The Best Wedding Speeches We've Recorded - Tips and Ideas from a Wedding Videographer
Every weekend we hear speeches at weddings. Let me say - not all speeches are created equal. You've probably heard funny stories of speeches gone wrong, drunken toasts, or heard a combination of them yourself. They happen, but thankfully they’re rare. Nobody wants to embarrass themself in front of hundreds of wedding guests, or worse, have it recorded by the videographer so it lasts forever 🙈
In our opinion, one of the BEST parts of a wedding day is the speeches. If you’ve watched any of our wedding highlight films, you know a good speech can totally make a wedding film! The opposite is also true - a wedding toast without substance or heart can take away from your wedding day, not just in the moment, but in the final highlight video. After 10+ years of filming weddings, the best wedding speeches are those that share heartwarming, funny and meaningful stories, and share about the couple. Seems obvious to talk about the couple, right? Well, too often speakers get stuck on a train talking all about the groom OR the bride, but forget to talk about them as a couple. Typically, the portion that we like to use in a highlight film is the portion when the speaker is speaking about the couple together. This fits beautifully into a video sequence of the couple together at their wedding!
Wedding speeches make us laugh, cry, smile, and think about our own love stories. They’re special and need to be remembered! We’re married, and our favorite thing to do on our anniversary is go back to watch and listen to the speeches from our wedding day (back in 2016)! They’re a great memory of our beginning as a couple, our story, who we were on our wedding day and the people we love so dearly.
A few tips from a videographer for your wedding speech:
Tell stories, but keep them short. We can’t use a 5 minute story in a 5 minute highlight film. It might not make the highlight cut of the film!
Be YOU! Don’t feel like you need to follow a guide you found on Google to make your speech perfect. Think about what you want to say, and don’t worry too much about making sure you “check all of the boxes” someone online says you should. You’ll do great!
Make sure you talk about the couple together. Tell a story of when they first met, when you first knew they were right for each other, why they’re a great match, why you love them and well wishes you have for them in their life together. You can’t go wrong here!
The groom’s sister talks about the couple together beautifully in Danielle & Charlie’s wedding at The Whim.
The father of the bride speaks about the couple’s beginning, them together and his wishes for them together (very poetically)! This wedding was at Hidden Meadow in Pepin, WI.
The mother of the bride tells stories and tells them her wishes for them as a couple. Made us cry! Such a lovely wedding at Bavaria Downs.
These are just a few films that showcase some great speeches, but you can see more here! All of our collections include a Ceremony & Toasts video, so you can remember the words said by those you love! Check out our collections here!
Here’s a link to all of our wedding films on Vimeo. Grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and hit play!