Is ChatGPT the new way to write meaningful wedding speeches and vows, or is it an impersonal step too far?
While weddings are often full of traditions, sometimes a modern touch is a breath of fresh air. There are lots of modern twists people are adding to their weddings nowadays, from having a dedicated social media guru on hand to capture content, to switching up who gives the wedding speeches.
After seeing journalist Patrick Glover from Oxford Mail using ChatGPT to write his wedding vows, it got us thinking, will this become the new norm? Could AI become the go-to for helping to write flowing vows and witty speeches? People already use professional speech-writing services, so a digital option doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch.
What is ChatGPT used for?
Using artificial intelligence, ChatGPT can pull from information you supply it with combined with searching the internet up until around 2021 to put together original pieces of text. This can range from writing essays to explaining theories, written as human-like responses.
When it first launched, people were really impressed and wanted to test all the ways the AI system could be used. So of course, we had to put it through some wedding planning paces.
Using ChatGPT for wedding speeches
First of all, we wanted to see how ChatGPT would handle a wedding speech from a few different perspectives.
We asked it to write ‘an emotional wedding speech from the father of the bride’s perspective’ and honestly, what it came up with is pretty good. Although we asked for emotional, we weren’t expecting there to be that much sentiment in something written by AI.
The speech starts: “Today, I stand before you with a heart full of emotions, as the proudest father in the world, to celebrate the union of my beloved daughter and her remarkable partner. As I look at her radiant smile and the love shining in her eyes, I am reminded of the little girl who used to hold my hand tightly, her tiny fingers wrapped around mine.” Which is pretty touching, and there was even some marriage advice in the rest of the speech.
“Remember, marriage is not merely a union of two souls, but a partnership built on trust, respect, and compromise. Cherish every moment, celebrate every milestone, and hold each other close in times of joy and sorrow. Remember, love has the power to heal, to uplift, and to transform,” it continues. You can see the speech in full below.
We don’t know about you, but we’d be happy with that. Although if we knew our dads had lifted a speech straight off the internet the night before the wedding, we might not be as pleased.
To test another genre, we then asked for a ‘snappy, funny best man’s speech’. For some added detail we said that the best man was a childhood friend.
We weren’t as impressed with this one, it felt a lot more like a wedding scene at the start of an American comedy film. It was pretty generic and clichéd with lines like: ‘We’ve shared countless memories, from building forts out of couch cushions to pulling off the greatest pranks known to mankind.” (Read the full speech below).
But in all fairness there was a message at the end of the speech which advised: “When delivering a speech, it’s important to tailor it to the couple and the audience. Make sure to include personal anecdotes, inside jokes, and adjust the tone and content based on the couple’s preferences and the overall atmosphere of the event.”
So, if you were feeling stuck, you could use the structure of this speech and swap in personal details and stories as a starting point.
Writing wedding vows with ChatGPT
For something even more personal, we tried out ChatGPT wedding vows.
To really commit to the test, we gave our imaginary bride who is struggling to write her vows a bit of a backstory. We told ChatGPT that she’d been with her future husband for six years and that they have a dog called Rocky together. ChatGPT went with this and even decided that Rocky was at the ceremony.
Just like the last speech, these vows felt a bit too impersonal and overused to be saying to the love of your life at the altar, but there were a few gems you could probably pinch.
As cheesy as it was, we liked the lines “your love has carried me through the highs and lows, and in your arms, I have found solace and endless comfort,” and “with every beat of my heart, I choose you, today and always.”
This AI is a smooth talker, but parts of the vows sounded a bit wooden as you can see for yourself below.
We mentioned that this imaginary wedding had a humanist ceremony, which may have thrown ChatGPT off a bit. We did laugh when it said: “In this humanist ceremony, where we celebrate the beauty of our shared humanity,” which sounds a bit like an alien attending a wedding for the first time.
So if you’re going to use ChatGPT to help you out, make sure you read over the vows multiple times and read it out loud to check how it sounds. Feel free to cut out bits you don’t like, and put your own spin on things.
If you’re not happy with what’s been written, you can also ask ChatGPT to try again, or provide more details to shape what’s been written, as well as change the length of the text.
Does it work?
To an extent, yes it does work. With a bit of tweaking and enough details to make things less generic you can end up with a decent speech.
However, everyone has their own tone of voice, personality and unique take on things which ChatGPT just lacks. If someone has asked you to give a speech on their wedding day, and especially if you’re saying vows to your significant other, you want it to feel personal and genuine.
How is ChatGPT best used?
Ideally wedding vows and speeches should come from the heart, not an AI chatbot. But if you’re stuck for a start or how to structure what you want to say, it might be worth trying out. It could even give you a few well-worded phrases to add something special to your speech.
ChatGPT can also give you ideas, so if you’re looking for wedding themes or hen do/stag do games, why not ask while you’re there?
To finish things off, we wanted to see ChatGPT’s take on using it for wedding speeches. It aptly replied: “ChatGPT can provide suggestions, help with structure, and offer creative ideas, but ultimately, the speech should come from your heart.”
The AI service suggested that it’s best used for helping you come up with speech ideas, or to structure what you want to say and it can even proof read it for you and suggest ways to improve the speech.
Should you use ChatGPT to write your wedding speech or vows?
As ChatGPT says, a wedding speech or your wedding vows are such a personal and emotional thing to say, so it really does need to come from you.
While it only takes a little input from you to generate a decent speech from the service, a wedding day feels too special and intimate to not speak candidly, even if what you come up with isn’t as polished as the bot would write it.
We would say that ChatGPT would be best used to give your speech a tidy up and some extra wow-factor after you’ve already got a good idea of what you want to say. Like consulting a well-versed friend for some pointers.
So, if you’re in the midst of speech or vow writing, see what ChatGPT has to say, but for best results keep things personal and human.