One of the key moments of the wedding day is, without doubt, the speeches. It’s the Groom and Father of the Bride’s chance to thank everyone and the Best Man’s opportunity to bring the house down. It’s also the part of the day generally preceded by all three of the aforementioned quaking in their boots and rapidly scanning over a bunch of cue cards!
But as with all key moments of your wedding the timing can have a huge impact on the flow of the day, so when’s the best time to have your wedding speeches? Before or after your meal?
Time to find the answer!
In the Red Corner, unable to really enjoy a good speech before the cheese course has been served, building the anticipation and waiting till after the wedding breakfast, it’s Dom “The Tog Bride”
In the Blue Corner, desperate to get the speech over with so he can hit the whisky in earnest, arguing to get the formalities over before dinner, it’s Matt “The Gormless Groom”
Before Vs After… FIGHT!!!
Dom: The speeches are a great way to kick off the evening’s festivities and holding them off until after the dinner gets things going rather than allowing the pace to slow again with food in-between.
Matt: For those actually making the speeches it can be incredibly nerve-racking and something you just want to get over and done with! For some they really can’t enjoy themselves with a public speech hanging over them!
.jpg)
Photography by York Place Studios
Dom: Wedding days are generally quite long and by the time they’ve finally sat down at their table the guests are usually starving. With all the guests distracted by hunger the speeches are never going to go down as well as they might after everyone has been merrily eating away!
Matt: The speeches make a great talking point and often help to break the ice with different groups of people who may not really know each other. Dinner is the optimum time for getting to know people as you’re often seated with people you’ve never met.
Dom: Most of the guests will enjoy a few glasses of wine during their meal and, let’s be honest, a little alcohol really does help to get people in the mood to fully enjoy some funny speeches!!
Matt: The speeches often ramble on and if the meal is coming up straight after you have more of an incentive to keep to time and an excuse to make your speech shorter…win!
Dom: The speeches always last longer than you expect, and if you’re waiting until after the speeches to serve food then it’s going to go cold and you’re going to have some very unhappy chefs!
Matt: But after the meal everyone’s full and had some drinks and have ceased to really pay attention… actually scratch that one, that’s definitely an argument FOR having them after dinner!
.jpg)
Photography by York Place Studios
So speeches before or after dinner? We’d love to know which side of the argument you fall on. Have you had any good/bad experiences with speeches being before or after the meal, or are you planning your wedding and trying to solve this debate yourself right now? We’d love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment, send a tweet or post something on our Facebook page!
