Many years ago, when I entered the working world, I very quickly came to the conclusion that I was ideally unsuited to communicating in a corporate way. Every time I found myself in a serious conversation or meeting, I spent most of my time thinking of funny things to say, which were not only completely pointless, but also completely unrequired. Luckily, I found my way into broadcasting and writing and have never looked back, but it cemented in me the idea that, despite not sharing my love of humour in communications, they would have been all the richer for it.
Nearly every communication in the world is all the better for having some humour in it. Some most memorable and effective political speeches feature clever comedy, and a really great eulogy should make you laugh as well as cry. Wedding speeches are no exception, and whilst that may seem obvious to most of you, countless wedding speeches are completely devoid of humour…and they are by far and a way, the most tedious and forgettable.
The trick to writing a great father of the bride speech is to nail that balance between humour and sentiment. It’s about getting those big messages across and having some whilst you’re doing it. If you can deliver those meaningful parts to the speech, and then balance them out with some funny memories, stories, or observations, then you will have a speech that you will enjoy giving and everyone else will enjoy listening to.
That humour should be original, genuinely funny and avoid any of the awful cliched and dull wedding gags. Thinks about your daughter’s early years growing up, think about her character then, and the person she is now. There will be some comedy gold in there somewhere, and it’s up to you to exploit.
