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 decided to bend down on one knee and propose to my beautiful wife Sarah, I didn’t even think about having to write a groom wedding speech.

The truth is that I left it for months before it was almost too late – that’s how scared I was! At the end of the day, I knew I’d always have to write one, but I was never one of the most confident guys and let’s just say that I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it!

It didn’t help that all my friends were teasing the heck out of me either! What they didn’t know was that I actually had a couple of sleepless nights over this malarkey…

In fact, I was actually an hour late for my own stag party I was so worried about finalizing this thing! If you want one piece of advice it would be to simply not to leave it too late! Seriously, take some time to plan it out and you’ll be fine.

To me, the thought of getting up in front of everyone taking the most important vows of my life was nerve-racking enough. But standing up and giving a so-called “speech” when all the adrenaline had died down was even worse.

As the date grew closer and the excitement mounted, so did the nerves. I just couldn’t fathom it out. Coming up with a funny wedding speech that incorporated emotion too was proving to be a right pain in the backside!

When push came to shove I just decided to write down some of our memories. How we met, our first date etc. My mind was pretty blank to start with (and I’m not exaggerating when I say I thought about this for weeks!) but it gave me some basic ideas that I could put into words.

All you need to do is brainstorm in your spare time. Spend 10 minutes in your coffee break at work just jotting down some of your most memorable moments together. Just don’t rush it! Remember… this is your first and last groom wedding speech and making sure everything goes smoothly will be more than worth it.