Rhyming Groom Speech

Rhyming Groom Speech Inspo

If you’re not quite sure exactly what a rhyming speech for a groom looks like, here are a couple of examples.

You don’t have to do everything in verse form. But this groom does, and does so well. He introduces the poem in rhyme, thanks the father-of-the-bride, the best man and everyone else in rhyme. Then, of course, he pays tribute to his wife in verse.

He gets plenty of laughs, helped by the fact that the story of how they met is really funny. Although the speech is five minutes long, it doesn’t feel like it’s dragging at any point. It’s excellent!

Our second example is a little different. It doesn’t tell the story of how they met. Instead, this couple clearly love their films and TV (as does the crowd by the reactions) and so compares their love to increasingly clever parallels on the big and small screen. There are some great jokes and references and it’s a really fun way of showing there’s no one way to write a rhyming speech.

The Rhyming Rules

1 – Treat It Like A Normal Groom Speech

It’s worth checking out our guide on how to write the perfect Groom speech because, despite it being a poem, you still need to cover the same content (and of course, you may wish to have an introduction and summary that doesn’t rhyme).

In summary, the Groom typically thanks everyone for coming and namecheck all the important people. The parents. The in-laws. The wedding helpers.

But, your main job is to pay tribute to your new spouse and give everyone an insight into your relationship and why you think they’re so blooming brilliant. 

2 – Get Rhyming Right

Delivering a rhyming speech can make you seem cleverer than you actually are. It’s also an easy way to come across as a pre-schooler reading a poem about their teddy.

It just depends on your ability. Even if you get the rhyming spot on, you also have to nail the rhythm (actually harder than it sounds).

It is a RISK. But if you do decide to go for it, here’s the cheat’s guide…

• Decide what point you’re trying to make with the speech and the stories you want to tell. Pull out all the keywords from that content; the ones that are crucial to telling the story and the punchline words.
• Use a thesaurus to find as many variations of those keywords as possible.
• Next, use a rhyming dictionary to come up with as many words that rhyme with the keywords and their variants.
• Spot the rhyming words that could fit into the theme of your speech. Pull out all the useful pairs of words (a keyword and a rhyming word).
• Now, build your poem using your pairings to create rhyming sentences.
• Sometimes it’s easier to find a poem that you like to base your rhythm on. For example, use a Pam Ayres poem and base your effort on a similar beat.
• Put the more tenuous rhyming word or sentence first. The second ‘payoff’ sentence is the one that your poetry is judged on. This is also where the punchline should be.
• Once you write your first verse, ensure that all the others follow the same pattern and rhythm.
• One comedy technique is to set up the idea that you’re about to say something rude, but after a pause, reveal something completely innocent. For example, my sister-in- law included this classic in her sister-of-the-groom speech…’He erected a tent, thought that should do the trick, Then he took Heidi to a nudist beach to show off his… suntan.’ 

3 – Rhyming Reminders

1. Keep it simple – If it was us, we’d stick to the typical, funny poem structures. AABB (four-line verses within which each couplet rhymes), ABAB (four-line verses where alternate lines rhyme) or AABBA (which is typical of limericks. Just make sure it’s a clean limerick…).
2. Don’t write too many verses – A typical Father of the Bride speech is six to eight minutes long, but you don’t have to write a poem that goes on this long. Two or three minutes of poem is perfect, as you’ll probably spend a couple of minutes setting it up anyway. As with all good Father of the Bride speeches, don’t needlessly try to bulk up your poem for the sake of it, just choose the créme de la créme.
3. Don’t panic if you get stuck – Everyone does. No writer can just knock out gold in one go – even the best ones. Go for a walk, do some exercise, have a bath! Push it to the back of your mind and inspiration will strike when you least expect it.
4. Read the poem out loud – And do it often! Once you’ve written it, you’ll need to practice it and the best way to do it is actually reading it out loud. You don’t notice tongue twisters when you read in your head. You also need to make sure everything really does rhyme and fit into the rhythm.

Speechy’s Groom Poem Example

Following our advice, you’ll be able to write the perfect groom wedding poem in no time. However, if you’d like to see how one actually looks written down, here’s an example.

Say your wife works in recruitment… you could write a fun poem based around how YOU got the job of being husband.

In a bar in Northampton I met this recruiter.

Soon after I thought ‘I think I might suit her’…

To my surprise, she gave me an interview,

Though this was probably helped by a Jäger or two.

The big day came, I was nervous, not calm,

I knocked over the wine and it spilt on her arm.

I made a fool of myself, couldn’t shut my gob.

But, yet, somehow she gave me the job.

In the ten years since I’ve been committed and keen,

Even if I don’t always keep the shower clean.

Everything’s easy, I never get cross.

Just some of the perks when you sleep with the boss.

I’m so happy I met you, as is clear from this letter.

Although to this day, I think you could’ve found someone better.

You’re the perfect bride, that is plain to see.

Signed, your new husband and happy employee.

You can make the poem as funny or as emotional as you like but, if we were to suggest a balance, we prefer if it’s further towards the funny side.

Either way, however you do it, if you follow the above steps, your wedding poem will turn out perfectly, and, perhaps, you won’t just discover you make a good husband, but you could also be the next Keats.