The famous wedding speech: the curse of the groom, best man and father of the bride (and also the guests if they are forced to sit through 20 minutes of bad jokes and boring anecdotes).

If you have been called upon to give a wedding speech, fear not: wedding speeches are fun, relaxed affairs that even the world’s worst public speaker can master with a few simple tips.

Best Audience

Always remember with a wedding speech that this is the best audience you are ever likely to get for a speech. They will be in the mood to laugh and get emotional, especially if they’ve already had a few drinks. Just keep them happy and your speech will be remembered fondly.

Here’s a brief guide to the main speeches for the groom, the father of the bride and the best man. Remember that all the speeches should be funny, relaxed, with a few jokes thrown in and a few more sincere moments as well. Never go over 10 minutes, but try to keep it to between five and seven minutes if possible.

The Father of the Bride’s Speech

The father of the bride’s speech is normally the first of the wedding speeches because, as far as tradition goes, he is paying for the wedding.

Firstly, make sure to welcome everyone, especially welcoming the groom’s parents into the family, and say how pleased you are that your daughter has found such a great groom. Thanks is usually expressed to the organisers, caterers and anyone involved in the day.

The speech is then usually focused mainly on the bride, and should include a bit of a joke and a story about the bride’s past, as long as it is not too embarrassing. Jokes can focus around married life, but it is usually also a sincere speech as the father gives his daughter away.

You should then finish by proposing a toast to the bride and groom, and then introducing the groom (unless you have a master of ceremonies to do it for you) for his speech.

The Groom’s Speech

The groom’s speech is the second of the wedding speeches, and he is responsible for thanking all those who have played a part in organising the wedding, especially those who have made a special effort. Traditionally you then thank the bride’s parents for granting you her hand in marriage, but it is now more common to simply congratulate them for raising such a wonderful daughter.

The speech should include some kind words about the bride, and a few stories about how you first met, as well as a few funny anecdotes from the last few months or years of the relationship. It is then the groom’s responsibility to propose a toast to the bridesmaids and to thank the best man for coming. A few words about the best man then follow, leading onto the introduction of the best man’s speech.

Best Man’s Speech

This is the last of the wedding speeches, and it is usually the funniest. It is also focused mainly on the groom. Start by responding on behalf of the bridesmaids, and also thank the groom for choosing you for such a distinguished role.

The speech should contain a lot of jokes and a few funny stories about the groom. A bit of gentle ribbing is good, but try not to go too far and spoil his day. A nice word about the bride always goes down well too.

It is the best man’s responsibility to read out the ‘telegrams’, which are usually cards these days, from people who couldn’t make it. You can then propose another toast to the bride and groom if you wish, but this is not customary.

Finish by wishing everyone an enjoyable meal or day, or direct them to the next activity which could be the cutting of the cake.

Do it Your Way

Wedding speeches involve a number of protocols, but remember that these can all be changed. Find out from the wedding couple what formula the speeches are to take, but they may simply tell you to do what you want. As long as you keep the speech short, funny and sincere you will be well thanked for it.

Photos courtesty of CKP Weddings and David Pullum

No related posts.

Getting married can be very expensive and the whole idea can be daunting. But there are many things you can do to cut down the cost and still have the most stylish and beautiful wedding of your dreams. Here are some tips to consider:

1. Wedding Venue – This is one of the biggest costs in your wedding budget but you will be happy to know that there are ways to bring down the cost:

a. Pick a wedding venue where you can hold both wedding ceremony and wedding reception in one roof. This will save you money in transporting guests and wedding vendors.

b.Find a venue without up-front hire charges. Venues with all-inclusive packages including food and beverage can often work out cheaper.

c. Pick a wedding venue that does not require a lot of wedding decoration for it to be beautiful so you can immediately save money on that front.

d. If you have the space, perhaps you can also consider getting married in your own back garden – this can be very romantic!

2. Wedding Date - Many wedding venues offer a slightly lower hire fee if you choose to get married on a weekday or during an off-peak season.

3. Wedding Guests – One of the quickest ways to cut down the cost of your wedding is by limiting the number of people you invite on your wedding day.

4. Lunch Wedding Reception – The packages you get for lunch are typically cheaper than dinner and you can save a lot of money by opting to have your wedding reception in the afternoon.

5. Wedding Dress – Find a talented up and coming bridal designer whose prices are more affordable compared to the big names in the industry.

6. Wedding Stationery – Creating your own wedding stationery is becoming more popular amongst brides these days – it’s fun and adds a personal touch to your wedding.

7. Wedding Music – Consider making do without a live band or DJ on your special day. Here are some things you can consider doing:

a. Ask one of your friends or relatives who are musically inclined to play a beautiful piece as you walk down the aisle.

b. compile some of your favourite music onto your ipod and use that to provide background music as well as dance music in the evening. Or get one of your bridesmaids/groomsmen to arrange this.

8. Wedding Cake – You will be surprised to know how costly wedding cakes can be. But here are some ways to help you save a bit:

a. Sugar icing flowers/decorations are difficult to make and can be expensive. Fresh flowers are usually a cheaper and arguably more beautiful alternative.

b. After the ceremony, consider using your bridal bouquet and bridesmaids’ bouquets to help decorate the wedding cake table.

c. Let your wedding cake be your scrumptious dessert, so you can avoid paying extra for dessert. Or use the cake as wedding favors, which I am sure they will enjoy eating the next day.

9. Wedding Flowers – Wedding flowers can be costly but there are  ways to save and still have the most elegant wedding flowers on your special day:

a. Pick flowers that are in season and are locally produced.

b. Stick to fewer types of flowers instead of a large variety

c. Use more foliage

d. Consider using cheaper flowers that still go with your wedding theme. For instance, Calla lilies are cheaper than Phaelenopsis orchids

e. Recycle your ceremony flowers and re-use them for the reception tables or elsewhere.

10. Wedding Videographer – In an ideal world, you’d have both a wedding photographer and a wedding videographer. But if your budget is tight, I’d recommend skipping the wedding videos and invest on hiring a really good wedding photographer to capture all the beautiful memories of your wedding day. From my experience, unless you pay top dollar for a videographer, the quality of the editing can be fairly amateurish and I’ve known many brides & grooms who’ve been disappointed by what they get. Hence an alternative might be just to get someone with a camcorder to capture some key moments during the day, and you can in the future pay for a good editor to create some special video clips for you.

Photo courtesy of Andy Le Gresley of CKP Weddings

Related posts:

1. Top 25 Wedding Songs – Timeless Classics
2. Wedding Planning Checklist
3. Choosing a Wedding Venue

Which Wedding Photographer? The Big Decision

Finding the right wedding photographer may well be the one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make in your wedding planning. Don’t treat it as an after-thought, for long after your wedding day has passed you’ll find that the memories that stick are the ones that are captured forever in the photographs. And you want those photographs to fully capture the beauty, the emotions, the people present and all those priceless moments on your wedding day.

Reportage Photographers And Why You Should Use Them

For this reason, DS very highly recommends photographers who specialise in the photo-journalistic style (also called reportage/documentary style) of wedding photography. This is because their approach is to capture events as they unfold during the day, rather than focus on taking posed shots. For what better way to capture those memories than to have candid photos of events during the day. And this is where the skill of the photographer plays a huge part – the ability to anticipate as well as compose and capture artistically those special moments in the day through their photographs. And these are the photos that can, even many years on, bring back a flood of emotions of your wedding day.

But this is not to say that you should ignore posed shots, as they can produce some truly stunning images. However you’ll find that most reportage wedding photographers will also allocate some time on your wedding day for you to take posed photos. And the rest of the day your reportage photographer will be focused on capturing and documenting the wedding in an un-obstrusive way. What you do want to avoid is photographers that leap out in front of you as you are walking down the aisle so that he can capture the moment! A good reportage photographer will be prepared for that moment and will have the skill and right equipment to capture that photograph without having to stop you in your tracks! After all, photography is important but your wedding day should be about enjoying yourselves and sharing that special occasion with your loved ones rather than being ordered around by a photographer to continuously pose for one shot after another.

Tips on Choosing The Perfect Wedding Photographer

You simply won’t go wrong with any of the wedding photographers that we work with closely here at DS. We take photography very seriously as we’re also photographers in our own right (but primarily nature and wildlife photographers)! And we’ve therefore hand-picked some of the very best wedding photographers to work with and would very highly endorse all of them. But don’t take our word for it, photography is an art and appreciation of photography can be subjective. You should still check out their portfolio and see if their work captures your imagination.

Without further ado, here are DS’s top 7 tips on choosing the perfect wedding photographer:-

1. Check out WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association | www.wpja.com) – it’s a professional organisation of wedding photographers from around the world. The WPJA also hosts regular contests and photographers can receive awards/rankings as a result. This is a good guide but bear in mind that individual photographers can be more highly ranked than others due to more active participation in the contests and therefore don’t disregard a photographer simply because they’re not ranked.

2. Check out Dolce Sposa’s recommended list of Wedding Photographers - we don’t inundate you with an extensive list of wedding photographers, instead we’ve handpicked some of the very best wedding photographers in the business and therefore every photographer we feature and work with comes with our seal of approval

3. Always review complete albums of weddings from start to finish – photographers’ websites will often have a portfolio of photos which are a collection of favourites accumulated from lots of weddings. But you’ll want to see a complete album shot by your photographer(s) (rather than others on the team) to ensure a consistently high quality of work for the whole day. A full album will also allow you better see the photographer’s style, his ability to capture the special moments and also highlight any potential weaknesses or bits of his style which you may not like.

4. Meet the photographer - make sure you like the person, or at least don’t dislike them! Get him to talk about his style – and also get an idea of how obstrusive his style might be and whether it’s something you’re comfortable with.

5. Look at an actual printed album – yes we’re in the digital age but there’s still something to be said for having a high quality printed album to share with friends and family. Fortunately however, having the high resolution digital images will allow you in the future to re-print an album but why not get it right the first time round?

6. Consider photographic style – we’re not referring to the reportage style which we’ve already highly recommended, but to certain artistic styles e.g. over-use of fish-eye lenses. Some of this can look cool/interesting initially but the novelty factor can wear off pretty quickly. For lasting appeal, go for styles that are classic and timeless. For this reason black and white photography works well for wedding photography. Most photographers will give you an idea of the approximate mix between colour and B&W photography that they tend to shoot at a given wedding, so make sure you’re comfortable with this.

7. Number of photographers on the team (and who they are) – ask how many photographers will be shooting on your wedding day, and whether the principal photographer will be present. Some photography companies have different packages which may not necessarily always include their principal photographer. Ideally you should have at least two photographers, although some of the best photographers in the world do work alone and therefore it may be a compromise you have to make. But one photographer can only be in one place at a time and it may therefore not be possible to capture some aspects of your wedding day (eg pictures of both the bride and groom getting ready, or the groom’s expression as the bride walks down the aisle).

We wish you the best of luck in your search for your perfect wedding photographer, and hope that you find this article a useful guide. If you have any questions or have anything to add, feel free to comment below!

Photos courtesy of CKP Weddings, Jeff Ascough and David Pullum

Related posts:

1. CKP Weddings
2. David Pullum
3. Mark Earthy – Wedding Photography

Christian has a great eye for special moments and his photographs will tell the beautiful story of your wedding day. His reportage style of photography is incredibly discreet so that most of the time neither you nor your guests would even realise you’re being photographed. He has won a lot of awards in the country and internationally but remains firmly grounded, good-natured and passionate about what he does; and will make you feel at ease right from the start.

We can only praise his work so much, to really appreciate it you should check out his breathtaking online portfolio. We constantly return to CKP Wedding’s website for inspiration and often the beauty of some of his shots will bring tears to my eyes!

Getting married is a blessing and is for life. The emotions, love and joy you feel that day is magical and absolutely priceless and you want to have the best photographers there to capture those special moments that you will treasure forever. CKP Weddings have consistently impressed us with their  outstanding work and we rate them as one of the top wedding photographers in the world.

At a Glance

• Top Ten UK wedding photographer
• Style – reportage/photojournalism
• WPJA member – award winning photographer
• Wedding album – Graphistudio and Queensberry
• Camera  – Canon 1D and Canon 5D plus L-lenses
• Wedding photography package starts at £2,500.00
• UK based wedding photographer but can travel the country and the world for great weddings
• Advance booking highly recommended to avoid disappointment

Christian Keenan and Andy Le Gresley, his associate at CKP Weddings and a talented photographer in his own right, make an excellent team and work together to document your wedding day. Together they produce some world class wedding photographs and here are some of our favourites:

Photos courtesy of CKP Weddings

Wedding Photographers – CKP Weddings

Email: carol(at)ckpweddings.com
Tel: +44 (0) 1534 888752

Related posts:

1. Guide to Finding a Wedding Photographer
2. David Pullum
3. WPJA – Wedding Photojournalist Association

The whole process can be very daunting especially since there are plenty of good wedding photographers to choose from. But there is one organisation that we love here at DS and it is the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA). It is one of the best resources we can recommend to anyone looking for a wedding photographer here in the UK or abroad. We at DS check it out regularly to get inspiration and to see the many beautiful weddings happening around the globe. And the photographers at WPJA never fails to inspire us and with  some of the most artistic, romantic and impressive wedding photographs.

WPJA is an international, membership-based organization which represents all the professional photographers in the world who all share the same idea on how to take award-winning reportage photography that captures the emotions, the atmosphere, the spirit  and the job during an event. And they all pride themselves by doing this in a non-instrusive way which we believe is an absolute must!!

Your next step after setting the wedding date and finding your wedding venue is finding the perfect wedding photographer. And we can guarantee you that checking out WPJA can certainly help make the research process faster, easier and more enjoyable. You can see a list of wedding photographers in different countries including their contact details, view their breathtaking wedding portfolios, get idea on their service fees and check their availability.

In a nutshell, you won’t go wrong using WPJA to help and you in finding your wedding photographer. We also recommend reading DS’s article, ‘Guide to Finding a Wedding Photographer‘. Here are some wedding photographs from WPJA members that have captured some of the memorable moments…

Wedding photographs courtesy of WPJA.

1st photo taken by Christian Keenan of CKP Weddings

2nd, 3rd and 4th photo by Amy Newman, Carl Bower and Daniel Kudish

Related posts:

1. Guide to Finding a Wedding Photographer
2. CKP Weddings
3. Xander Casey