So, the big day is now approaching and you are about to write and present your father of the groom speech. It is always great if you have some ideas in your mind, but it is even better if you have some new tips, actual ideas that are useful in the process. People are looking forward to things that would connect with them, mostly information that are of their interest. It’s pretty hard to estimate what that is in every situation, but there are ideas to assist in your decisions.
Know the guests as much as possible
The first thing you want to do, as the father of the groom, is to know people as much as possible. It’s not entirely possible to meet everyone who is going to join the wedding, but it’s fairly simple to find out basics about everyone, if not more, then at least whose friends or relatives they are.
Knowing the guests also means you get to know their preferences. The more you know about their preferred things, the easier it will be for you to make sure that the right father of the groom speech will be written and it won’t offend people. Of course, most of the guests will be known through your wife or through your son, and the bride. There are probably many guests who you don’t know that well personally, but your relatives might know them way better than you do. So, it’s not your fault if you don’t know enough information and then you decide to ask and find out.
Meet with your trustworthy friends
Friends aren’t only good to have fun, to drink beer and to spend some time together. Friends are more than that. Yes, they can actually help you, making sure that they give some valuable advices. Face it: some of them had gone through the father of the groom speech process once, and some of them might have gotten through even three times. It’s not necessarily the fact that they would be better than you are, it’s just that experience makes a difference you can’t beat.
Your friends, out of their own happenings, will instantly know what didn’t work for them, so that you don’t repeat the same mistakes. Then, in the same way, they will tell you what went great and then you have the opportunity to decide something based on how your son is, because you know his character, his personality, especially the things he likes and respects, plus the things he hates.
Also, while you meet with friends, you will have one of the most valuable things going on: the chance to practice. You see, a lot of times a father of the groom speech fails due to the lack of practical tryouts, which can only happen with the aid of friends or family. I mean the tests, during which you actually stand up and start saying the speech, pretending as if it was the wedding day. During this, your friends are supposed to assist you, telling you what went wrong or why the things you did went perfectly. In any case, you need to find out what there is to be done. It’s the best if they honestly tell you what they don’t like, what they believe is wrong with your father of the groom speech. If you listen to friends, they are honest with you and they don’t want to tell you something like “you’re good” when you’re not!
Reduce the regular relaxation time
Maybe when no wedding was to be seen at the horizon, you wanted to relax in many different ways. You were used to watching every game, to drink with your friends, to go to several baseball tournaments, to sleep when you don’t want to do anything else. However, these things can’t continue as before when you are about to prepare and present the father of the groom speech. You need to sacrifice some of your favorite things, so that you can dedicate more of your time and energy to writing and preparing the speech. After all, the father of the groom speech isn’t only about writing it, it’s also about learning how to present it, getting new ideas, and putting your heart into it, while you keep helping your son with the wedding.
Maybe before, you could afford to watch a movie every evening. Now, for your son’s sake, you could give that up and try to watch only one movie per week. What to do in that extra time? You should focus on writing the speech text, adding to it or editing it as you can. It’s okay if on some days you don’t have any new ideas, but it’s even better if you make use of every single idea as soon as you have it.
Make sure you have a great suit and matching shoes
Suits can sometimes be very expensive, and there are even suits that are so in fashion and amazing that you can’t even afford them. Still, you can always have a suit rental or buy something cheaper which still looks great without a brand on it. What you want to do before choosing the suit is finding out the wedding’s color theme. If they do red, it might be slightly awkward if you came in a red suit, because maybe the best man already wanted to do that. Also, as much as possible, you should avoid having the same style and color of suit of someone else’s (from the guests). If you know about someone’s suit, don’t buy the same one!
You can also check the latest trends. There is suit fashion, and suits that would go perfectly for weddings. Make sure you document yourself, and even ask the people from the stores if they had anything to recommend you based on your physical appearance, based on your shoes and the wedding style and area. If they don’t give you a clue, then you can research online, ask your wife, ask your best friends and do whatever you can to find out. It’s best if your suit was also chosen based on trends and personal preferences.
The reason why the suit is very important is your attitude. If you know your suit is great, then you will have the right attitude when you are presenting your father of the groom speech. If not, then you might feel a bit insecure or weaker compared to others, due to the simple fact that you might notice the bride’s father or someone else who has a better and nicer suit than you have.
Then, having the suit alone is not everything, because you need matching shoes and a tie. Well, a tie is mostly simple to find, but shoes come in huge variety. You don’t need to complicate things too much, but you should also look out for more possibilities without jumping on the first shoes that come around. A good match will again strengthen your attitude, confidence and overall father of the groom speech success. The contrary will make you feel weaker, awkward and not necessarily ready for giving a speech.
The right voice and style
The right voice will always make the guests feel what you feel. You can’t tell your father of the groom speech if your emotions are disconnected from what the speech is. Also, it’s not a good idea if you try to say a speech but your voice sounds like you’re on another planet. People will notice if your mind goes somewhere else, far away, and doesn’t stay with the speech where it was supposed to stay.
The style should be flexible, but ready to be serious and funny at the same time. Using jokes is the right thing to do, if you know how to loosen up the atmosphere and make others laugh. The right voice and style is, ultimately, the perfect blend between a message, humor and style, combined with the expressive emotions that come along.