Fathers often give the most emotional speeches, so I’m sad when a their too nervous to give one. Talk to your father well in advance, and set a clear expectation that you’d like him to speak at your wedding. Dad’s usually have good senses of humor, so get him a toy microphone to practice on if he’s nervous.

Too often, the bride is unsure if her father wants to speak at all. She’ll tiptoe around the issue all the way up to her big day. When I walk over to ask the father if he’ll be speaking, he’ll say, “I didn’t know I was giving a speech”.

As a bride, tell your dad you’d like him to speak during your precious day.

“And next up this evening, let’s hear it for the Best Man!”

He starts talking while holding the microphone far from his mouth, down by his belly button.

I discuss how to hold a microphone with every speaker at a wedding; they always tell me they know how to hold it. In my experience, they don’t and their nerves often take over as soon as they start talking.

To help solve this, I’ll sometimes let them hold the microphone and play with it to get comfortable. I’ll even include the rest of the table in the discussion; this way, the people closest to the speaker can give a reminder to hold the mic closer to their mouths.

I can always turn down a microphone if a person is too loud, but I’ll get feedback if needing to crank the volume while trying to make someone loud enough for everyone to hear.