Last-minute wedding speech: what to say with a day or an hour

If you have to give a wedding speech at short notice, keep it to three parts: who you are, one story about the couple, and a toast. Aim for two to three minutes, which is about 200 to 450 words, and cut everything else.

Nobody expects a polished ten-minute speech from someone asked yesterday. A short, warm, specific speech is what the couple will remember.

The three-part structure

Part	What to say	Length
1. Who you are	Your name and how you know the couple	1 or 2 sentences
2. One story	Something that happened that shows who they are	Most of the speech
3. The toast	A one-line wish, then ask everyone to raise a glass	1 or 2 sentences

That is a stripped-down version of the usual speech. Bridebook's guide to short wedding speeches lists five basics: introduce yourself, thank everyone, address the couple, share a hope or wish, and the toast. When time is short, the thank-yous and the wish can shrink to a sentence each, or go.

How long it should be

Bridebook says wedding speeches usually run 5 to 7 minutes, but when there are many speeches or the couple ask for brevity, aim for 2 to 4. It adds: "it's better to speak from the heart for 3 minutes than it is to waffle on for 15!"

VirtualSpeech puts a comfortable speaking pace at 100 to 150 words a minute:

Speech length	Words, roughly
1 minute	100 to 150
2 minutes	200 to 300
3 minutes	300 to 450

If you were asked to fill in for someone else, check how long the couple want. It may be shorter than you think.

If you have a day

1. Ask two questions. When do you speak, and who else is speaking? If someone else is thanking the hosts and suppliers, you can leave that out.
2. List memories for ten minutes. How you met the couple, trips, flats, habits, the first time you saw them together. Write fast and do not judge.
3. Pick one story. Choose the one that shows something good about them and needs no explaining. One story told well beats three told quickly.
4. Write it the way you would say it. Short sentences, their names, no long words you would never use aloud.
5. Read it aloud with a timer. Cut until it fits.
6. Print it. Large font, or a few cards. Read it through a few more times before bed and once in the morning.

If you have an hour

You do not have time to draft and redraft, so work from bullet points:

• Line 1: "Hi, I'm [name], and I've known [name] since [when and where]."
• Three bullets for the story: where it was, what happened, what it shows about them.
• Last line: "Please raise your glasses to [names]."

Say it through out loud twice, once to yourself and once to someone you trust if you can. Bullet points let you talk naturally rather than read, and you will not lose your place in a full page of text.

What to cut

When time is short, these go first:

• The thank-you list. Bridebook suggests one collective thank you rather than naming everyone. If you are not the host, you may not need to thank anyone except the couple.
• Jokes you have not tried out. An untested joke is the part most likely to fall flat.
• A second story. Pick one.
• Quotes and definitions. "Webster's dictionary defines marriage as..." takes time and says nothing about the couple.
• Apologies for being unprepared. Do not open by saying you only found out yesterday. Just start.

Our guide to how to shorten a wedding speech has more on cutting a draft that runs long.

Make it specific, even in a hurry

A rushed speech tends to fall back on lines that could be about anyone: "they're perfect for each other", "a match made in heaven". The quickest fix is one concrete detail per paragraph: a place, a date, something one of them said.

An example written for this page, about no real people:

"Hi everyone, I'm Dan, and I've worked next to Chris for eight years. Chris is not a morning person. For eight years, he arrived at five past nine, every day, holding a cold coffee. Then he met Ellie, and one Monday he walked in at ten to nine with two hot coffees: one for him and, for the first time ever, one for me. I asked what had happened. He said, 'Ellie makes them.' Ellie, thank you for the coffee and for making my friend this happy. Please raise your glasses: to Chris and Ellie."

That is about a minute. It has one story, three details, and nothing that could be lifted into someone else's speech.

For more short speeches by role, see our short wedding speech examples.

If you are nervous

A short speech is easier to deliver than a long one. Breathe out before you stand, hold your cards with both hands, and look at the couple when you give the toast. Our guide to wedding speech nerves covers the rest.

Start your draft

If you have the stories but not the words, answer five questions on theweddingspeech.ai and see your free speech preview.