Emma's answers to French-English wedding

Question

I'm Irish living in France and getting married to a French guy, so half or guests will be English speaking the other half French speaking. Even though speeches are not normally done at French Weddings we would like to have that tradition included at the reception. My husband to be, best man, bridesmaid (my sister) and myself are all bilingual, any suggestions of what we might do. I don't want to translate every single speech word for word as we'll be there all night! I was thinking maybe my sister could say in French a few words that my father had just said. Thank you in advance for any advice.

Answer

I think your idea of having your sister repeat some of your father's speech is a nice one. I would also recommend that you consider making a dual sided speech guide, with a transcript of the speech in English on one side, and in French on the other. This way you will not have to waste time repeating the speeches in different languages. You can distribute this guide to all guests, and they can follow whatever they do not understand using the guide. Alternatively, you could project the translated speech onto a screen behind whoever is making the speech.