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Groom Rehearsal Dinner Speech Ideas & Tips

Need some tips on what to include in your wedding rehearsal dinner toast? Typically the groom has to make a toast at the rehearsal dinner, and it may be hard to come up with the proper words to say.

Here are some ideas of what to say during the groom’s rehearsal dinner toast. 

What is the Rehearsal Dinner?

rehearsal dinner table

The wedding rehearsal typically takes place the day before the wedding day, when everyone gets together to practice the wedding ceremony. Usually the groom’s parents are given the responsibility to host the rehearsal dinner. The wedding party, family relatives, or anyone else who is in the wedding is usually invited to the rehearsal. 

Typically the rehearsal dinner is when all of your friends and distant family members get together and meet each other for the first time. Distant relatives who live far away have the opportunity to meet your partner’s family for the first time and see the happy couple in person. 

What is the Rehearsal Dinner Toast?

groom making speech

At wedding rehearsal dinners, it is normal for members of the bridal party to make toasts. These are similar to speeches given by the wedding party at the wedding reception, but typically reception toasts are longer than the rehearsal dinner toasts

Members of the wedding party that typically make a speech at the rehearsal dinner are the maid of honor, best man, and the groom. Sometimes, the parents of the groom or just the father of the groom speaks as well. The parents of the bride may speak as well. Often, the maid of honor and best man save their speeches for the wedding day, but sometimes they speak at both.

Since the groom’s parents typically host wedding rehearsal dinners, it is in good faith that the groom and often his parents thanks the guests for coming. 

Typically the groom’s speech and maid of honor speech at the rehearsal addresses the upcoming wedding. Your rehearsal dinner usually takes place the day before the actual wedding day, so your speech should prepare guests and family for the next day’s events. 

One thing to mention is how much you love your partner and how you think they are a wonderful person. Everyone is gathered here today to celebrate your love for one another, so make sure they know how much you love your partner at the rehearsal dinner. 

How Long Should the Groom’s Speech Be? 

groom on his wedding day

The perfect time for a rehearsal dinner speech varies. It is usually nice to stay between 2 to 3 minutes. The groom’s speech at the actual wedding should be no longer than 10 minutes, so it is in your best interest to stick to a shorter speech for the rehearsal.

If you are a storyteller, it is better to stay with quick moments instead of a long story for the rehearsal. Keep the love story of how you two met for your actual wedding day. 

Tips for the Groom’s Rehearsal Dinner Toast

groom having a drink

The biggest goal of your rehearsal dinner toast is to get everyone to say thank you to everyone who helped with your wedding day and to get your wedding guests to toast to the bride and groom. 

Good topics to focus on are how you and your partner are the perfect match for each other, and to allude to the upcoming nuptials. It’s important to make sure you save some things to talk about at your wedding toast for your reception speech. 

Rehearsal Dinner Toast Template Ideas

bride and groom on their wedding day

The perfect groom’s wedding speech usually comes from the heart. Your wedding day is the best opportunity to let your wedding guests and your partner know just how thankful you are to have this moment. Your wedding rehearsal toast should not be any different. 

Make sure you personalize your rehearsal dinner toast. Following a guide you found on the internet is not a good rule of thumb because it means you did not put your soul into writing special words from your heart. You need to sit down, focus, and let yourself think of the words to describe how you feel in this special moment. Your wedding tomorrow should serve as great inspiration to write your speech. 

The first thing to mention is who you are. Most people know that you are the groom, but for those family members that are meeting you for the first time, it is nice to introduce yourself. Let your guests understand why your partner chose you to marry. Let your personality shine and try to be as friendly and personable as you can. It’s likely that you and your partner will be a bundle of nerves the day before the wedding day, and so will your closest family members, so break the ice by being charming and engaging. 

Some popular toast topics range from a funny story about you and your partner to incorporate your sense of humor to your engagement story. Even if you break the ice by telling some funny stories and bad jokes, it will be appreciated by the crowd who may not know each other. It is your responsibility to make sure everyone feels comfortable and ready to party with each other the next evening! You can even break the ice by sharing an embarrassing story that only your closest friends know. This will make all of your new relatives feel like they really know you when you exchange vows the next day. 

Take advantage of this special moment in time. Tomorrow is the day that you will be married. It’s nerve wracking but it’s also one of the best days of your life. One idea for your speech at the rehearsal dinner is to speak about the beauty of marriage. 

Some rehearsal dinner toast story ideas are to tell a personal story. This can be anything from a funny moment in the wedding planning process that didn’t go as planned, or a personal story about how even as a young boy you also dreamed of your wedding day. Let your personality shine by letting your wedding guests get to know the real you. This is the perfect time to be sentimental and reflect on everything before the special day. 

Rehearsal Dinner Speech Examples

groom with his groomsmen

When writing your rehearsal dinner toast, it is important not to use a canned, impersonal template that is taken from the internet. Although this is advised against, some groom’s may feel as though they do not know where to start when writing their own.

This sample speech was taken from LovetoKnow.com, to give you a better idea of what is a proper groom’s toast at the rehearsal dinner. If you decide to use this as a template, remember to include personal details that make your speech original and from the heart. 

“Hello everyone. On behalf of Carol and myself, I want to thank you all for attending the rehearsal earlier this evening, as well as this wonderful dinner we’re all about to enjoy. I want to thank my parents, as well, not just for hosting the dinner, but for everything they’ve done to support Carol and I on this journey.

I also want to thank Carol’s parents, Michael and Linda, who’ve been behind us all the way. When you see the beautiful wedding they helped us put together, you’ll know what Carol and I already know; they are awesome.

To my beautiful fiancée, soon to be my lovely bride, I want to thank you in front of all the wonderful people gathered here tonight for agreeing to join your life with mine. I know we have a fantastic future ahead of us. The path may not always be smooth, but that’s just part of life. I know that we can handle all the bumps along the way as long as we always have each other. I truly cannot wait to take our vows tomorrow.

So, thank you everyone. Eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves. Tomorrow we will do it all again.”

Funny Rehearsal Dinner Speech Example

bride laughing on wedding day

Here is an example of a funny story being told at the rehearsal dinner. This speech was found on LovetoKnow.com. Use this as inspiration to write your own personal account of a funny story that you want to tell family and friends.  

“I want to take you all back to several years ago when we took a wild road trip to Colorado. It took two days longer than we anticipated and we had not one, but two flat tires. When we finally got to Colorado we all realized that skiing wasn’t nearly as easy as we thought it would be. Who knew that flying down a mountain with two sticks stuck to your feet could be hard?

But the important thing here is that we all had a great time, even when things got bumpy. Even when Jerry broke his foot. Even when the lodge ran out of hot chocolate. It didn’t matter. Please raise your glasses to a couple who will endure the flat tires, the difficult tasks, the broken bones, and even hot chocolate shortages, all in the spirit of love.” 

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Caroline Kinsley

Caroline Kinsley is a recent graduate from the University of Delaware. With a degree in media communications, Caroline’s passions are marketing and journalism. Caroline has always loved the wedding planning process, being the daughter of an event planner. In addition to contributions to Yeah Weddings, Caroline Kinsley has published articles in Delaware Today Magazine, Her Campus, and YOUR Magazine.

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