Your Bridesmaid Speech -

What must it include?

The bridesmaid speech!
Your best friend or your sister is getting married and you've been asked to be the bridesmaid or maid of honor. It's exciting, a privilege and once the euphoria settles you realize there's also a bridesmaid speech to prepare.

And because you don't want to win the prize for procrastination and you do sincerely want to do your best on the bride's special day, you're looking for guidance on the speech content! You're in the right place.

Here's a basic outline to follow.

Don't worry that through using it your speech will be the same as every other bridesmaid. Because you are 'you' and your relationship to the bride is unique, what you bring to the essential content list will make your speech original. The guide is only here to help you cover off what's expected.
How you do that is up to you!

(Incidentally, if you're pushed for time or completely flummoxed by the prospect of crafting your bridesmaid speech from scratch a visit to bridesmaidwords.com will have you on the right path in next to no time!
bridesmaidwords.com is a collaborative adventure with write-out-loud.com. It features a unique speech writing tool that will give you a personalized original and heartfelt speech with minimum fuss and no bother at all.)

Essential Content for your Bridesmaid Speech

In the introductory segment of your bridesmaid speech include a greeting/welcome to all the guests, mentioning any special ones by name, your name and your relationship to the bride.
If your speech follows the best man's you may like to reference that too.

Example

“Good evening. It's fabulous to see you all here including one very special lady, Teri's spare-mother Sally. Not even delayed flights on the other side of the world could keep her away!

Thank you Mike (best man) for your very gracious compliments on the beauty of the bride and bridesmaids. The bride is already spoken for. However let's see if your actions speak as well as your words. I'll see you at the bar later. Mine's a double!”

Photo:Geoffrey A Stemp

Your introduction should segue nicely into the next part of your bridesmaid speech: a brief history of your relationship to the bride, followed by a short anecdote or story.

This is essential content as it puts your relationship with the bride into context for the guests.

Avoid stories that mention any of the bride’s ex-boyfriends or incidents she would find too embarrassing. Your goal is to honor the bride, not humiliate her.

Stories that would be suitable here are those that illustrate the qualities you admire about her, the shared experiences at the heart of your relationship that keep it ongoing.

These are your classic childhood/school/worklife tales, the ones suitable for and understood by everybody. They are the 'feel-good' stories, making people smile regardless of their age.

The final touch in this segment is to thank the bride for the honor of being her bridesmaid.

This is the part of your bridesmaid speech where you discuss the relationship of the bride and the groom.

If you knew the groom before they began dating, you might have a funny story about how he was before he met the bride. Or this could be the part where you tell how you helped them get together, or how you knew the bride was in love with the groom.

Again, avoid any mention of previous relationships, leave out stories that are overly embarrassing or that highlight any problems the couple may have had in the past, and stay away from anything too risque or off-color. Your role is to positively present the relationship and the commitment they have jointly made.

This section of your bridesmaid speech should include your best wishes for the couple and your hopes for their future. You could express that with a well-chosen quote, a brief poem, or even a song. Whether it is funny and playful or serious and sentimental, whatever you do needs to match the tone or mood of what has gone before.

Your final remark should be a definitive statement indicating to the guests that you've finished. You could achieve that by simply raising your glass and saying "To Susie and Bill!"

More pages to help you prepare:

• browse a diverse collection of wedding poems to choose your special quotation
• read the notes on giving a maid of honor sister speech
• find out how to prepare and use cue cards effectively
• Deliver your bridesmaid speech in style. Check out how to rehearse your speech.

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