Your palms are sweaty, your throat’s dry, your heart’s beating faster and louder than a marching band – it’s quite likely then, that you’re about to give the all -important wedding speech. But before you drag your feet to the microphone like a person condemned to the gallows, take a little inspiration from our do’s and don’ts that will soon have you leaping onto the stage brimming with confidence.

The Father of the Bride’s Speech

Traditionally, the father of the bride’s speech is the first speech given. As father of the bride, it’s appropriate to welcome all the guests and thank them for attending.

Do
- Welcome your new son-in-law, and his parents into the family
- Let your daughter know proud you are of her and how lovely she looks
- Relate a humourous anecdote about your first impression of your son-in-law
- Offer advice and well wishes to the couple
- Propose a toast to the happy couple

Don’t
- Joke about polishing your shotgun or breaking bones if your new son-in-law hurts your daughter. Just remember: Threats (even in jest) + Weddings = Bad Atmosphere – no matter how protective you are of the bride.

The Father of the Groom’s Speech

Traditionally the father of the groom’s speech occurs after the father of the bride has made his speech.

Do
- Welcome your new daughter-in-law and her parents into the family.
- State how proud you are of your son and how pleased you are to see him married to his bride.
- Tell an anecdote about your first impressions of the couple, an amusing incident involving the wedding preparations or a memorable moment during the bride and groom’s courtship.
- Give advice and well wishes to the couple.
- Propose a toast to the happy couple.

Don’t
- Embarrass the bride and groom with your anecdote. At best, you’ll only get a few uneasy laughs and a whole lot of uncomfortable silence.

The Groom’s Speech

The groom’s speech usually comes next and provides him with the opportunity to respond to the wedding speeches already given by his father and father-in-law. Traditionally the groom would speak on behalf of himself and his bride. However nowadays, a bride’s speech has become commonplace also.

Do
- Welcome all the guests, with a special mention of those who have travelled a long way to be there.
- Thank the bride’s parents for allowing you their daughter’s hand in marriage and for welcoming you into their family.
- Give appreciation of the comments made by your father and father-in-law.
- Pay tribute to your own parents.
- Acknowledge all the people involved in the wedding preparations.
- Propose a toast to the bridesmaids and acknowledge their unique role as support to your bride during the wedding and reception.
- Thank your best man and groomsmen for their role during the wedding and wedding preparations.

Don’t
- Forget to thank and compliment the bride. It’s a common mistake many grooms make. Though many people need to be acknowledged for all the time and effort they’ve put into the wedding, she’s put in many hours too – especially in transforming herself into the vision of beauty that stands before you now!

The Bride’s Speech

It’s become quite common for the bride to give a speech on her wedding day, particularly if family members or close friends can not be present.

Do
- Thank all guests for traveling to be with you for the occasion.
- Describe the feelings of the day and how happy you are to be married to your new husband.
- Thank the groom’s parents for accepting you into their family.
- Pay tribute to your own parents.
- Acknowledge the help of bridesmaids and others for their role in the wedding and preparations.
- Acknowledge anything notable said in previous speeches.

Don’t
- Hog the limelight! Whilst it is your special day, the speeches aren’t supposed to be your domain.

The Best Man’s Speech

The one that everyone’s been waiting for! Usually the best man’s wedding speech is last and rounds off the formal speeches. However, the best man is often called upon to be the master of ceremonies and can sometimes be the first to toast the bride and groom also.

Traditionally the best man is either a close relative or close friend of the groom and is therefore in the unique position of having known the groom long before he met his bride. This means the speech is often the most intimate of them all. It’s usually light-hearted and fun and demonstrates his affection for the groom and happiness for the couple.

Do
- Thank all the guests for coming (particularly if you are also acting as master of ceremonies).
- If you are a friend of the groom, describe how you met the groom and relate a funny but not too embarrassing story of the groom that others will enjoy.
- If you are a relative of the groom, describe a childhood incident or something similar which may be amusing for guests to share.
- Talk about the groom’s life, experiences and qualities.
- Describe how happy you were when the couple met and began their courtship.
- Propose a toast to the parents of the happy couple.
- To finish, read out letters and telegrams from those who were not able to attend. If there are many, read a selection.

Don’t
- Get drunk. Many best men make the mistake of having a few for Dutch courage and get a little carried away. Slurring and stumbling is not attractive in a speaker.
- Relate incidents involving the groom’s past girlfriends. Nobody – especially the bride – likes to be reminded that they weren’t the only one.

Other Common Wedding Speeches:

Aside from the above wedding speeches, the respective mothers’ of the bride and groom and also the maid of honor may wish to give a speech also.

As mother of the bride, or mother of the groom, you may wish to stand with your husband while he is making his speech and add a few words of your own, finishing off by proposing a joint toast to the couple. Or you may have a full speech of your own prepared along similar lines to topics traditionally addressed by the father of the bride or father of the groom.

Similarly, as a maid of honor, it is common to make a speech similar to that of the best man but with the focus being on the bride’s qualities and experiences you have shared together.

Other Important tips:

Be mindful of your audience: There is likely to be a variety of guests from different cultural or social backgrounds and it’s important to keep this in mind when planning what you will say and the gestures that you use when delivering your speech. You may hold your palm up to stop people’s conversations and to get their attention but in Greece it’s the equivalent to giving someone ‘the finger’. A thumb’s up to an attendee of the wedding may be meant endearingly but to citizens from the Middle East, West Africa and South America it’s hideously offensive. When in doubt, always err on the side of caution. Refrain from swearing and keep your gestures discrete.

Make eye contact: As with all public speaking, it is effective to make regular eye contact with your audience. Making eye contact engages your audience and makes them feel involved in what you are saying. If you are using palm cards or written notes, make sure the writing is big enough to see easily. Rather than writing out the whole speech, consider writing only the main points so that your delivery feels natural and you are able to maintain regular eye contact with your audience.

Don’t rush: Speak at a normal conversational pace, or slightly slower. It is natural to speak more quickly when everyone’s attention is on you but try to resist this urge. Listeners will relax and hear you better if you speak calmly and at a steady pace.

Speak with heart: Weddings are a beautiful celebration of love and unity. Keep this in mind when you are delivering your wedding speech. If you speak with a full heart you will add to the feeling of love and auspiciousness which surrounds the occasion and your words will penetrate into the hearts of all those present.

About the Author:

Article brought to you by Bride Online, Australia’s premier wedding portal. Find wedding dresses, flowers, bridal gowns and bouquets, bridesmaid dresses, reception venues, marriage celebrants, flowers, cakes, invitations, photographers and more. Bride Online have free wedding planning tools, articles and tips, photo galleries and even wedding classifieds listing pre-loved bridal items to make organising your wedding day nuptials stress-free and easy. Also visit Wedding Directory Australia, for more wedding resources and ideas.

I have noticed that there has been a drive to make profit from labels that exists not only at the level of pharmaceutical companies, but also from cash strapped school district and sadly, from disengaged parents themselves. School districts are able to obtain additional funds for each child labeled. These funds do not necessarily go towards the aid of individual students but can be utilized in various ways. Some parents (who are emotionally disconnected from their children) and who are undergoing financial distress jump on the idea of obtaining a diagnosis and label for their child in situations where the problem is one that is solely the result of psychosocial factors,in order to cash in on various taxpayer funded programs.

These parents are attempting to exonerate themselves from any sense of responsibility or accountability in addressing the emotional needs of their children themselves or seeking to make the necessary changes that would aid their child in being more motivated and functioning more successfully. The education system also fails to provide the appropriate means of adapting methods suitable to the child’s learning style or instilling a zeal for learning. Instead, they are perpetuating the problem of the child’s lack of motivation by teaching their child that it is not through hard work and diligence that achievement can be obtained but rather through manipulation and ‘milking’ the system for whatever they feel they are ‘entitled’ to. It is this sense of entitlement that leads to individuals believing that they can obtain something for nothing, and thus gives them no drive or motivation to achieve goals or to become more productive citizens. Zeal for learning and productivity will never come from handouts or by a stale, rote educational system.

How must a child feel to know that their parent has labeled them as being ‘brain disordered’ or suffering from a subjective ‘disorder’ only to obtain additional monies. It is well known that these funds do not go towards improving the functioning of the child but is often used as a ‘personal expense account’ for their parent and the child for various things that are completely unrelated to the supposed ‘disability’.

In addition to seeking funds through what in the common lingo is known as the ‘crazy check’, these individuals go further to obtain various therapeutic services with the sole intention of trying to justify their claim to these monies. They are often seeking services with which they do not provide any investment of their own. They have allowed the government or more appropriately said, the taxpayers to provide for their financial welfare and then allow ‘professionals’, once again paid for by taxpayers, to assume the responsibility of providing care to their child.

Some of these individuals will attempt to justify their ‘milking’ of the system by using the guise of advocacy. In the true sense of advocacy, they would be seeking to address the actual challenges that their child faces by providing structure, tutoring, hearing their child’s voice, resolving conflicts, and making changes to the distressing environment that would allow their children to be healthful and productive. It is easy to not put forth any effort in these areas, shirk responsibility, and lay claim that the government and professionals need to do their part, to be ‘accountable’, of course at someone else’s expense.

There is a dire need of reform of this unfortunate system. There should be no further rewards to parents who do not take responsibility and accountability. Children should not be given labels that can stick for life or be considered ‘disordered’ in order for funds to be obtained. When there exists a real physical or developmental challenge, that can be appropriately demonstrated through valid, objective tests, it would be understandable that there may be the need for assistance, but even here there needs to be carful checks and balances to insure that the funds are used to provide the appropriate resources to the child and that such funds are not pilfered.

Dan L. Edmunds is a doctoral candiate (abd) in Pastoral Community Counseling and has served as a therapist and consultant to children with autism and developmental challenges as well as children with emotional challenges.

Festina, a Swiss watch manufacturer, was established in the year 1902. It is the certified timekeeper of the Tour de France. Being over 100 years old, it comes among the leading names in Europe and also a best seller in its home country. At the moment, the Festina brand carries on its heritage of fashionable European watches with a widespread compilation of stylish, handy and sporty watches for almost every occasion.

From the period of its establishment, Festina watches have carved out a niche brand by way of an inimitable persona. Shaped in the midst of the altering generations, these watches are elegant, vibrant as well as highly efficient. Theses are genuinely meant for people who breathe their lives strongly and love to cherish every single moment through the thick and thin of life.

These watches are composed of Japanese quartz movements and other matchless, inherent features. The Mecaquartz movement, a no-battery mechanical quartz movement, is another distinguishing feature of the brand. In addition to all theses exceptional attributes, a major chunk of Festina’s watches take account of sports chronographs comprising the globally advertised Road Warrior string of chronographs.

Festina also hogged media limelight in the year 1998 through a dubious reason. The team sponsored by the Festina in the Tour de France, was trapped in a doping scandal.

Festina offers a broad product range – digital, analog, chronograph, leather, stainless steel and titanium. It truly doesn’t matter, whichever model you pick, it will have a long, lasting effect on your personality. Some particular models have pitched Festina on the top of the market and almost turned it into a monopolistic brand in the watch market. Some models are extremely adored by sports enthusiasts and from time to time, the company has come up with innovative features to give them further boost.

The Tour De France alarm watches, when rolled in the market, fuelled the competition and forced other watch producer to match its level. The brand got some rave acclaim from the competitors as well. Its status received a further boost when it launched the modified version of the brand by presenting it as Festina Tour de France Alarm Chronograph watch.

For the past 15-20 years, Festina watches have created a sort of segment for itself by touching the pulse of the watch lovers. Now, it mainly focuses on the sports range due to the growing popularity of the sporting events. It has a strong team in the form of technical support which is primarily focused on the process of innovation. Sponsoring of some professional cycling events has given it a world wide reach as well as recognition.

In the terms of marketing strategy, Festina has surpassed even some leading watch makers and still holds a reputable place. For every country, it has adopted a different set of strategies. Its association with cycling events has created a vast market for it even outside Europe. US being a large market, the company adopted an entirely different strategy for the U.S. It allowed some U.S. distributors to make merry by selling the watches through the bike shops. It provided some discount as well to boost the process and is now reaping the rewards in the form of growing demand of Festina in the US.

Zai Zhu is a watch collector and a watch dealer. Visit http://www.discountwatchstore.com to learn more about wristwatches. You can also shop over 2400 styles of fine watches including many Pulsar watches, Casio watches, Festina watches, Mondaine watches, Seiko watches, Sector watches, Movado watches, Bulova watches, Accutron watches, Wittnauer watches, Citizen watches, Invicta watches, Luminox watches as well as other brand name watches such as Adee Kaye, Corvette, Croton, Lucien Piccard, Orient, Perigaum, TW Steel, Vanceur, and Wenger.