Plenty of fathers of the bride like to include a quote, often just before the toast. It can say something about marriage that you might feel awkward saying in your own words. The catch is that the internet is full of quotes credited to the wrong person. We've only included quotes below where we're confident of who said or wrote them. Where a well-known saying has no known author, it's marked as anonymous or traditional.
Before you pick one, remember that the best part of your speech will be your own stories about your daughter. A quote is a small extra. There's advice on how to use it at the bottom of this page, and the what to include page covers the rest of the speech.
Quotes about marriage
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A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
Mignon McLaughlin, American journalist -
Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, from Wind, Sand and Stars -
Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.
Robert Browning, from Rabbi Ben Ezra -
Marriage is one long conversation, chequered by disputes.
Robert Louis Stevenson, from Memories and Portraits -
Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides.
Louis de Bernières, from Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Light-hearted quotes
These work well if your speech has been fairly funny and you want to keep the mood going into the toast.
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I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
Rita Rudner, comedian -
To keep your marriage brimming, / With love in the loving cup, / Whenever you're wrong, admit it; / Whenever you're right, shut up.
Ogden Nash, from A Word to Husbands
From poetry and the Bible
These are often used as readings in the ceremony. If one was read earlier in the day, you could pick up a line from it in your speech, which guests will recognise.
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Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Corinthians 13:4 (New International Version) -
Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments.
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 -
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnet 43 from Sonnets from the Portuguese -
O my Luve's like a red, red rose, / That's newly sprung in June.
Robert Burns, from A Red, Red Rose
About daughters and family
Many of the father-daughter quotes shared online have no reliable source, or are credited to famous people who never said them. The ones below are well known sayings without a known author. The line from the Book of Ruth is a nice one to use when you welcome her partner into the family.
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A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart.
Anonymous -
Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people.
Ruth 1:16 (King James Version)
For the toast
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May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.
Traditional Irish blessing
How to use a quote well
Use one at most
One quote can add something. Two or three make the speech feel borrowed, and they take up time you could spend on your daughter. If you've found several you like, pick the one that fits the couple best.
Keep it short
A line or two is plenty. If you want to use a longer poem, ask the couple whether it could be a reading during the ceremony instead.
Say who said it
It sounds more natural, and it means nobody thinks you're passing off someone else's words as your own. Keep the introduction short: "The writer Mignon McLaughlin once said..." or "There's a line in Captain Corelli's Mandolin that I've always liked..." If you don't know who said it, say so plainly: "I came across a saying once..."
Connect it to the couple
A quote on its own can sound generic. Follow it with a sentence about your daughter and her partner that shows why you chose it. If you use the Rita Rudner line, say which of them does the annoying. If you use the Stevenson one, mention the argument they've been having for six years about how to load the dishwasher.
Check the wording
Quotes are often changed slightly as they're passed around. Check yours against a proper source if you can, such as the book or poem it comes from.
A quote placed in a speech
Here is the end of a speech from Richard, a GP from Canterbury, whose daughter Grace is marrying Olly. He uses one quote to lead from the part about the couple into the toast.
Grace and Olly met at a pub quiz in Whitstable six years ago. They were on rival teams, and Olly's team won by one point on a question about the Eurovision Song Contest. Grace still says the answer was wrong. They have argued about it at least once a month ever since, and as far as I can tell they both enjoy it.
Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote that marriage is one long conversation, chequered by disputes. I think Grace and Olly are off to a very good start.
Olly, we're so pleased to have you in the family. Grace, your mum and I are very proud of you.
So would you all please stand and raise your glasses. To Grace and Olly.
The quote works here because the story before it sets it up, and the line after it brings it straight back to the couple. If you'd like to see whole speeches without quotes, there are four on the father of the bride examples page.
If you'd like a first draft, Speechmade writes one with AI from your answers about your daughter and her partner. If there's a quote you want included, put it in your answers along with who said it.
Common questions
How many quotes should I use in a father of the bride speech?
One at most. A single short quote, placed well, can round off a section nicely. More than one starts to sound like a greetings card and takes time away from your own stories.
Do I have to say who said the quote?
Yes, it sounds more natural and it is fair to the writer. A simple lead-in such as "the American writer Mignon McLaughlin once said" is enough. If nobody knows who said it, just say "I read once that..."
Where in the speech should a quote go?
The two places that work best are just before the toast, or at the point where you move from talking about your daughter to talking about the couple. Try not to open with a quote, because your first line should be about the people in the room.
Can I use a quote from a song or a film?
Yes, if it means something to the couple, such as a line from their first dance song. Check the wording carefully. Lines from films are often misquoted online, so watch the scene again or find the script.