down the aisle. She was beaming and beautiful. She made Alana, our son Raymond and I very proud.

Laura is no longer my little girl — she is grown up! We are delighted she has found someone she loves and cares for and we are so happy to welcome Mike to our family.

To Laura and Mike. I wish for the best life that both God and this world can offer. May your love be modern enough to survive the times and old-fashioned enough to last forever.

Everyone – please stand and join me for the toast to the bride and groom.

(pause while everyone stands)

May you live each day like it is your last, and live each night like it is your first.

To Laura and Mike.

___________________________

Here’s another father of the bride speech example

Good evening, everyone.

My wife, Joan, and I welcome to the Jonah’s at Dolphin Beach. We are here to honour our daughter Barbara and her new husband Chris on their wedding.

First, I’m going to tell you a little bit about Barbara. Then I’ll even share a little about Chris, my new son-in-law!

Thank you for being here over these two days to celebrate with us. And a special thank you to those who have travelled long distances to be here.

Now, back to Barbara and Chris.

Barbara was very active and energetic as a child and remains so. She was so determined to move around as a baby that she began walking at 11 months. Later, at MLC at Burwood, she excelled at netball and athletics. There she made some wonderful friends, many of whom are here today.

Besides being an accomplished athlete, Barbara achieved an excellent mark in her HSC. She was accepted into the University of Sydney but deferred after one year. I think it was because she partied too much.

She ended up travelling overseas for three months. In fact, she partied so hard during her trip that she had to get treatment to repair her vocal cords when she returned. I think she takes after her mother in this respect.

Then, Barbara decided to begin her career in real estate. She was the youngest to complete the licensing course in six months — at 22. Now, she’s in the top 10 per cent of salespeople in the network, and she’s been in the business for 16 years. Maybe she enjoys it, or perhaps I just pay her too much. But seriously, I can say that she’s determined, hard-working and works well with others to get the job done. She’s an authoritative leader and is respected by all her colleagues.

On the personal side, she’s always been a loving daughter to Joan and me, a caring sister to her brothers Todd and Dean, and a friend to all around her.

(Turn to Barbara)

Barbara, Joan and I love you dearly for making such a difference in our lives.

But she does have a cheeky side. When she was five, she decided to climb a tree at school. She slipped and badly gashed her leg. It required emergency surgery and 22 stitches. A scar remained. So to get the most from it, Barbara would tell people a shark had bitten her.

Another time, she was still wearing slippers when she was dropped off at primary school. Her brother Todd asked what she would do about it, and she said she would tell the other kids that she had sprained her toe and couldn’t put her shoe on!

And best of all was the time Barbara snuck into Dingo nightclub with her best friend, Nadine. Despite being underage, she won the Miss Dingo competition held that night. Mr Dingo chose her out of all the women present. The prize was a weeklong holiday in Cairns and free swimwear. She didn’t go with Mr. Coyote but took her best friend Nadine. It was okay until an article about her big win in the local newspaper appeared. It said that Barbara was attending university. Now, that was a bit embarrassing when people asked me about it.

Of course, Barbara has settled down much since those days — and that brings me to Chris. Like Barbara, Chris is ambitious, hard-working and successful.

He’s a self-made man who has worked his way up to where he is today. He’s a Director of the Northern Beaches Golf Centre and the Northern Beaches Golf Club. He’s very well known in the Shire for his coaching expertise.

He even thought he could teach me to play golf. But after giving me a few lessons, he admitted defeat. He also told Barbara that my golfing skills were lower than Gandhi’s cholesterol! Now I know why golf coaches often say, “Keep your head down.” It’s because they’re laughing so hard, and they don’t want you to notice.

(Choose a few short golf jokes or one-liners to go here).

But Chris is really best at coaching the pros. Last year, he coached Bob Jones to help get him into the British Open. Barbara and Christina travelled together to the Open and went to Italy afterwards. If that wasn’t enough excitement, Chris then proposed to Barbara.

We have known Chris for two years and found him to be very caring and responsible. And he’s blended in with our family as if he has always been part of it. Now he’s gone from being a ‘husband in training’ to the ‘official husband’ of our daughter.

When I look at Barbara and Chris, I see a couple with much in common. They both have had their share of adversity and have overcome personal challenges in their lives, and I believe this has made them stronger. They both are successful in their careers and respected by their friends and peers.

Joan and I can truly say that I haven’t seen Barbara so happy and glowing as she is now. We are pleased to welcome Chris into our family, and we know that both of you will remain happy together as a wonderful couple.

When Joan and I got married, my father gave us an important piece of advice, and I would like to pass it on. He said: “As you both go through life together, if you ever feel that everything is coming against you at once, you’re in the wrong lane!”

Having said that, let’s raise our glasses and toast this lucky couple.

To Barbara and Chris: May your love be modern enough to survive the times and old-fashioned enough to last forever.

_________________________________

If you have any questions about getting assistance with your father a bride speech, give a call on 1300 731 955 or use the contact form on this page.