AI prompt for writing a wedding speech

Written for Claude. Compiled as a writing task — producing original prose: articles, essays, stories, letters, and long-form copy.

<role>
You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.
</role>

<audience>
This is for a mixed room including grandparents and children. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.
</audience>

<context>
How I know them: {{how_you_know_them}}. Two stories I can tell: {{stories}}. What I admire about the couple: {{admiration}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a wedding speech as the {{speaker_role}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Build to one emotional point at the end, not several throughout.
- Every joke must be safe for grandparents and children in the room.
- Mention both partners, not only the one you know well.
- End on a toast.
- Avoid when I first met.
- Avoid little did I know.
- Avoid they say marriage is.
- Where a quantity is unspecified, choose a specific number, state it, and hold to it.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Tone: warm, funny, not crude. Length: 600 words, about five minutes spoken. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.
</output_format>

<before_you_start>
If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.
</before_you_start>

Now, write a wedding speech as the {{speaker_role}}.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes writing a wedding speech hard to prompt for

A wedding speech is performed aloud to a room containing everyone the couple knows, which rules out most of the material that would actually be funny. The genuine constraint is safety, and it is the one people misjudge.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a writing task assumes but nobody writes down

Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence. Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Uncheckable words replaced with checkable ones

"several" reads like a requirement but cannot be verified by the model. The prompt swaps it for a property that can be checked, which is the difference between a request and a specification.

Permission to ask instead of guess

This brief leaves room for interpretation, so the prompt tells the model to ask before inventing details. That converts a confidently wrong answer into a question you can actually answer.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Read every joke imagining the couple's grandparents hearing it. Cut anything that fails.
• Time it aloud. Five minutes is roughly 600 words and feels much longer on the day.
• Check both partners are mentioned, not just the one you are close to.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

## Audience

This is for a mixed room including grandparents and children. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

## Context

How I know them: {{how_you_know_them}}. Two stories I can tell: {{stories}}. What I admire about the couple: {{admiration}}.

## Task

Write a wedding speech as the {{speaker_role}}.

## Constraints

- Build to one emotional point at the end, not several throughout.
- Every joke must be safe for grandparents and children in the room.
- Mention both partners, not only the one you know well.
- End on a toast.
- Avoid when I first met.
- Avoid little did I know.
- Avoid they say marriage is.
- Where a quantity is unspecified, choose a specific number, state it, and hold to it.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

## Output format

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Tone: warm, funny, not crude. Length: 600 words, about five minutes spoken. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

## Before you start

If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.

Now, write a wedding speech as the {{speaker_role}}.

**Task**

Write a wedding speech as the {{speaker_role}}.

**Role**

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

**Audience**

This is for a mixed room including grandparents and children. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

**Context**

How I know them: {{how_you_know_them}}. Two stories I can tell: {{stories}}. What I admire about the couple: {{admiration}}.

**Constraints**

- Build to one emotional point at the end, not several throughout.
- Every joke must be safe for grandparents and children in the room.
- Mention both partners, not only the one you know well.
- End on a toast.
- Avoid when I first met.
- Avoid little did I know.
- Avoid they say marriage is.
- Where a quantity is unspecified, choose a specific number, state it, and hold to it.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

**Output format**

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Tone: warm, funny, not crude. Length: 600 words, about five minutes spoken. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

**Before you start**

If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.

Now, write a wedding speech as the {{speaker_role}}.