Was just reminded of a plan The Jaguar and I came up with the other night by a post I stumbled across.
Speeches, to me, seem like a bit of a hassle and there are so many reasons why.
1. People (at least in my family) LOATHE speaking in formal settings. It doesn't matter if the audience is predominately other family members or loved ones, as soon as focus and expectation is placed upon these people, they feel uncomfortable. I don't want the word 'uncomfortable' to come up in any context with our wedding. I would like an organic, natural flow of genuine words rather than nerve-induced clichés.
2. Some people ENJOY speaking in formal settings much too much. Our wedding and rehearsal dinner is for fun, family and love - not for endless diatribes about all the years that led to this point or awkward jokes.
3. People can feel isolated or bored when it comes to formality. Including me.
4. All of the above can lead to over-consumption of alcohol. If I am bored, I will 'sip' champagne. If I am embarrassed, I will 'sip' champagne. If I am trying to look nonchalant, I will 'sip' champagne. If I am nervous, I will 'sip' champagne... This applies to other people too and I don't want to have to order a maxi-taxi to get rid of early inebriates.
Taking all these things into account, The Jaguar and I came up with the idea of 'Speech Spin the Bottle'.
Bearing in mind, we are also toying with idea of only having 3 speeches at the actual reception.
1. Best Man
2. Maid of Honour
3. The Jaguar and I together
Sooooooooooooo...
The Speech Spin the Bottle would be applied at the rehearsal dinner. An intimate gathering of immediate family members and wedding party (about 20 people all up). All these people know each other and know us VERY well.
This way the pressure is removed from the speech palaver and it becomes a bit more friendly and jovial. Everyone will be required to speak for up to about 3 minutes and heckling is encouraged.
Just an idea we came up with but we were pretty happy with it.
Good food, good wine, beautiful people and no pressure?
Lovely.
Emily. x
I actually went to a dear friend's wedding this past saturday, and I thought the speech by the best man (the groom's brother) was very good. It wasn't too carried out and it was quite humorous.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your own upcoming wedding!
-French Bean
Hi French Bean!
ReplyDeleteI agree - a speech that isn't too long winded and said for the sake of saying that manages to incorporate reasonably generic humour (I don't just want 'in-jokes' that our other guests can't appreciate) is a pleasure to listen to. I hope you enjoyed the wedding!
Thanks for the congrats.
Emily x.