I had this dilemma myself and thought about how I’d go about making suitable jokes, so with the aid of Google I set about finding a couple of kids’ jokes (as strange as it may sound) and also incorporated some more adult humor that would appeal to the older guests. Bride jokes don’t go down well and remember that the father of the bride will also have spent time rehearsing his speech too – You don’t want to go treading on his toes by insulting his daughter a few seconds later! Remember, this is a day for not just you and your wife but for your immediate family to cherish and enjoy too.

On the other hand, humor can be used to keep peoples interest and sustain their attention for a longer period of time. Just bare in mind that the younger children such as your siblings, nieces and nephews may not be able to appreciate all your jokes and thus find it pretty difficult to pay attention. At the end of the day this is your wedding; no-one else’s. You want all eyes to be focused on you and your fiancée at all times.

More often than not, I’d recommend including reasonably funny jokes that everyone can appreciate. Dry humor seemed to go down pretty well for me (albeit my parents hate my sarcasm!) and I added a bit of comedy into things that were fairly emotional or sensitive. From the reaction, some of the jokes were unexpected but appreciated nonetheless as they kept people relaxed and entertained.

You want people to have fun and for your bride to feel appreciated. But this isn’t a comedy sketch or teenage love letter. It needs to remain sophisticated and professional with the perfect blend of comedy to even it out about 40-50% of the time. Let’s be honest. Writing funny groom speeches isn’t easy; it all sounds a bit tedious at this moment in time and it can appear hard at first to find the balance between not lecturing people and not being too informal either.

Just remember to relax, stay focused and remain calm throughout. It’s easier than you might think because at the end of the day all your guests are relatives or friends! I had all these people telling me to focus on one thing in the audience – like to stare at a picture on the wall or something. Personally, I ignored everyone’s advice and just did what felt natural. I didn’t lock up and managed to appear (I hope) moderately confident and relaxed.

I’ve seen guys gaze aimlessly into the audience before. It comes across as a bit arrogant as well as conveying that the person giving his groom wedding speech isn’t confident in himself. Believe it or not, this puts everyone on edge and actually makes them feel your nerves too – so don’t do it! Personally, I’d practice in front of your friends on your stag party beforehand. This got rid of most of my initial nerves and helped me not to worry come the big day…

Saying the right words at the right time can seem hard to grasp. Like I said a minute ago, remain calm and relaxed throughout and get plenty of practice in and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Alternatively, get an idea of what works by checking out some groom wedding speech examples.

When I was double-checking my speech at the last minute, I realised I’d included a joke that was pretty inappropriate for the mother-in-law and also some of the younger children that would be there. It’s easy to get carried away and go off on a tangent in an attempt to be funny, so just make sure you do remember to double and even triple check your speech before the big day!

Be Funny, But Be Serious Too…

Albeit you might want to create a funny groom speech, just bear in mind that this is your chance to let others know how you feel. I found that striking the balance between something mildly-romantic and also humorous at the same time was the key to creating a groom wedding speech that everyone enjoyed.

In most cases, the same old “how we met” story works wonders. It has people saying “aww” from the start and really increased my confidence allowing me to relax once I knew people were liking it.

So even though me and my new wife Sarah knew this story to the letter, I thought it was a good idea to give our friends and relatives an insight into our first date. And it really went down a treat…

I told the embarrassing (but funny) story of how Sarah and I wined and dined at the restaurant from hell on our first date and how from that moment on we were literally hooked on each other – soppy I know. This helped set the atmosphere for a great evening and got everyone pumped up and in the mood for what was to come!

Mentioning The Family…

Ah, the old classic. I personally didn’t talk much about my family as I wanted my beautiful bride to feel appreciated. After all, people didn’t come to our wedding to hear my life story!

I talked briefly about my upbringing and my very first girlfriend and this was where I was able to incorporate some humour into the speech. I also thanked everyone for their wealth of gifts (it was like Christmas ten times over!) and donations to our honeymoon and took the opportunity to thank both sets of parents for their help and support.

All in all, I’d recommend keeping your speech natural. Don’t try and go over the top on the humour and focus more on creating a groom wedding speech that is passionate and entertaining. The fact that I started off with a bit of history and humour was what really helped me overcome my nerves early on.