Far too many people dismiss the groom speech as just a list of thank yous. Yes, it is your job as the groom to thank and welcome people, and the thanking part is really important. It's your opportunity to say just what your parents, family, friends and brand new in-laws mean to you. Never again - hopefully - will you have a public platform to stand up and acknowledge the hugely important part they have played in your life. The problem is...grooms get a little bit carried away.
You have a very limited amount of time and number of words to make your impact, so you need to be really efficient in what you're saying. Quite why grooms decide to thank venues, waiting staff, photographers, florists, drivers and hair stylists, i s completely beyond me. You gave paid them, and thanks to the wedding tag on the invoice, probably very handsomely, so why are you wasting your time thanking them? This speech is for the people who count, who have contributed to the people that you've become, not to somebody who's given you their sort code. Do you honestly think that in 2 weeks time they will even remember your name? To them, you are just an entry in a spreadsheet, and in 10 years time you'll be wondering why you bothered...actually make that 10 days.
Do not thank anyone you have paid to render a service. It's just a waste of words. If you think that they would have turned up, cooked, served and washed up for 100 people for free, then by all means thank away, but that's not going to happen. Yes, I thank the bus driver when he drops me off, because I was brought up that way, and it's only cost me £2. If I've just handed someone £15,000, they should be thanking me.
,
