'I'm a professional wedding speech writer – here's the biggest mistakes you can make'

ok.co.uk:

Giving a speech on your wedding day? It can prove to be a stressful challenge. Whether that’s due to trying to strike the right balance between heart and humour, avoiding any embarrassing revelations or calming your stage fright so you don’t stumble over your words.

Heidi Ellert-McDermott is the founder of Speechy and author of The Modern Couple’s Guide to Wedding Speeches, available here on Amazon for £7.08, down from £14.99.

She’s written wedding speeches for celebrities, politicians, well-known entrepreneurs and hundreds of other brides and grooms around the world.

And to make sure your wedding speeches are memorable for all the right reasons, we asked Heidi to reveal the classic speech mistake nearlyweds should definitely avoid… OPENING WITH WEDDING WAFFLE "The first 30 seconds of your speech is crucial as it’s when you can win over your audience or lose them altogether", says Heidi. "Unfortunately, so many speakers make the mistake of reading old-fashioned etiquette advice and thinking they need to say exactly the same thing as couples did fifty years ago. "These days weddings are bespoke and full of personality, rather than formal affairs.