Using Humour in Your Wedding Speech

When sitting down to write that all important wedding speech, most grooms, best men and fathers of the bride agonise over how they’re going to make their guests laugh. They want to include jokes, and they want these jokes to be memorable, original and belly-achingly funny.

But it is important to remember that there is a difference between making people laugh and ‘telling a joke’. However good the joke, many people (understandably) find it difficult to get their timing right and deliver the punch-line with confidence. In fact this can be a huge source of concern in the run up to the wedding speech. It is not unusual for worried best men to call me telling me they’ve written what felt like good jokes, but are now petrified about delivering them to an audience who react in silence.

It is possible however to avoid punch-lines and still write a memorable and amusing speech. This is done most successfully by using ‘observational’ humour. By latching on to a theme that is unusual and imaginative, it is possible to paint yourself or your subject in a humorous way. These are some of the things that could be done:

• Pointing out similarities (or differences) between the subject today compared to what he/she was like as a child. Is their current career a bizarre outcome considering their childhood strengths, weaknesses and dreams?
• Describing a particularly quirky hobby, interest or obsession they may have. How do their other half/parents/siblings feel about it?
• Elaborating on the incompetence the groom displayed trying to summon up the courage to pop the question.
• Thinking about the key differences in how friends from different parts of their life describe them.

Humour is often found in the unexpected and simply by turning the world on its head. The important thing is to refrain from going over the top. Try to be yourself and remember to balance any humour with a degree of sincerity. It’s getting this balance right that creates the perfect speech.

Please feel free to give me a call if you’d like to discuss your wedding speech.

Lawrence

Article by Wedding Speech Writing Specialist Lawrence Bernstein

Image Courtesy of Lily and Frank Photography

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