REWRITING THE RULES ON WEDDING SPEECHES

Speech and screen writer Heidi Ellert-McDermott, founder of the bespoke wedding speechwriting business Speechy, is helping couples step away from old-fashioned, out-dated wedding speeches – and wow their guests with wonderful words written from the heart.

Her ‘The Modern Couple’s Guide to Wedding Speeches’ has already helped couples around the world write a better class of wedding speech by ditching cheesy cliches, old-fashioned etiquette and the dreaded Googled-gags.  

Heidi’s book is now being published in the US on Tuesday September 26 by Little, Brown for $19.99 

“It’s very humbling to see your own work in print – and I am indebted to those fellow professionals who helped me to pull together this advice and support to couples getting married in the modern world.

“The days when the speech was just put in the hands of a ‘best man’ and a ‘father of the bride’ and the ‘bridegroom’ are gone. Modern couples want a modern vibe for their weddings, they want their words to match their lives, their experiences, their dreams and they want those words to resonate across the room – to entertain and inspire.

“It’s okay for a bride to make a speech, a mother of the bride, for two brides or two grooms to share their thoughts and feelings. The traditional rule book can be ripped up.”

Heidi wrote her book after realising that many books around wedding speeches were hopelessly out of date and did not reflect the modern wedding. Often these books would not reflect the colour and diversity of the modern wedding.

“So many existing texts rely on an old-fashioned view around male and female stereotypes, holding on to traditions which are best left, in my view, in the past. Couples come in all shapes and sizes today – and it make sense that speeches are more diverse too and therefore more memorable for all concerned.” 

This book is aimed at grooms and brides, straight or gay; recognising the diversity of modern couples and the blended families that make up the guestlist. 

The book tears up the old-school speech traditions and establishes more modern rules and aspirations. It includes speech examples written by professional speechwriters, TV scriptwriters and comedians at the top of their game. It also includes advice from wedding influencers and wedding planners. 

For couples planning a 2023 wedding or 2024 wedding, this ‘how to’ guide helps brides and grooms develop their insights, curate their material, find their inner Byron and develop their funny bones.  

Heidi, who lives in South Gloucestershire was a TV director / writer / producer for over 15 years. She has worked with well-known names such as Richard Hammond, Sharon Osbourne, David Mitchell, and Mel Giedroyc. 

She set up Speechy in 2015 after delivering a bride speech at her own wedding that got more compliments than her dress!

“That was my lightbulb moment when it came to my business!” she said. 

Speechy has now developed a global clientele and has received significant media coverage– including The New York Times, Observer, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Metro, Women’s Hour, The Times and even The Drew Barrymore Show. Most recently, she featured on BBC Sound’s Best Men podwith Jason Manford and Steve Edge).

WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM THE BOOK 

• The traditional wedding speech line up just isn’t fit for a modern wedding 
• Same-sex weddings need to establish new speech traditions 
• Women need to be bolder about grabbing the mic (currently only 15% of Speechy’s clients are women) 
• That EVERY speech needs to have humour in it – whether or not the speaker is ‘naturally funny’ because humour is a social bonding juice 
• Adjectives like ‘beautiful’ and ‘soulmate’ are white-noise. Speeches need to be based on good story-telling, not passive or generic descriptions. 
• Googled gags are banned 
• No one should read their speech from any form of tech 
• Joint newlywed speeches are a trend that’s set to stay 
• The days of PowerPoint are over! 

‘The Modern Couple’s Guide to Wedding Speeches’ is available in the US from Tuesday 26th September and is being sold in UK through all the major retailers.  It can also be found here https://www.speechy.com/the-modern-couples-guide-to-wedding-speeches