A groom speech writer that starts from your story.

Because the groom speech is a specific craft with a deadline. It has to thank guests, both sets of parents, the wedding party and the helpers — without turning into a roll call. Then it has to land a tribute to your partner that doesn't waffle into clichés. Then a toast, on time, in front of 80 people.

A professional writer charges £150–£400 for that, interviews you first, and needs weeks of notice. The result is genuinely good — because the structure, pacing and polish are done by someone who does it every week.

• The blank page. Free, and how most grooms do it — usually the night before, which is why most groom speeches open with "I'm not very good at speeches."
• A professional writer. £150–£400, an hour-long interview, 1–2 weeks. Great if you have the budget and the lead time.
• A speech writer built on your memories. You type the memories the way you'd tell a mate; it returns a structured, speakable speech. Free to try, £19 for the full version, minutes not weeks.

1. Share a memory. One is enough to start. The whiteboard habit. The first date text. What you noticed first and couldn't stop noticing.
2. Get a free draft in 90 seconds. A real speech with structure, thanks, and the beginnings of a tribute — from what you actually wrote.
3. Unlock the full speech to weave in more. Up to five memories, built into one arc: the thanks, the tribute, the promise, the toast.
4. Edit and regenerate. Adjust the tone, add memories, rewrite any line. Your earlier version is saved, so you can always go back.
5. Print the cue cards. Emphasis markers and pause cues — because the tribute only works if you look up from the page.

Everyone forgives a clumsy thank-you. Nobody forgets a tribute that lands — or one that waffles through "she's my best friend and I'm the luckiest man alive."

The tributes that work are small and specific: a routine, a moment, a change you can point to. That's precisely the kind of material a memory-based writer handles well, because that's what it's given. You supply the Sunday whiteboard; the writer finds where it belongs in the arc and how to land it.

"I promise to keep noticing. I promise to keep listening. And I promise — for the rest of my life — to keep choosing you. Please raise your glasses to my wife, Anna."

A first draft exists to be argued with. If a line sounds too smooth for you, blunt it. If the thanks feel long, cut them — the tribute should outgun them every time.

You can add memories and regenerate as many times as you like, and every previous version is kept. Most grooms land their final speech in two or three passes — still faster than the two-week email chain with a professional writer, and at 2% of the price.