We're hosting the rehearsal dinner, and as the groom's dad I'm supposed to open the toasts.
Bring the names of the people at the table, one story about your son or the couple, and who speaks after you. HidenGPT's Speech format, set to Wedding speech with 2 minutes, turns that into about 260 words that welcome both families and end in a toast. Anything you did not give it stays a bracketed gap.
Try it with your own details
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How to do it in HidenGPT
- 01
Ask the couple who will speak tonight and in what order, and keep your slot to two minutes if more than three people are speaking.
- 02
With Speech picked under “Use it for”, keep Occasion on Wedding speech and Minutes on 2, and change Your role if you are not the groom's father.
- 03
In the main box, list who you are welcoming, one story and the name of the next speaker, then send.
- 04
Read the draft for anything that did not happen, fill each [add a short memory] with something true and cut any line that belongs at tomorrow's reception.
- 05
Say it out loud standing up with a glass in your hand, the way most hosts give it, and time it.
Speech & Toast: Weddings, graduations, keynotes: timed to the minute and written to be read aloud.
Who speaks at the rehearsal dinner, and in what order
In American weddings the groom's parents have traditionally hosted the rehearsal dinner, and the host speaks first. That is why the search is so often “rehearsal dinner speech father of the groom”. Today plenty of couples host it themselves or split it, and the person paying usually acts as host. Whoever hosts opens the toasts.
After the host, a common pattern is the bride's parents, then siblings, friends and members of the wedding party who will not speak at the reception. Best man and maid of honor speeches are usually kept for the wedding itself. Couples often finish the evening with a short thank-you of their own. None of this is fixed: ask the couple, and if you are hosting, decide the order and tell each speaker before dessert.
As host, part of your job is to keep the evening moving. Introduce the next speaker by name at the end of your toast, and if the list is long, ask everyone in advance to keep it to a minute or two.
Rehearsal dinner speech vs wedding speech
The room: the rehearsal dinner is family, the wedding party and people who traveled, often twenty to fifty guests. The reception is everyone, including colleagues and plus-ones.
The length: one to three minutes at the rehearsal dinner, because more people speak. Two minutes is about 260 words at a normal pace of 130 words a minute.
The tone: looser and more personal. A story with a family detail lands here that would need explaining at the reception.
The job: as host, you welcome both families and make the strangers at the table feel like they belong. The formal thanks and the big tribute belong to tomorrow.
The story: if you are speaking at both events, use a different one at each. Many guests will hear you twice.
Example: the host's rehearsal dinner toast
Example (about 210 words, from the notes in the box above):
“Can I have everyone's attention for a minute? I'm Greg, Marcus's dad. Donna and I are so glad you are all here at Lucca's tonight, and I promise we will be quick, because the tiramisu here is not something you want to wait for.
Steve and Kathy, welcome. We have been looking forward to sitting at the same table as you. And Rose, you came all the way from Tucson at ninety-one. That puts the rest of us and our complaints about the airport to shame.
When Marcus was twelve, he decided our backyard needed an ice rink. Every December he would be out there with a hose at eleven at night, building it a layer at a time. Every winter he skated on it like he owned it. Then, a few years ago, Jen came over for the first time, borrowed a pair of skates, and skated circles around him. He has been trying to catch up ever since. I think that is going well.
Tomorrow is the big day, with the vows and the dancing. Tonight is just us, the people who are going to be family. Thank you for being here.
Please raise your glasses. To Marcus and Jen.
And now, Steve, I believe you have a few words.”
Said at a relaxed pace, that is under two minutes.
What the Speech format does with it
The Wedding speech setting opens with who you are and how you are connected to the couple, uses a story from your notes, keeps exes, money, fights and crude humor out, and finishes on a raised glass. This page presets Your role as the groom's father hosting the dinner; change it to the bride's parent, a sibling or the couple if that is you, and the opening changes with it. At 2 minutes it aims for about 260 words and warns you if the draft comes out more than 30% off.
It does not invent family stories, people or places. Where your notes run out, it leaves [add a short memory] for you to replace. The red pen runs a light pass for stock phrases before you see the result. On Pro or Pro Max, a voice saved from two to five pieces of your own writing (at least 300 characters) brings the draft closer to how you actually talk at dinner.
Not the right tool if
- The best man or maid of honor speech. Those usually belong at the reception, and the best man setting fits them better.
- Running the evening for you. Seating, the order of speakers and the moment you stand up are still the host's decisions.
- A roast. Rehearsal dinners are looser, but the wedding setting keeps teasing kind and leaves exes and old fights out.
Other ways to do it
- A thirty-second welcome and a raised glass
- Enough if you are hosting but would rather not give a speech. Welcome both families, thank the travelers, toast the couple.
- Writing it yourself from the comparison above
- Costs nothing. Welcome, one story, one line about tomorrow and a toast is all a rehearsal dinner needs.
- A joint toast with your spouse
- Common when both parents host. One welcomes, the other tells the story.
- ChatGPT or another chatbot
- Quick, but look out for invented details and stock lines about “two families becoming one”, which you will want to cut.
Questions
Who gives a speech at the rehearsal dinner?
The host first, traditionally the groom's father or parents, then usually the bride's parents, siblings, friends and wedding party members who are not speaking at the reception. The couple often closes with a thank-you.
How long should a rehearsal dinner speech be?
One to three minutes, with two a good default. That is about 260 words at 130 words a minute. With several speakers, shorter is better.
What does the father of the groom say at the rehearsal dinner?
As host he welcomes everyone, greets the bride's family by name, thanks the people who traveled, tells one short story and toasts the couple. Then he hands over to the next speaker.
What is the difference between a rehearsal dinner speech and a wedding speech?
The rehearsal dinner speech is shorter, more personal and given to a smaller room of family and close friends. The wedding speech is more formal and reaches the whole guest list.
What if the couple is hosting the rehearsal dinner?
Then they open, or ask a parent to. Put “the bride and groom, hosting” or your own role in Your role and the draft opens with the right welcome.
Is it okay to use AI to write a rehearsal dinner toast?
Yes, if what it says is true. It drafts from the names and story you give it; you check each line, change what does not sound like you and give the toast as yours.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. You get 2 drafts a day on the homepage with no account. Writing in the studio with saved drafts and voices needs a plan; Pro is $3 for the first month.