Sample Father of the Bride speeches that will help you convey your pride and your love with humor and charm.

Good afternoon and thank you all for coming to Josephine and Jon’s special day. Standing here tonight making the father of the Bride speech makes me feel like a mosquito who has landed into a Nudist camp. All he could say was, I know what I have to do, but frankly I don’t know where to begin.

Although, I’m quite experienced in giving away daughters for marriage, this is really the very first time I have been asked to give a Father of the Bride Speech.

So I asked my friends, how do you make a Father of the Bride Speech? This is what my Friend, Jim said, Perri, just remember that a good Speech has two parts: A beginning and an Ending. And these two should not be too far between. And my Mountain Biker son, Francis, told me a Speech is like a wheel of a bicycle: the longer the Spoke, the bigger the Tire! A good FOTB Speech is like the horns of Spanish Toro. You make a point here and you make a point there, but you can put a lot of bull in between.

Since I already have the three symptoms of Old age, and you know what they are, the first is Loss of Memory, and the other two…well, I don’t remember…you’ll have to excuse me as I shall depend on my notes.

Monina and I have always been very proud of our 4 children. In fact, whenever I give a Lecture on the Four Social Styles, the Driver, the Analytical, the Expressive and the Amiable I could never resist digressing a little and relating the Social Styles to our 4 Children: Mabeth, the Driver, Francis, the Analytical, Celine, the Expressive and Josephine, the Amiable. But when I mentioned this to Jon Copeland one day, he vehemently disagreed, Josephine, an Amiable, no way.. She is a Driver… and don’t I know it! In fact he says, all the Cebedo women are Strong Drivers! With the sole exception of Monina …

It seems our new Son in Law already knows our Family quite well…and he knows how to compliment his new Mother in Law. But I think he is wrong with his assessment of Monina…There is such a thing as an Angelic Driver.

But seriously, Josephine, of all our four children, is the most versatile and the most adventurous. Even before she graduated from Santa Clara University, she gave us the news: Dad I am going to Japan. I am going to live there and work there…as an English Teacher under the JET program of the Japanese Govt…and so she worked and lived in Japan for two years.

One day upon her return from Japan, she said, I am going to work in the Marriott Hotel and so  for a couple of years she worked in the various Mariott Hotels in the Bay Area. At one time she lived in SFO and later on, commuted daily from Cupertino to SFO.

Then one day she said I am going to change my career. I am going to be a Marcom Specialist, a Trade Exhibits Manager for a small start-up Company. And so it was. Josephine traveled all-over the country organizing trade exhibits for her Company…

When the dotcom bubble burst, Josephine’s small company was bought out, and it was really difficult to get a job in High Tech and Josephine came to me a said, Dad, I have decided to yet again change careers. I am going to into Retail Marketing and I have been accepted at Target as a Section Manager. And so until December for almost three years, Josephine worked in Target…until she decided now is the time to go back to High Tech.

But before she starts out seriously looking for a job, she decides, first things first, find a husband, get married and then look for a job. And so it is that we are all gathered here today, on the 28th of January for the Wedding of Josephine and Jon. The 7 P s of Success: Proper Priorization, Preparation, Planning Prevents Poor Performance…according to Perri!

So you can see why we are proud of Josephine. She is fun-loving, amiable, funny and yet focused on her goals, She can be tough, yet flexible, persistent and yet so adaptable that she can change jobs and careers and reinvent herself so quickly …

I have also admired Josephine’s ability to learn foreign languages. One day I asked our Ecuatorian Friend, Dr. Mario Hinojosa how is Josephine’s Spanish? He said, “Ay caramba, Perri,  su hija Josefina habla mejor Castellano que tu!” Monina and Pilar also secretly admire Josephine’s ballroom dancing skills. She is indeed a person of many talents, and Jon you are one lucky guy.
But I should not over praise Josephine. As a Sales Trainer, the secret of selling success is to Under promise and Over deliver. For this reason we have the famous saying: Behind every successful man, is a surprised Mother in Law.

You know, marriage is a funny thing. For instance, a recent survey was conducted to determine if married men lived longer than bachelors did. Apparently, there's no difference whatsoever — life just seems longer when you're married.

Of course, it is important to remember that marriage, according to Dr. Phil is not about finding the perfect partner, but making the effort to be the perfect partner.
Traditionally, the father of the Bride is supposed to offer the newly married couple some words of advice on marriage, so here goes…

Although there are many different pieces of advice that I could offer you Jon and Josephine, I shall just offer one bit of advice on the secrets of a happy marriage: after more than 40 years of wedded bliss, I can now categorically say that Marriage takes persistence, patience, perseverance, tolerance, forbearance, tenacity, stoicism, stamina, forgiveness, and most importantly, a defective memory.

Of course, to make it even better, the husband should always be ready to take the blame. Sorry Jon, Monina insisted I add that last point.

Jon, there’s another bit of advice I want to give you: "Never go to bed in the middle of an argument… stay up, be a man and fight, but be diplomatic and magnanimous when you let Josephine  have her own way. Now that you are married, Josephine, will have the last word in any argument — any word that you come out with afterwards is, by default, the start of a new argument!
To Josephine, if you want something from Jon, ask for it. Remember he is a man so hints simply don't work.

And here’s my advice on Decision Making: Josephine, from now on you will find that you make all the minor decisions while John makes all the major ones. Jon, you will find that all future decisions will turn out to be of a minor nature.
Marriage as you will soon find out, will bring you many things — loyalty, self-restraint, obedience, frugality and generosity, patience and diplomacy, persistence and flexibility  and a whole host of other virtues that you wouldn't need had you remained single.

On the use of Pilipino or Tagalog. Now that you’re married Jon, you may hear Josephine talk more in Tagalog, and when she does, Jon, you better start smiling, because she may me talking about you. But you can always join in the conversation and say,”Maganda ka pero isali mo naman ako!”

By this time Jon, you know that you are welcomed into our family but I'm sure you're asking yourself what on earth you have gotten into. I want you to know that Monina and I took to you immediately. We both found you to be a kind and considerate man and funny, playful and very likeable, an observation shared by Miguel, Michael and Kevin!

To be serious here for a moment, this has been the most incredible day of my life. This day has been filled with love, laughter, tears, and friendship. Therefore, I would like to propose a toast to Josephine and Jon:
•    Here's to the past, for all that you've learned
•    Here's to the present, for all that you share
•    Here's to the future, for all that you look forward to — together

Ladies and gentlemen, would you all stand and join me in raising your glass and congratulating the new — Mrs. and Mrs. Josephine, er, Jon Copeland!