5 full speeches
Wedding speech examples for an older couple
When the couple is in their fifties or older, the usual lines about starting out don't fit. These full speeches are for weddings later in life, where the guests include grown children and sometimes grandchildren.
Drop the starting-out lines
No advice about the first year or building a life from scratch. Talk about what they've chosen, knowing what they know.
Let the history in
If either of them was married before, a respectful nod is fine. Ask the couple how they'd like it handled.
Keep it short
Guests at a later wedding tend to know the couple well. You don't need to introduce them, just raise a glass.
The speeches
- Friend or guest · Heartfelt · about 3 minutesGroom's Second Wedding Speech, With His KidsA groom marrying for the second time speaks with his two children from his first marriage standing in the wedding party, and addresses each by name“Thank you all for being here. I'm Hieronymus, and I'm the groom, which I was told I would get to say exactly once tonight, so I am saying it now. Most of you know this is not my first time standing at one of these.”
- Friend or guest · Heartfelt · about 3 minutesToast for a Parent's Second Marriage, From Their DaughterAn adult daughter toasts her divorced mom's second marriage, welcoming her new stepdad at the reception“Hi, everyone. I'm Coral, Aurelia's daughter. My brother Marlon is the one at table four pretending he isn't already crying. He asked me to do this, which was smart of him. My parents split up when I was nine and Marlon was six.”
- Best Man · Heartfelt · about 3 minutesBest Man Speech for a Groom in His FiftiesBest man for a lifelong friend marrying in his fifties; the speaker watched him wait for the right person without ever pretending the wait was the plan“Good evening. I'm Cornelius. Linus and I met in September of 1996, in the parking lot of a hardware store, when he helped me tie a ladder to the roof of a car that had no roof rack.”
- Mother of the Groom · Short · about 2 minutesShort Mother of the Groom SpeechA mother whose son is marrying at forty-seven tells one story about his apartment and welcomes the bride with something she noticed before anyone told her“Hi, everyone. I'm Cressida, Cosmo's mother. I have waited forty-seven years to give this speech, so I've had plenty of time to rehearse. If it sounds polished, that's why. Cosmo has lived in the same apartment on Fulton for nineteen years. It is a nice apartment.”
- The Couple · Funny · about 3 minutesGroom Speech With Funny Thank-YousAn older groom at the reception who wants the thank-yous quick and light so he has room for one real story about his wife“Hi, everyone. I'm Harlan, and as of about two hours ago, I'm Loretta's husband. I'm sixty-four years old and I was nervous enough this morning to put my shirt on inside out, so let's get the thank-yous done while I still have my nerve.”
Guides for this situation
Have a draft already?
The free speech check reads it the way a room would: what lands, what to cut, and how long it runs. No account.
Check my speech