At some weddings guests may also make speeches, and special guests may be invited specifically to speak to the reception. These speakers need to be scheduled. Guests should speak for no longer than 5 minutes, which is the average time allotted to junior speakers and non-family members.

Special speakers, however, may have a particular role to play. These are usually close friends of the family and are treated as senior speakers, with 10-15 minutes allotted. These guests are usually connected to the wedding through their relationships with the families of the bride and groom, or the couple themselves. They may be professional friends, academics, or have a high status in their fields.

Example of a guest speech

Jack and I were collaborating on a research program at the time he met Jill. It's always been a pleasure to work with Jack, but it was interesting to watch the change in him from the classic 24 hour a day dedicated researcher into an almost normal human being. I knew he had a girlfriend, but I certainly wasn't expecting Jill. I gather nobody ever does? Thought so.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she was as interested, and as well informed, on Jack's work as he was. The result was a sort of collaborative effort, and if Jill didn't get her own PhD for it, helping Jack, there's no justice in the academic world. We used to have hours of discussions and brainstorming, and thankfully Jill was able to help us set up our database to do the job properly, unlike the contractor. The result was our paper on nano particle transmission and assembly streams. You'll also notice that Jill was given credit on the paper, despite not even being in the research group. We all insisted on that, even the college board.