And it’s an even safer bet that there are some wedding speeches in your past.
Maybe you gave the speeches, or maybe you simply listened to them as a guest, wedding planner, photographer, waitstaff, musician— or even as the bride or groom.
What have you seen go wrong?
It’s not that difficult to avoid the biggest wedding speech mistakes, but people manage to make them anyway.
Here’s what some previous clients told me they’ve done in the past:
“I made fun of the groom’s sports teams and I got a lot of boos and some uncles and friends were very upset. They straight up told me, worst speech ever.”
“Halfway through my speech, I learned no one could hear me because the mic was held too low.”
The most cringe-worthy thing I've personally experienced at a wedding wasn’t done by a member of the wedding party. It was a hired wedding emcee whose job it was (I assume) to introduce speakers and keep the reception moving along.
To break the ice, he did the old "we have some celebrities here tonight" bit and then proceeded to point out wedding guests who vaguely resembled celebrities.
It's a tough bit to sell if you have talent. He did not.
He got the "wrap it up" signal pretty quickly, but not before he'd pointed out my wife as Ellen, and the one Black guest as Denzel.
To be fair, the emcee was successful in breaking the ice at our table, because after about 15 seconds, we’d bonded over our shared hatred of him. I think we also started a drinking game with shots required whenever he said something awkward. My memories of the later parts of that evening are fuzzy.
When you’re listening to people speak at a wedding, what makes you cringe?
Big or small. If you’re willing to share it, I want to hear it.
