Wedding speeches - a nightmare or your chance to shine?

The wedding day is possibly one of the biggest and most important events in a person's life and as such, the bride and groom have every right to be the centre of attention and to have all eyes on them. But, when it comes to the reception, for just a few minutes, the best man, father of the bride and sometimes even the maid of honour have every right to shine - when giving their speeches.

Speaking as someone who has been there and done that, it can be a nerve-wrecking experience. Public speaking is bad enough, but when you're doing it in front of some of your closest friends and family, and on such an emotional occasion, giving a wedding speech can be downright terrifying - but it's nothing that a bit of Dutch courage can't settle.

But in order to do so you have to go through the stress of actually writing the speech - and I'm not going to lie, it is tricky!

According to professional speech writer Lawrence Bernstein, preparation is key to crafting a knockout number. Whether you want it to be funny, soppy or just straight to the point, he told the Aberdeen Press and Journal that practice makes perfect.

He also advised that speeches should be brief and punchy to avoid boring the other guests to tears, and that where jokes are appropriate, try not to turn it into a stand-up performance!

We here at hitched.co.uk have a whole service dedicated to wedding speech ideas and original, witty jokes, so if you're struggling to get the creative juices flowing, have a look for some sneaky inspiration.    

Have you ever witnessed the world's worst wedding speech?