A wedding speech fails in a way no other writing does: the room knows the couple. Generic praise is not merely dull there, it is evidence that you did not think about them. The test for every line is whether it could be said about a different couple.
The phrases, and what to write instead
| Avoid | Write instead |
|---|---|
| their journey together | One specific thing that happened on it. |
| they are soulmates | Say what makes them fit, concretely. |
| partners in crime | Tell the story you are alluding to. |
| Today is more than just a wedding, it's a celebration of love | Cut. Start with a story. |
| When I first met [name], I knew… | Say what actually happened when you met. |
| She is the most caring person I know | The time she did the caring thing. |
| Love is patient, love is kind | Something you have seen them do for each other. |
| Please raise your glasses to the happy couple | Fine — but earn it with the sixty seconds before. |
| a love that will stand the test of time | Cut. |
| Here's to love, laughter and happily ever after | The rule of three. Pick the one you mean. |
| I've known [name] for X years and they've always been… | Skip the preamble. Open in the middle of the story. |
| a perfect match in every way | One imperfect, true detail beats this entirely. |
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Check my draft →The rule underneath all of them
Every replacement above does the same thing: it swaps a claim for evidence. That is the whole method, and it is why no tool can finish the job for you. A model can delete results-driven. Only you know the number that belongs there.
Density is what readers notice, not any single word. One phrase from this table is a coincidence. Four in a short piece is a pattern, and people now recognise the pattern quickly. The full 200+ tell list covers the vocabulary, sentence patterns and machine artifacts that apply everywhere, whatever you are writing.
Questions
Can people tell a wedding speech was written by AI?
Yes, and faster than in other writing, because the audience knows the couple. The tell is not vocabulary; it is a speech that would work if you swapped the names. One specific memory does more than a page of well-formed praise.
Is it okay to use ChatGPT to help with a wedding toast?
For structure, yes. It is good at telling you where a story should go. It cannot supply the story, and the parts it invents to fill that gap are exactly the parts the room will notice.
What makes a wedding speech feel personal?
Specificity that is slightly awkward. A real detail — the wrong train, the burnt dinner, the thing they say too often — proves you were there. Polished praise proves nothing.