Practice your wedding speech thoroughly.
The more your practice, the less nervous you'll feel on the actual day. Remember to practice your intonation, and the pauses. If you show you've put effort into your preparation, any mistakes you might make on the big day will be forgiven

Learn your speech by heart.
Whenever you have some spare time - in the car on the way to work, in the shower or wherever - practice your speech. Repeat it over and over again as often as you can before the big day. You'll feel much calmer, knowing the whole speech inside and out.

Think of a funny story before you stand up.
Nothing so funny that you lose your focus, but something mildly amusing that will bring a smile to your face. This will loosen you up, and give a nice energy to your wedding speech that will improve the delivery immensely.

Knowing how to structure the perfect wedding speech will also go a long way to calming your nerves and delivering a speech that does you and your bride credit.

Perfect Timing
Give yourself a time limit and stick to it. Seven minutes is plenty. If you're writing your speech out in full, think of it as 1,000 words.

Set The Tone
Traditionally, the tone of a bridegroom's speech falls somewhere in the middle of that of the father-in-law and the best man.

Strike a balance between entertaining your audience and expressing your thanks to everyone who helped you and your bride prepare for the big day.

Break The Ice
An opening joke will catch people's attention, create a relaxed atmosphere and - most importantly - help calm your nerves. This is a family occasion, so keep it clean and avoid ""in-jokes", which may fall flat - try to appeal to everyone's sense of humour instead.

Give Thanks
Here's where a few written notes will come in handy for even the most confident of speakers, so no one's forgotten. Tradition has it that the bride's parents are the first to receive your gratitude, for giving his daughter away.

Reassure them that you will look after their daughter and are excited about joining their family. Next in line are your parents and siblings, who deserve a special mention for their years of support.

Thank your guests for coming and for their (you hope) generous gifts. It's polite to acknowledge your best man, attendants, bridesmaids and anyone else who deserves recognition for their help.

Describe The Day
Tell everyone what a wonderful time you've had. It's inevitable that you won't be able to chat with all your friends and family in person at your reception, so leave some room in your speech to let them know what kind of an experience your wedding has been. Ad-lib about the day's little dramas.

Talk To Her
Compliment your bride. Find the romantic within you and tell your friends and family what it is you love about her - and look at her not your guests whilst doing so.

Tell A Story
Explain how you first met and give your guests an insight into how your relationship developed. What makes you such a good match and why did you decide to get married? If it gets too emotional, a gentle joke about your bride will lighten the mood.

Time For A Toast
Now you're almost on the home straight, it's safe to start drinking, propose a toast to your attendants, parents and of course, your wife.

Finally, hand over to your best man for his speech and prepare for a verbal pummelling and the most embarrassing five minutes of your life!