50 Wedding Speech Opening Lines That Actually Work (By Role)
The opening line of your wedding speech sets the tone for everything that follows. Here are 50 proven openers, sorted by speech type, to get you started.
Part of the How to Write a Wedding Speech guide: structure, length, opening lines, and delivery.
The first sentence of your wedding speech is doing more work than you realize.
Before you say your second word, the room has already decided something. Are they going to enjoy this? Is this person comfortable up here? Is this worth paying attention to? The opening line answers all of those questions before you've even gotten to your story.
Most wedding speech openers fail for the same reason: they're defensive. "For those who don't know me..." "I'll keep this brief..." "Bear with me, I'm not great at public speaking..." Every one of these signals to the room that the speaker is already apologizing. And the room hears it.
What works instead is dropping the audience directly into a moment, a relationship, or a truth they weren't expecting. The best opening lines create forward motion. They make people think: where is this going? And then the rest of the speech answers that question.
Here are 50 of them, organized by who is speaking.
Best Man (10 Opening Lines)
1. "I have been asked to keep this under six minutes. So I cut it down from forty-five."
2. "There is a text on my phone from three years ago. I have been saving it for today. It reads: 'She said yes. I think I'm going to be sick.' I have never been more proud of him."
3. "I've known Marcus for twenty-two years. And in that time, I have watched him be wrong about exactly two things: the 2019 playoff odds, and the idea that a person like Ellie would ever fall for a person like him. Turns out he was right about the second one."
4. "Most people describe their best friend as their brother. I will just describe mine accurately: the man who once convinced me to drive to another state for a sandwich and genuinely believed it was worth it. It was."
5. "When James called me to be best man, I said yes before he finished the sentence. Then he told me I had to give a speech, and I asked if I could change my answer."
6. "I have three stories ready. I am only going to tell you two of them. Jake knows which one I am leaving out, and I think we can all agree that is the right call."
7. "Everything I know about love I learned from watching this man get his heart completely broken and somehow come back kinder than he was before."
8. "The night before Tom's first date with Sarah, he called me and said: 'I think this one is different.' I have heard that from him before. But the way he said it this time was different."
9. "I want to start by saying that everything you are about to hear is true. Some of it is flattering. Most of it is not. All of it is evidence that this man has been my best friend for fifteen years and I would not trade a single story."
10. "Before I begin: everything in this speech has been pre-approved by the groom. The stories he asked me to cut are the best ones. The stories you are about to hear are the ones he could not reasonably stop me from telling."
Maid of Honor (10 Opening Lines)
1. "I have known Sophie since we were seven years old, which means I have also known every version of her that existed before Daniel. I have to say, this one is my favorite."
2. "Emma and I have a tradition. Every New Year's Eve, we write down the one thing we most want for each other in the coming year. Two years ago, I wrote her name down, and under it I wrote: 'I hope she finds her person.' She did. And he is exactly who I hoped for."
3. "When Rachel called me to tell me about David, she said five sentences and then stopped and said, 'I'm scared.' I said, 'I know.' And I did. Because she had never sounded like that before."
4. "I have given a lot of toasts in my life. Birthday toasts. Retirement toasts. The toast I gave at book club when we finally finished a book none of us actually read. This is the first one that I genuinely could not write without crying three times."
5. "Lily has been my best friend for twelve years. In that time, she has been the first person I call in a crisis, the person who shows up without being asked, and the person who tells me the truth even when I do not want to hear it. Tonight, I get to be that person for her."
6. "I met Claire on the first day of freshman year. She was the only person in the dorm who had a French press and knew how to use it. I knew immediately that we would be friends forever."
7. "Maya did not tell me about Noah right away. She waited three months, which is unusual for us, because we tell each other everything. When I finally asked her why she waited, she said: 'Because I wanted to be sure before I let myself say it out loud.' I think that tells you everything you need to know about Maya."
8. "I am not going to stand here and list all of Grace's best qualities. Partly because we would be here until midnight. Mostly because what I want to say is not a list. It is just this: she is the most genuinely good person I have ever known. And watching her find someone who sees that the way the rest of us do has been one of the great joys of my life."
9. "There is a photo on my phone from the night after their third date. Anya texted me a blurry selfie at 11pm with the caption 'I think this is it.' I texted back 'I know.' I have been right about exactly one thing in my life."
10. "I have been preparing this speech for four years. I just did not know it yet. Because every time something happened to Laura that I stored away to tell her husband someday, I was writing this speech without knowing who he would be. Now I know. And I am very glad it is you, Patrick."
Father of the Bride (8 Opening Lines)
1. "When your daughter is born, someone should warn you that every single thing that happens after that is preparation for today. Every scraped knee. Every argument about curfew. Every phone call that started with 'Dad, I need to talk to you.' It was all just getting to this."
2. "I have been thinking about what to say for about six months. I have written and deleted this speech more times than I can count. What I kept coming back to, every time, was one sentence: I could not be more proud of who she became."
3. "Olivia asked me to keep this short. She knows me. So I will simply say: there is nothing in my life that has prepared me adequately for how good this moment feels."
4. "I am not a sentimental man. I want to be clear about that. Which is why what I am about to say should be taken as absolute gospel, because it took me considerable effort to admit it: she found a good one."
5. "Thirty-one years ago, a nurse put a six-pound, two-ounce person in my arms and said, 'Here is your daughter.' I had no idea what I was doing. Neither did she. We figured it out together."
6. "I spent years worrying about who she would end up with. Fathers do that. We run scenarios. We imagine futures. We rehearse speeches we hope we never have to give. And then she brought home Michael, and I realized I had been worrying about nothing."
7. "My daughter has always been braver than me. Braver than I was at her age. Braver than I am now. Tonight she is doing the bravest thing I know: choosing to love someone completely and trust that they will meet her there."
8. "There are things you cannot explain to someone who does not have a daughter. The particular kind of joy you feel watching her become herself. The particular kind of fear. And the particular kind of peace that comes when you meet the right person, and you know."
Groom (8 Opening Lines)
1. "I had a whole speech prepared. And then I saw her at the end of the aisle this morning, and I can tell you honestly: I do not remember any of it."
2. "I am not someone who believes in fate. I am a data person. I think things happen because of choices and timing and probability. And then I met Jessica, and I started to question all of that, because there is no rational explanation for someone being exactly right for you."
3. "I have been trying to figure out what to say to you in front of all these people for six months. The problem is that the truest things I want to say to you, I want to say to you alone. So I will say the truest public version: you changed what I thought was possible."
4. "My brother told me that the best thing about being married is that you always have someone in your corner. My dad told me the best thing is having someone who makes you better. My mom told me the best thing is finding someone who sees you clearly and loves you anyway. I think they are all describing the same person."
5. "I am going to be honest with you, which is something I have always tried to be: I was not ready for you when we met. I did not know that then. I figured it out somewhere around month three, when I realized I was changing the things about myself that needed changing because I wanted to, not because someone asked me to."
6. "There is a version of today I imagined for years. Standing here in front of everyone. Saying these words. And in every version I ever imagined, it was her."
7. "I want to thank everyone for being here. And then I want to stop thanking people and just say the thing I actually came here to say, which is: I am the luckiest person in this room."
8. "I wrote about a hundred drafts of this. Most of them started with a joke. I kept cutting them because they were not the point. The point is this: I choose you. In front of everyone here, I am choosing you. And I will keep choosing you every day after this one."
Mother of the Bride (7 Opening Lines)
1. "I have been her mother for twenty-nine years. I have watched her cry over things that did not matter and be brave about things that did. I have watched her fail and get back up. I have watched her become the person standing in this room tonight. And I am not sure I have the words for how that feels. But I am going to try."
2. "Charlotte is going to pretend she does not want me to cry. Charlotte, I want you to know: I have been practicing. I have cried at this speech approximately forty times in the last month. I have nothing left."
3. "I raised her to be independent. To not need anyone. To know that she could build a life exactly as she imagined it. And then she found someone who made all of that feel like permission instead of armor, and I understood for the first time why I wanted that for her."
4. "When Sophie was little, she used to tell me exactly what kind of person she would marry someday. She was very specific. She had a list. I found that list recently in a box in the attic. James, you need to know: you are almost everything on it."
5. "I do not give speeches. I give instructions. So I will keep this in my lane and simply instruct everyone in this room to look at my daughter and take note of what pure joy looks like on a person's face."
6. "Her father and I have been married for thirty-four years. In that time, I have learned that the most important thing in a marriage is not compatibility or chemistry or timing. It is choosing, on the hard days, to be on the same side. I have watched Emma and Ryan do that already. That is how I know."
7. "I have kept a lot of secrets for this woman over the years. Tonight I am allowed to tell one: she has always known exactly what she wanted. And she has always been willing to wait for it. The wait is over."
Wedding Vows (4 Opening Lines)
1. "I do not have the right words for what you mean to me. I have been trying to find them for two years. What I have instead is this: I see you. Completely. And I am choosing you, completely."
2. "You are the first person I have ever wanted to be known by. Not liked, not admired. Known. Whatever that means for the next fifty years, I want it to happen with you."
3. "I used to think love was something you fell into, something that happened to you. Then I met you, and I realized it is a decision you make every day. Today I am making it publicly. Tomorrow I will make it quietly. And I will keep making it for the rest of my life."
4. "There are a hundred things I want to say to you. I am going to say the most important one: I am not afraid anymore. Whatever comes after today, I am not afraid, because I am going through it with you."
Step-Parent (3 Opening Lines)
1. "I did not raise her from the beginning. What I had instead was a different kind of beginning. I came into her life when she was already becoming herself, and I had the unusual privilege of watching that happen up close. Tonight I get to say, in front of everyone: I am so glad I stayed around to see it."
2. "There was a day, about four years in, when she called me in a crisis. Not her mother. Not her father. Me. I do not think she knew what that meant to me. I have been trying to find a way to tell her ever since. I think today might be the right moment."
3. "Some families are built slowly. Ours was. There were years that were harder than I expected and years that were easier. And somewhere along the way, without either of us making an announcement about it, she became my daughter. I have been waiting for the right occasion to say that out loud."
What all great opening lines have in common
After reading fifty of them, a few things should be clear.
They skip the preamble. No "For those who don't know me." No "I'll keep this brief." No "I was asked to say a few words." The room doesn't need context before you earn their attention. You earn their attention first, then provide context.
They establish a specific relationship. The best openers tell you something true about who the speaker is to this couple. Not their job title or how long they've known them. Something true. A moment. A text message. A memory that shows, rather than tells, the nature of the bond.
They create forward motion. The opening line isn't the destination. It's the reason to keep listening. Every great opener makes the room think: where is this going? That question, held by 150 people in a room, is the best possible place to begin.
Keep reading:
Use one of these as a starting point. SpokenVow will interview you about your specific relationship, surface the real stories, and build the rest of the speech around them.
