Why use humour in a wedding speech?

A wedding is a joyous event so everyone who goes to a wedding expects to have a good time. After the formality of the church or registry service, guests will begin to feel more relaxed and after a glass of champagne and a lovely meal they will be open and receptive to wedding speeches peppered with humour.

Humour takes very many forms, so if you are not a natural teller of jokes try to steer clear of that avenue and perhaps instead, weave an amusing story into your speech around something which happened to you whilst in the company of the bride, groom or both. If you are the father of the bride you are guaranteed to raise a few laughs by mentioning a funny childhood incident. The very best kind of anecdotes are amusing, perhaps even a little embarrassing, but should not be outrageous, cruel or cause offence to any of the guests.

Always remember that weddings are very much a mixed bag of people of different generations, backgrounds and attitudes and the wise speech-maker will do well to remember this and tailor his speech accordingly. This is not, however, to say the perfect wedding speech must be stilted and dry. On the contrary a little pre-speech consideration will most likely bring to mind a funny event which can safely be retold in all types of company.

Why use humour in a wedding speech? In short, a wedding is a happy time with the guests predisposed to enjoying themselves and are therefore already receptive to a little laughter and fun. Good humour sets the pace for the entire speech and adds more good memories to what should be an already memorable day.