If you had been getting married twenty or thirty years ago, you would not have to be worrying about a wedding speech by the Father of the Groom.
He did not garner as much attention as the Father if the Bride during the wedding festivities.
He may have stood and given a short toast to the couple during the rehearsal dinner, but he generally was not expected to make a more formal speech during the wedding reception.
Like most traditions, things change.
The Father of the Groom will not be expected to give a six or seven minute version of the Father of the Bride's eloquent and poignant speech.
His will be more informal, but still dignified.
Whether he stands at his seat or has a place on the dais, he will first introduce himself and his wife even if many of the attendees know him.
Here is a rather tricky area.
If his current wife is not the mother of the Groom, and the Groom's mother is present, he should introduce her as the Mother of the Groom.
If she has also re-married, it would be fitting and proper to introduce her husband.
Now everyone knows each other.
The Father of the Groom should then turn his attention to the Bride addressing her directly.
He should tell her how beautiful she is and what an exceptional wedding it has been.
Her dress is stunning and the colors she selected compliment the entire wedding party.
The food and drink are incomparable.
Now he can talk about his son.
Not all fathers have stories that give warm and fuzzy feelings when shared.
But if he sits quietly and thinks about it, he can probably come up with a few short vignettes that show what kind of man the groom has become and why this is an asset to the Bride.
It can be really simple.
"You know, John grew up with four younger sisters.
It wasn't always easy on him.
When the girls were younger, they would get into sibling squabbles and John would always be the mediator.
When they fell or got sick, he was the first one to pick them up and take them to get patched up while he dried their tears.
When they were teenagers, they would hang around him and his friends flirting with the older boys.
Knowing his duty, he told the girls if they didn't stop, he'd give them something to cry about.
Likewise, he warned his buddies not to take advantage of the flirting and if they ever got near one of his sisters, he'd use his baseball bat for something other than batting practice.
" "Jane, what this means is that you have chosen a man who knows how to protect those close to him.
He knows when it's time for smiles and when it's time to be stern.
He will make a wonderful husband, good provider and excellent father to all your baby girls.
" The wedding speech given by the Father of the Groom does not have to be long and boring.
It only needs to be a sweet sample of the type of life the new Bride will be sharing with her husband.