Father of the Groom

The big day is coming up quickly. My oldest son is getting married on Saturday.

The reception is limited to a small number of guests so we will not have as many of our friends and family coming into Kingston as we did when our daughter was married. And I am not playing at the wedding or the reception. But I am busily preparing my father of the groom speech.

When preparing for any speech, particularly one as important as this one, I try to make a few things really clear:

• What is the purpose of the speech?
• What is the key message that I want to give to those present?
• How do I want people to feel after the speech?

Fortunately I have had a lot of opportunities to speak in public — I do not fear giving speeches. Certain speeches, though, require careful attention. This one, like the Father of the Bride speech that I gave a few years ago, is such a speech. Wedding days are not the days to ad lib or wing a speech.

I have about 5 minutes or about 750 words for the speech. I have about 300 words done.

5 more days.