Father Of The Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech Or Toast Samples
Not too sure if you can write a beautiful wedding speech for your son at his rehearsal dinner?
Just look over this sample and you’ll be a step away from making an amazing father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech even if you suck at public speaking or you really don’t know how to put down your exact thoughts and emotions into very beautiful words.
John was so proud of his four children when they made it through college successfully and got the best jobs out there. His first two children had tied the knot but not Andy, his last child.
He longed to see him married as he was growing older. To their pleasant surprise, Andy popped the question and not long afterward, they began to make preparations to tie the knot.
Andy knew his dad was an accomplished public speaker and he was cocksure delivering a memorable father of the groom's speech will not be a big deal for him.
From his numerous speaking engagements overseas to speaking in local churches, John was expected to pull off something great but it turned out that saying something at the rehearsal dinner night was a tough task for him.
He actually spent so much time thinking about how to write this dad of the groom speech and he eventually came up with this short father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech prior to the rehearsal dinner night.
Father Of The Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech Example
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is John and I am the dad of the groom.
My wife Andrea and I would like to say how happy and grateful we are to have you come from all over to celebrate with Andy and Amanda.
It’s such a heartfelt blessing to see John grow up from that handsome boy into an absolutely wonderful man that we see before us today. The moment he came into our lives, we just couldn’t imagine living a happy life without him being a part of it.
I remember cradling him in my protective arms and all I could only imagine was his future so bright.
As a little kid, he was very talented and curious. I still remember how we took on projects together like assembling a piece of furniture that had a thousand different bolts, screws, and nuts.
As you may know, assembling a piece of furniture requires careful reading and application of the entire instructions.
But John would simply ignore the instructions and intuitively fit all the pieces together!
From an early age, he knew what he wanted in life. I remember when we dropped him off on his first day of kindergarten; we were so concerned about him and we almost broke down in tears, but you could tell by the excitement in his eyes that he was so ready to go to school!
His sense of independence continued well into college.
I still recall how we drove halfway across the country to bring Andy to his first year of college.
We weren’t even there more a couple of hours that he met his best friend, Dan, who happens to be his best man.
Growing up, Andy was a good student and a good athlete.
He started to play baseball when he was a little boy and I was lucky to be the team’s coach all the way till he got into high school where he won the coaches' award in baseball.
His competitiveness instilled in him a sense of purpose and good teamwork and I am confident it will help him a lot as he starts life with Amanda.
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter what kind of challenges we go through in our lives, we all have something deep within us that can be a blessing to others.
Through the ups and downs and in between, Andy has been a tremendous source of blessing and inspiration to our family, friends, and even others.
Andy's a naturally kind person and always goes out of his way to helping me, his mom, and his sister Michaela.
Andy, as parents, we have loved you and stood by you all these years as we strongly believed you that you deserve nothing but true love.
But we have always had it in mind someday you will have to spend the rest of your life with the person you cannot live without.
The more we got to know Amanda, the more we felt she was the one. Amanda, it’s very evident that you truly love and care for John.
You’re beautiful, loving, caring and we are confident that you will love our son till the end of time. We love you and on behalf of my family, I’d like to welcome you into our family with open arms.
Andy and Amanda, we look forward to watching you both build your lives together in love and harmony. So, always put each other first so your love wins in the end. God bless you both.
Do you want to know how John put that short rehearsal dinner speech together?
He used the tips I am going to share with you to come up with that brilliant rehearsal dinner speech examples.
Before we start, let's look briefly at how to calm your nerves since the overwhelming majority of fathers struggle with that prior to saying some words about their son and daughter-in-law at the rehearsal dinner.
Don't Worry About This At All
If you are having butterflies in your tummy, then you have to put behind you whatever experiences or background you have regarding speaking
in public, and just believe that you can.
You can because you’re are a unique creation of God endowed with the speech abilities, and you can do whatever you think right because he created you in his image. You don't have to squander your mental energy worrying about what to say or what your family will say about your speech.
Your mind will surely relay pictures of your past speaking failures. But you can take complete control of the situation by visualizing your success and you will make it.
Having said that, let's look at how to get the right words and ideas for your father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech. To do that, you first have to put yourself in the mood for the clever expression of your thoughts.
Father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech videos can be a huge help especially if you are tongue-tied. Additionally, such visual examples have several proven examples and templates you can use for inspiration.
So, this is what I recommend you do right now. Go to youtube.com or your favorite platform and insert keywords like the father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech toast, the best father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech toast, parents of the groom rehearsal dinner speeches, funny father of the groom rehearsal speech dinner speech toast, etc.
Once, a couple of videos pop out, watch a few clips, and then write down tips and ideas you wish to add to your own speech. By the way, here are two videos I think you can watch to get a fair idea of what to say. Please enjoy and learn.
Father Of The Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech Video Example #1
Father Of The Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech Video Example #2
Did you enjoy watching both presentations? And did pick up a few ideas from each video clip?
Ok, now let's see how you can write a unique rehearsal dinner speech for your son and daughter-in-law.
How To Write Your Father Of The Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech Toast
Imagine how you will feel, how your son will feel, how your wife and family will feel if you can write something similar or better than the example we saw earlier.
It doesn’t matter if you haven't got good writing skills to come up with one because I am going to break down John’s father of the groom rehearsal dinner speech and explain what went into it so you can write the best ever rehearsal wedding dinner speech for your son.
This Is The Most Vital Part of Your Speech
First, let’s consider John's introductory lines:
''For those of you who don’t know me, my name is John and I am the dad of the groom.
My wife Andrea and I would like to say how happy and grateful we are to have you come from all over to celebrate with Andy and Amanda.''
Comments/ writing ideas:
As you know, the opening line of any speech is fairly easy to write. However, John failed to add some crucial information here. Can you guess what he left out?
Ok, he forgot to add the following ideas
- Greetings and short-self introduction
- Expressing appreciation to persons who were key in his son’s upbringing
As you write your opening remarks, you have to write down the names of people you would like to express appreciation for molding your son into who he is today. Can you do a little brainstorming and put down the names of individuals you wish to mention?
The short extract below buttresses the bullet points above
'' Good evening and welcome everyone.
If you really care about someone, the best gift you can give them is your time. You all have come from far and near to grace this beautiful occasion and we are highly indebted to a few individuals who helped raise our son. First, let me thank my wife and his mom for...''
Did you notice how I wrote that?
That’s not all; you can say a special thank you to the bride’s parents and your own family members like your dad and mom, brothers and sisters, wife, etc. and mention briefly how they contributed to your son’s success.
An example would be:
A big thank you goes to Coach Mel and Coach Foley and Coach Sara (His swimming and diving high school coaches) for teaching him the value of hard work and dedication.
The Wedding Guests Expect This From You So…
Now, you’ve seen your son through all the phases of his life - as a sweet baby, a playful toddler, a mischievous middle schooler, a rebellious teenager, a dedicated graduate, a hardworking employee, and now, a responsible adult with dreams of having his own children one day.
You’ve celebrated his triumphs, stood by him during the challenging times, you’ve been his voice of reason, his Friday football buddy and also, the first person he’s called whenever he’s needed anything. So naturally, you occupy an important part of his special day’s proceedings.
What that means is that the body of your speech will serve as yet another thoughtful reminder of your relationship with your son.
So, without further ado, let's see how to write the body of your toast. Once again, let's re-look at excerpts of it to guide us each step of the way.
''It’s such a heartfelt blessing to see John grow up from that handsome boy into an absolutely wonderful man that we see before us today.
The moment he came into our lives, we just couldn’t imagine living a happy life without him being a part of it.
I remember cradling him in my protective arms and all I could only imagine was his future so bright.''
Comments/your writing ideas:
The body follows the introduction and it’s usually in three parts.
The first section of the body has the following themes running through every dad of the groom rehearsal dinner speech:
- How did you feel when you were expecting him?
- How did you feel when your son was born?
- What were the early years like---you can briefly highlight what you went through if you were new parents
The second part of the body has the following themes running through the storyline:
- What was your son like when he was a little kid?
- What was he fond of?
- What are memories of him growing up
As you can see, answers to those questions formed the backbone of this section of John’s speech:
As a little kid, he was very talented and curious.
I still remember how we took on projects together like assembling a piece of furniture that had a thousand different bolts, screws, and nuts.
As you may know, assembling a piece of furniture requires careful reading and application of the entire instructions.
But John would simply ignore the instructions and intuitively fit all the pieces together!
From an early age, he knew what he wanted in life.
I remember when we dropped him off on his first day of kindergarten; we were so concerned about him and we almost broke down in tears, but you could tell by the excitement in his eyes that he was so ready to go to school!
Comments/ your writing ideas: This is what I want you to do now:
Scroll up this page and put down on paper answers to those questions above and put down all your thoughts together in chronological order using that example as a guide.
The third part of the body comprises of these key ideas:
- Memories of your boy when he was growing up
- His accomplishments or achievements in school
- How proud you were of him when he was becoming a young man
- Memories of adventures or trips you both embarked on
John makes good use of the points above to write this part of his rehearsal dinner speech:
His sense of independence continued well into college.
I still recall how we drove halfway across the country to bring Andy to his first year of college.
We weren’t even there more a couple of hours that he met his best friend, Dan, who happens to be his best man.
Growing up, Andy was a good student and a good athlete.
He started to play baseball and from when he was a little boy and I was lucky to be the team's coach all the way till he got into high school where he won the coaches award in baseball.
His competitiveness instilled in him a sense of purpose and good teamwork and I am confident it will help him a lot as he starts life with Amanda.
Comments/ your writing ideas:
Using those paragraphs and the ideas that precede it, please jot down everything you can remember about when your precious son was growing up.
Put as many of them that come to you because you never know which one can make your presentation to stand out. Just make sure you get a theme or themes for your speech and back it up with the right anecdotes.
For example, you can build your story around the themes of adventure and love. If you choose to do that, then, you have to support any attribute you choose with a suitable story that brings it alive. Without such memories, there will nothing in there the wedding guests can relate to.
Well, we have a few minutes to go, so please bear with me a little longer.
Here’s How To End Your Father Of The Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech On A High Note!
By the way, here’s the final part of the body.
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter what kind of challenges we go through in our lives, we all have something deep within us that we can reach down and be a blessing to others.
Through the ups and downs and in between, Andy has been a tremendous source of blessing and inspiration to the family and others.
Andy’s a naturally kind person and always goes out of his way to help me, his mom and sister Michaela.
Andy, as parents, we have loved you and stood by you all these years as we strongly believed you that you deserve nothing but true love.
But we have always had it in mind someday you will have to spend the rest of your life with the person you cannot live without.
The more we got to know Amanda, the more we felt she was that special one.
Comments/your writing ideas:
Now, let me ask you this…Can you tell me what you got from reading that sample?
Ok…no worries if you can't figure it out. The speaker talked about
- How proud he was of his son
- Then, the speaker mentions his beautiful qualities
- Your impressions of her when you first met her
- How she impressed you as the years went by
One last thing... Don’t forget to welcome your daughter-in-law into your family
Before we go, I want you to get this. Make sure you end your speech well because last impressions count as well as the opening remarks.
From our example, John gave this piece of advice:
''Andy and Amanda, we look forward to watching you both build your lives together in love and harmony.
So, always put each other first so your love wins in the end. God bless you both.''
Comments/ your writing ideas:
Now, I want you to end with a bang and you can employ any of these strategies.
First, you might want to conclude with any of these best wishes:
- Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness."
- "Your wedding day will come and go, but may your love forever grow."
- "Best wishes on this wonderful journey, as you build your new lives together."
- "May the years ahead be filled with lasting joy.
- Warmest wishes on your big day and as you start a new chapter of life and love together. May God grant you wisdom, blessings, and happiness!”
Second, you might want to end with a favorite quote
Below are some examples of love or marriage quotes you can use:
- True love is rare, and it‟s the only thing that gives life real meaning-Antoine de Saint Exupery
- The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now-Unknown
- Marriage is the happiest prison in the world-Unknown
- Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead-Oscar Wilde
Can you use any of that to come up with a piece of simple advice for the couple? I am sure you can. So go on and give it a try.
If you are a Christian or a religious person, you may use this bible verse or one you have in mind to end your speech. Ephesians 5: 22-27(New International Version)
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word,
27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
From that verse, we can get the short example below
Mike, scripture admonishes all men to love their wives unconditionally just as Christ died and gave himself up for the church. So, in everything you do, love and cherish Amanda and love her and you will be a very happy man.
Also, you can make your conclusion memorable if you have a good voice because everyone loves music. If you want to use this approach, then I highly recommend you pick a tune that wedding guests can sing along to.
You might also want to share your own experiences about marriage. Here are a couple of examples:
- Marriage, as with all good things, requires patience, forgiveness, teamwork, and determination. It’s my hope and prayer that you both use each day to love each other unconditionally and grow together and to truly express your love. May your marriage be blessed with an abundance of love and prosperity. Congratulations on your marriage.
- A man who has been married for half a century said this to me before I got married to your mom: ‘’ Dan…take life one day at a time. Marriage is one step, one day at a time. Most importantly, it is worth the effort you put into it.
- So, as you build your lives together, make every day count as though you have met each other for the first time and you will make it through life no matter the difficulties you will face.
- The road called marriage will be full of twists and turns, roadblocks…etc, but you can still press on by turning towards each other instead of away from each during times of difficulties and you will enjoy life together.
Moreover, if you still can’t fight the words for your conclusion, then you can simply make a toast. Once again, you can use any of these lines.
- " May you never steal, lie, or cheat. But if you must steal, then steal away one's sorrow. And if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life. And if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you." Leap Year (2010)
- May nothing separate the two of you, not even a violent hurricane
- May the almighty God keep you in his safe arms and see you through those dark moments of your lives
- May you find real peace and contentment in the little things God provides for you and may you and your children live fulfilled lives
- May you live as long as you want and want nothing as long as you live
- May your hand forever be clasped in friendship, and your fears forever clasped in love
- May you always learn from the past, enjoy the present, and live for the future.
The ball is in your court, so please decide what you want to conclude with.