Some couples engage a professional master of ceremonies, especially for celebrity weddings. For typical weddings the father of the bride is expected to give the opening speech and propose the toast to the newly wed couple at the start of the wedding reception. He will often continue as the master of ceremonies.

There are five things that must be included in a successful father of the bride speech.

The first step is to say a few welcoming words to set the scene and create a celebratory mood for a great wedding reception. The main aim is to get the guests to relax. A good way to achieve this is to talk about the wedding ceremony, how gorgeous the bride looks, the venue for the reception or even the weather -- anything that everybody has an opinion about -- and how much you are looking forward to meeting everyone and enjoying the reception with them.

Secondly, as the host, the bride's father offers a welcome to all of the guests. It is usual to introduce any special guests, especially the groom's family and those who have made a special effort to get to the wedding. Absent guests are often mentioned at this stage also, especially those with close links with the bride or groom who have been unable to get to the wedding. A much loved grandparent or favorite aunt who has recently passed away is often mentioned at this point.

A third key step of the speech is to build some anticipation about the schedule for the reception, such as the highlight of the best man's speech and any entertainment planned for during the reception, and afterwards. Your guests will relax more when they know what is in store for them.

Next, in their wedding speech most delighted fathers want to make a few comments from the heart about their daughter, the lovely bride, among their friends and family. Choosing what to say here is often the most difficult part of the speech for many fathers to prepare. There are many ways to express your love for your daughter. Telling endearing or funny stories about your daughter as a child and during her courtship, and quoting from poetry, are popular choices, but every father has a unique approach.

Finally, to place the attention of the wedding reception firmly on the newlywed couple it is usual for the bride's father to call for guests to join him in a toast to the bride and groom. Choosing the right words for the toast is an important step in preparing the speech.

All fathers of the bride will inject their own style of speaking, humor and emotions into their speech around this simple five stage framework.

Because few fathers will have much prior experience speaking at their own daughter's wedding, most will find a professional wedding speech guide can be very helpful. Speech templates and example wedding speeches and toasts can be downloaded, along with checklists of things and people that really should be mentioned, and time saving resources, such as popular jokes, quotes and poems to choose from. Such resources are a substitute for experience, a time saver and a confidence booster for preparing a father of the bride speech.