Wedding Speeches - The One Week Timetable

I have one week to prepare for my wedding speech - what do I need to do?

• First of all, you might be sitting there thinking: "How on earth am I going to do this in a week?"
• On the other hand, you might be thinking: "Do it in a week? No problem."

If you belong to the first category I would say: "Stay calm, what you have to do is possible." If you belong to the second category (although if you do, you may be unlikely to be reading this!), I would say: "That's fine, but please make sure that you have a full appreciation of the different elements of the task in hand.

Unless you have already planned what to say, the first thing to do, if you haven't already, is to go to our Buy Page and download the appropriate FineSpeeches pack for you, be it one for a Groom, Best Man or Father of the Bride. You will be able to work best with the pack if you print it off.

Plan your Preparations

Next, consider your schedule for the week ahead.

• How much free time do you have?
• Is it spaced evenly throughout the week?
• When can you rely on not being interrupted?
• Are your lunch hours available?
• Is it possible for you to book a day off work?

You need to set aside time to

• assess your FineSpeeches material
• and make your selections from it,
• time to think up your own personal material,
• time to collate it all together and order it,
• time to get it onto cards (which you need to schedule in time to buy),
• and time to practise.

At the start of the week prepare a schedule charting exactly when you will do what and for how long. As the week progresses, keep track of how you're doing; if you lose time on one activity you'll have to speed up somewhere else. However please don't worry; there has been many a wedding speaker who has been in this situation and has succeeded massively, particularly those who have downloaded one of our packs.

Work out What to say

You can give a completely successful wedding speech simply by using one of the examples in our speeches packs. You can improve on it by adding two or three personal reminiscences, thus customising it for your particular wedding and guests.

So, you have your pack. Read through it - all of it (I know there's a lot, but it's a great opportunity to practise your speed reading!) and highlight jokes, quotes and toasts that appeal to you.

Whenever you have a spare moment, consider your FineSpeeches pack;

• remember that it is quite alright to choose sections from different speeches to create your own composite speech.
• As you walk or commute around trawl through your memories for anecdotes etc which you can use.
• Carry a notebook so that you can write them down straight away.
• Don't leave it at the office!

Also, do read the help files on our website; there is a great deal of useful advice on matters ranging from preparing your notes to practising and control of nerves.

Practice and Rehearse

And lastly, don't panic. And to help you not to panic, be sure to get some practising in - as much as you can find time for.

Lots of practise won't make a bad speech good, but no practise is likely to make an otherwise good speech bad. No-one wants this to happen, least of all you.

Practise in front of a mirror and pretend that you are there at the top table, delivering to a packed house before taking your seat to massive applause.

If you follow these guidelines plus those in our Help Files and choose material from our pack which you genuinely like, backing it up with two or three solid personal contributions, it is difficult to see anything stopping you from being an immense success.