I want to strongly encourage you to limit the number of speakers. Once you’ve made the invitation it’s very difficult to rescind if we find that we’re behind schedule. In practice what happens is that we cut into your dancing time. I’ve seen a two hour dance party turn into 20 minutes because of too many speakers going on for too long, and we always have a hard and fast end time.

The handing out of a wedding speech time slot can be a lot like handing out staffing appointments for an incoming Presidential administration — you don’t always choose the most qualified person for the job.

So, how do you choose the right people to give a speech on your wedding day?

Couples will often choose a song for the wedding party, and a separate song for the bride. This offsets the bridal entrance and makes it more special. It also gives the officiant a natural break to ask your guests to stand.