Tradition has it that the bride’s father is the host of his daughter’s wedding. In times past that meant paying for the reception too, though this is not often automatically assumed today. In keeping with that custom, the bride’s father usually acts as the host for the wedding reception.

For some weddings a professional master of ceremonies is engaged, especially for society weddings. At many weddings the bride’s father is will give an opening speech and propose the toast to the newly married couple at the start of the wedding reception, and continue to act as MC for the following proceedings.

There are five key steps to a good father of the bride speech.

The first item is to say some welcoming words to set the atmosphere and create a celebratory mood for a memorable wedding reception. The primary goal is to help the guests to relax. A good way to achieve this is to discuss the wedding ceremony, how beautiful the bride looks, the location chosen for the reception or even the weather — things that all the guests will have an opinion about — and how much you are excited about meeting everyone and sharing the reception with them.

Secondly, playing the role of the host, the bride’s father extends a welcome to all of the guests. It is traditional to introduce any special guests, especially the groom’s family and any guests who have gone to some trouble to get to the wedding. Absent guests are often mentioned at this point too, especially people who are important to the bride or groom but who couldn’t make it to the wedding. A loved grandparent or apopular relative who may have recently passed on is often spoken about at this point.

A third vital section of the speech is to create interest about what is to come at the reception, such as the highlight of the best man’s speech and entertainment scheduled during the reception. Any plans to follow the reception could be referred to. Your guests will relax more when they know what lies ahead.

As a fourth step in their wedding speech, most proud fathers want to say a few heartfelt words among friends and family about the bride, their daughter. Finding the right words to say is often the most difficult part of the speech to prepare for fathers. There is not just one way to express your love for your daughter. Telling stories, possibly funny stories, about your daughter meeting the groom and quoting poetry are popular approaches, among many others.

Finally, to direct the attention of the wedding guests firmly on the newlyweds it is customary for the bride’s father to call for guests to join him in a toast to the bride and groom. Choosing the right words for the toast is a vital step in planning the speech.

All fathers of the bride will inject their own style of speaking, humor and emotions into their speech around this simple five stage framework.

Few fathers will have much experience speaking at their own daughter’s wedding. Most will find a professionally prepared wedding speech guide is very helpful. Speech outlines or templates, and examples of father of the bride speeches, can be downloaded, along with checklists of things and people that should not be overlooked. Time saving resources, such as popular wedding toasts, jokes, quotes and poems are available to select from. Not only do such resources save time preparing the father of the bride speech – they also lift confidence.