You’ve got to love a list. 50 things to do before you die. 20 superfoods to feed your nugget-munching-kids. 10 sunsets you’ll never get a chance to see.

Here’s our take on it: the 5 wedding speech trends to bag and the 5 wedding speech trends to bin.

Five Wedding Speech Trends to Bag

• Spontaneous speeches – no one does an official speech but anyone who wants to give a toast is welcomed to. Good excuse for lots of boozing. Not good for speech writers.
• The Line-Up Shake-Up – Clearly more brides are giving speeches but plenty of mothers are also getting involved and we’re also working with more fathers of the groom. 5% of our work is now with a category we call ‘miscellaneous”. Which even we find darn intriguing.
• Joint speeches – We’re working with more couples who want to deliver joint speeches and we love crafting them. It allows both the bride and groom the chance to thank everyone and with same sex couples, it just makes sense. Guests LOVE joint speeches and if they’re written well, they’re also a source of great humour.
• Getting professional help – More and more savvy couples are realising that words are the best way to decorate a wedding. Sales of Speechy’s bespoke speech writing service rose 36% in 2019 from the previous year. Check out the type of services and products we offer at the bottom of this post.
• Relaxed Rules – Be polite and welcoming but don’t be restricted by the etiquette rules you’ve probably just Googled. No need to address your friends and family as ‘ladies and gentlemen’ if they’re not.

Five Wedding Speech Trends to Bin

• The ‘speech clump’ – Rather than have all the wedding speeches in one big block, more couples are playing with the scheduling. We like spaced-out-speeches so one between each course. Means no one is left starving and gives relative strangers something to talk about throughout the meal. Some couples are also saving the best man’s speech till the evening do so even the B-list guests (come on, we know they are) get a sense of why they’re getting to indulge in a free bar and dance to ABBA.
• PowerPoint – Photo montages on PowerPoint are less powerful these days. Yes, they were funny a decade ago but now they’re just tired and a bit of a hassle.
• Handing out gifts – often the most awkward part of the speeches. Luckily people have discovered it’s possible to do the public thank you and then give the presents later personally.
• An all-male line up – Come on, there has to be a women you want to speak at your wedding!
• Speechstakes – They’ve had their day. Concentrate on entertaining your guests with a great story rather than with this clichéd gamble.

How Speechy Can Help You…