Traditional Speech by Men

Traditionally, wedding speeches were given only by men, usually members of the family and most often fathers of the bride and groom, and were meant to be blessings upon the newly married couple. These blessings were given in a very solemn and serious manner, and were meant as wishes of happiness and fertility. At some point, it became expected that the best man would always give a speech after the wedding, and then quite a few years later, women joined the speech-giving tradition.