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Welcome speech
Welcome to the family speeches

Welcome to the family speeches

- a wedding or engagement welcome speech template to personalize

Here's a handy, and flexible, template to use if you've been asked to make a short speech welcoming a newcomer into your family. Perhaps the bride or groom at a wedding reception. Or maybe one or other of the happy pair at their engagement party.

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What this welcome speech example does well

It ticks off the main requirements of this type of welcome speech very effectively.

These are to make the person(s) you're giving the speech to:

feel at home,
at ease and,
valued.

Image: portrait of a family at dinner. Text overlay: how to give a speech to welcome someone new to your family.

Short, simple and sincere - brief and heartfelt

The speech also sticks to the SSS rule: short, simple and sincere.

Nobody really appreciates a lengthy, shapeless ramble - a meandering tour through family stories, or thoughts delivered randomly, as they occur, without real consideration.

If you've ever sat through ''a few words'' that rapidly multiplied to become an extended monologue, you'll know what I mean. It's an audience endurance test and often embarrassing.

That's an example of what you don't want to do.

Your words extend a hand of both friend and kinship on behalf of your immediate and extended family. Keep them brief, on track and, deliver them with a smile.

Sample welcome speech template

- adapt it for a wedding or an engagement party

There's room to personalize the speech with a couple of succinct family-friendly stories to fit the occasion or you could just leave it as it is.

If you don't add anything, the speech is about one and a half minutes long when said aloud.

And now here's the text

(The italicized words inside the curly brackets are not said aloud.)

Mary {Replace the name Mary with the name of the person you are welcoming} - welcome to the family!

Family, tribe, clan, kin, group - call it what you will: it's us - all of us!

We're mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, 3rd cousins, even 53rd cousins, old and young, generations of us, linked together through shared DNA and history.

Look around. The faces smiling back at you are now your people too.

And you thought you were just marrying Dean {Replace the name Dean with the right one} didn't you?

Congratulations! We are the bonus prize!

But seriously, we're delighted Dean {Change the name to the right one.} had the good sense to choose you to marry.

Over the time leading up to today we've seen you are so right for each other.

{This is the place to insert a couple of examples or stories illustrating how good these two are together.

For example:

Like when you hosted that family barbecue together, a couple of months back. The grill ran out of gas halfway through. Someone dropped the salad bowl and broke it. The wind blew all the paper napkins off the table, and the kids got restless.

But instead of stressing, you laughed, improvised, and somehow turned it into one of the most relaxed, fun afternoons we’ve had. It showed us you’re a real team, rolling with whatever life throws at you. It was great!

Or:

And it’s not just the way you are when you're together. It’s also how you make those around you feel.

Remember last Christmas when you both helped Aunt Jo with the decorations? It's a huge job and a big deal! We love our traditional Christmases: a tree, lights – the works! By the time you were done, the entire room was radiating joy, and so was she.}

Now we look forward to supporting you both, and sharing your lives, through the many years ahead.

On behalf of everyone, we're honored you're family - one of us.

Cheers!

To hear the speech play the video

The voice you'll hear belong to me, Susan.

Would you like a pdf of this welcome speech?

If you'd like to adapt this speech quickly and easily for your own use, click on the image below. You'll get a pdf file of the speech to download. Follow the simple instructions and you'll have a personalized speech of your own. (Please note: The file will open in a new window.)

Rehearse your speech

To be truly effective when you deliver your speech you need to rehearse it.

It needs to be said aloud many times so that you get the flow of it, and can deliver it confidently.

Please don't be tempted to give the speech without practicing it, particularly if you're unused to public speaking. You create so much extra stress for yourself, and that pressure can cause embarrassing slip ups, which will make it worse.

I've got all the information you need to deliver your speech really well. You'll find it here: how to rehearse your speech.

How to deal with public speaking nerves

If you're nervous about public speaking I've many suggestions I know will help.

The best place to start is here: 14 ways to manage public speaking fear

You'll find out how to breathe properly to minimize stress and maximize your voice, how to use your imagination effectively, and more.

About the Author: Susan Dugdale, founder of write-out-loud.com, is a qualified teacher of English and drama with over 40 years of experience. Drawing on her professional expertise and her personal journey from shyness to confidence, Susan creates practical, real-world resources to help people find their voice and speak with power.