As the mother of the bride you have a pivotal role in the success of the wedding - but don’t let that intimidate you! You’ve raised your daughter to have grace, class, and spirit and today is the day that all of her most ennobling attributes will be on display to family and friends alike. You’ve been such an integral part of every stage of her life, and her wedding is a beautiful opportunity to step into this new chapter by her side.
As her mother you know her in a way that few can rival, and you’ll know aspects of her character that others don’t. You know the nooks, crannies, and attics of her mind, and you have monopoly over a vast store of private, cherished memories. Given the lofty position you have in her life, you’ll want to strike the perfect note with your mother of the bride speech.
4 Ways to Deliver a Winning Mother of the Bride Speech
1. Play up Her Different Attributes with Curated Anecdotes
2. Look to the Future with Joyful Anticipation
We can’t overstate the importance of well-placed nostalgia within a speech, but we will caution against leaning on it to the exclusion of other important outlooks. The most adept speeches strike a balancing act between looking back and looking forward. Play up your vision for their future and offer well wishes for all the exciting, interesting things to come.
3. Emphasise the New Addition to the Family
Include their spouse in your speech. You don’t need to gush on ad nauseum, but it will make a big impact on your future family-in-law if you make a concerted effort to make a genuine connection with them in your speech. Share your first impressions about them or relay a touching tale that highlights their character and qualities.
4. Use Humour Effectively and Authentically
Humour has a role in any wedding speech but it is not by any means mandatory. If you consider yourself a funny person, infuse as much levity as you possibly can into the speech. But if the idea of landing a joke makes your skin crawl, you don’t need to add more stress to your plate by forcing yourself to be funny just for the sake of it. Oftentimes we feel that keeping people laughing is the only way to keep them listening, but we promise that a heartfelt, emotional speech can be just as rousing.
Why Not Deliver a Mother of the Bride Poem?
If you have creative verve running through your veins, why not try your hand at constructing a poem for your daughter? Poems are an innovative way to catch the crowd by surprise and get everyone engaged. As people become more comfortable with rupturing traditions on the big day there is more enthusiasm about pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Here are some tips to make the unconventional form of a poem work for you.
1. Create Anchor Lines
If there are anecdotes or stories you just have to tell, make them the structural focus of the poem and build the rest of the lines, and rhymes, around them. It is much easier to construct a poem when you have a foundation of sentences, quotes, or punch lines to base the rest of the poem around.
2. Experiment with a Different Form
A traditional rhyming poem is but one option of many. Haikus, sonnets, limericks, and riddles might also be put to great use with a bit of creative finesse.
3. Maintain some Conventions
Although the poetic form breaks the mould, it still pays to conform to some basic etiquette. Avoid off-color jokes, sexual innuendos, any discussion of past relationships, or sore points like past failures and professional mishaps.
4. Create a Thematic Poem
If this seems out of your comfort zone, why not incorporate a short, sweet, thematic poem into the larger narrative of your mother of the bride speech? Perhaps you could present a poem about your daughter’s birth, what it was like raising her, or her first date with her new spouse.
Mother of the Bride Speech Examples
This is a great example of an approachable, welcoming speech that incorporates lovably embarrassing childhood memories with a side of natural, authentic humour. It is engaging and infused with Southern charm. A healthy dose of confidence in the delivery goes a LONG way as this speech demonstrates.
Mother of the Bride Toast
“A wedding not only unites a couple, it unites a family” - this is a gracious and considerate way to make a winning impression on the extended families and friends involved in the big day. This inclusive introduction elevates your speech and is a lovely nod to your new family-in-law.
Mother of the Bride Speech
A great example of offering a warm, impactful anecdote about your daughter’s life and character. Sharing a reflective story about her birth is a tear-inducing way to get the speech going. This speech emphasises the rare and timeless bond a mother has with her daughter.
Greatest Mother of the Bride Speech
Even if you are nervous and prone to wearing your heart on your sleeve, you can still deliver a beautiful, memorable speech. You can feel this mother’s warmth and authenticity throughout this speech. It feels organic and sincere. Proof that a mother of the bride speech doesn’t need to be perfectly memorised or fancy to strike all the right chords.
Still Struggling to Write a Winning Speech?
Struggling to write the mother of all wedding speeches? Enter Splendid Speeches! We not only cherish our own mothers - we cherish all mothers, and we want to help them shine for their moment in the spotlight! We have the words, the lingo, and the little touch of magic that will elevate your mother of the bride speech into a thing of beauty. Reach out to us and let us make your daughter’s day one for the history books!
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