Knowing who to thank and how to thank them can cause a lot of anxiety for a groom to be. If you do it wrong, you could find yourself in a situation where no one is talking to you, your new bride is upset and your guests aren’t sure they like you anymore.
The best way to avoid this is to take the time to work out what is and isn’t alright depending on the style of guests coming, and your bride. The groom’s job is basically to offer thanks to everyone for showing up. This is a time to put personal opinion aside.
It is generally the job of the best man to make thanks to the bridesmaids however the groom must do this too. Let your best man be the one to tell them how gorgeous they look – you’ve got a brand new wife sitting right next to you. A reference to their looking lovely is enough. Focus on thanking them for assisting your wife on the day and with any planning that they may have been involved in.
When thanking your groomsmen, don’t go into detail about how fabulous your buck’s night was. Instead, thank them for being there for you and helping get you to the church or venue on time and in one piece. This is not the time for male bonding and back slaps.
When thanking your bride you have to go all out. This is the woman you chose to spend presumably the rest of your life with and you need to be grateful she said yes. Compliment her dress, her hair, her grace and her choice to marry you. Make sure you say a lot to make her feel special and have the room feeling like the marriage is a good thing – especially her family.
This is not the only list of people to thank as a groom in your wedding speech. Be sure to look into what else needs to make the final cut. Take the time to write a considered speech. Even if you’ve decided to go with a funny wedding speech you must be sincere when thanking the bridal party, and your new wife.
