The son of the bride speech has become much more common for the obvious reasons. There are, however, three quite distinct forms of a son of the bride speech depending on the age of said-offspring!
Whether you’re visiting this page as a son about to give a speech at his mum’s wedding or as a bride wondering how to involve your son in your day, hopefully, we’ll be able to inspire you.
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Why Is A Son of The Bride Speech Special?
Well, let’s start with the obvious. The mother-son relationship. Whatever the age of the son it’s still incredibly important that they approve of the marriage and give it his blessing.
If you’re an adult son, it’s a chance for you to pay tribute to your mum as she starts this new adventure. Of course, it’s also an opportunity to tease her affectionately! You know her better than most people, so you can talk man-to-man and give the groom advice on how to successfully co-habit with your mum (hide the chocolate and don’t try to steal the gin when she’s on a weekend away – she’ll notice!).
If you’re a mum wanting to involve younger children, you’ll inevitably be adding something special to the day. Whether your teenage son is reading out a wedding poem or your six-year-old is giving his best love advice – it will no doubt add an ‘awww’ moment and an extra special memory for everyone involved.
The Adult Son
As a proper grown-up (well, ish?), the pressure’s on. You’re essentially doing the role of father of the bride, which you can read more about on our Father Advice Page. It has everything you need to know about your speech structure and etiquette.
The major difference is instead of talking about your mum as a child, you’ll be talking about how she copes with children – i.e. you!
The trick to this speech is to get the balance right between honouring the great relationship you and your mum have while recognising the speech is about wishing her well with her new marriage. Yes, you need to pay tribute to your wonderful mum but you also have to sincerely welcome her new husband to the family.
If you’re first on the speaker line-up then it’s your job to welcome all the guests to the occasion, but you don’t need to thank individual people for coming or hand out any gifts. Don’t steal any of the groom’s thunder. Your aim is simple – get a few belly-laughs in and possibly a few sentimental tears towards the end.
The Young Son
If your child is very young, no one is expecting a long, personalised speech. Something short to get a few ‘awws’ and chuckles is ideal.
Something simple like a funny poem is perfect and of course, don’t have to write this yourself. There are plenty of funny wedding poems available to exploit!
Alternatively, they could read segments from a children’s book. Plenty of adults do so! Check out these wedding readings from children’s books for inspo.
If you’d prefer something original – and why not! – ask them to write a few simple lines about what they think love means or what getting married involves. We love it when kids say fantastically daft ideas but sometimes they can be surprisingly insightful. The joy of it is, anything works if a cute child delivers it!
Another option is to get them involved in the groom’s speech (or yours?), for example, they could hold up funny prompt cards to ‘heckle’ the groom e.g. a series of cards saying ‘Not true’, ‘He’s fibbing’, ‘Does anyone believe this nonsense?’ etc.
However you want to play it, it’ll add a little good-natured humour to the speeches.
The Teenage Son
For slightly older children, similar rules apply, but – of course – aged up to the appropriate level.
Many teens will be uncomfortable reading anything too soppy so find something which veers into ‘funny’ territory more than ‘emotional’ territory. Here are some funny wedding poems we like.
The older the teenager, the more they may be able to prepare the speech themselves, or work with a writing team like us to create something really special. We generally find a teenager has a ‘unique’ perspective when it comes to matters of love. We once worked with a 15-year-old son of the bride, using quotes from Star Wars to define what love really means!
Obviously, the style and length of the speech is down to the child’s discretion (though stress – no more than five minutes). Of course, it may be wise to get ‘an appropriate adult’ to check it out the speech before it’s delivered on the day.
Be prepared that on the day, whatever the age of the child, they may freeze when they’re about to stand up in front of a room full of adults. Try not to put pressure on them and they may decide to do it later.
As with anything involving children, it may not quite go to plan, but you go with the flow and enjoy whatever happens!
