While it's not "traditional" for the bride's mother to speak at any point during the wedding, the fact is that "traditions" were set at a time when women did not generally speak in public. The days are gone, so pony on up if you have something you want to say to your daughter.
Here are some things that you might want to cover in your rehearsal dinner speech:
Talk about your pride in your daughter as she's grown into the woman she is today. Part of the miracle of motherhood is having loved the baby and the toddler, and, and... and then loving the grownup, in whom you can see all those sweet stages.
Talk about the highlights of having been her mother. What she taught you as she was growing. This one's a bit dicey, because you want to keep the focus on her, but a sentence or two is always appropriate.
Talk about the fun the two of you had planning the wedding. This may have been the first project you and your daughter worked on as equals. If you were good at it, and she liked learning from you and you liked learning from her, who knows what sort of projects you might dream up in the future!
Talk about why marriage mattered to you and how you hope it will matter to her. Even if you're divorced, there were things about marriage that mattered to you, even your marriage to the father of your child.
Thank your partner and the father of your child for the years with this child and your life together.
Talk about how happy you are that she's chosen such a great partner and how you look forward to watching her build her life and her family.
Tell her partner's family what a great person you think their child is and how you look forward to years of celebrating everything that lies ahead.
Raise your glass, to your daughter, to her partner, to marriage, and to their marriage.
As with all the toasts, it's a good idea to keep them short and a bit short on details. There's a fine line between Wow! And Whew! But you'll do great! Especially if you read it out loud a bunch of times to your bathroom mirror!
Bottom Line?: Give your relationship the chance it deserves to succeed wildly, against all odds! After all, you deserve it. Your relationship deserves it! And now I'd like to invite you to sign up to receive 2 free templates for creating the wedding ceremony of your dreams, the wedding vows of your heart and the marriage of a lifetime: http://annkeelerevans.org/weddings/free
The Rev. Ann Keeler Evans - helping you move from "I do" to happily and healthily ever after!
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