How long should a father of the bride speech be?
Here’s my official answer as a professional comedy writer, father of the bride speech expert and wedding guest:
Aim for about 5 minutes.
Why do I say “about 5 minutes?”
Because if it’s a little more or less than 5 minutes, you’re still in the right ballpark.
If you’re a man of few words and you keep it short and sweet at 3 minutes, that’s totally fine.
If your speech creeps up to 7, 8, even 10 minutes, that’s ok too.
The most important thing isn’t the size (of your speech -- get your mind out of the gutter!)
The most important thing is the structure of your speech – and by that I mean, does it have one?
Of course your father of the bride speech is going to be heartfelt and funny. She’s your little girl. You’ve got stories from every second along the way. But your listeners have to be able to follow those stories.
A great father of the bride speech has a clear beginning, middle and end.
There’s nothing worse than listening to a speech that gets off to a great start and then watching it sink like a stone.
Your father of the bride speech should be a snowball rolling downhill, gathering momentum, telling us everything we need to know in a clear, easy to follow way, building to a strong natural finish — your toast.
