Standing at the podium with all eyes on you, knowing you’re about to wrap up your wedding speech—this moment can make or break everything you’ve just said.
The right closing quote transforms a good speech into one people remember years later, while the wrong one leaves everyone checking their phones.
After witnessing hundreds of wedding speeches (some brilliant, others painfully forgettable), I’ve learned that your ending quote needs to do more than sound pretty.
It should capture the essence of what you’ve shared while giving guests something meaningful to carry with them as they hit the dance floor.
Classic Love Quotes That Never Fail
These timeless quotes have survived decades of wedding speeches because they tap into universal truths about love and marriage. They work especially well when you want to honor tradition while still sounding sincere.
- “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu This quote resonates because it acknowledges that love isn’t just about the warm fuzzy feelings—it’s about becoming better versions of ourselves. When you’re speaking about a couple you’ve watched grow together, this captures that transformation beautifully.
- “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” – Audrey Hepburn Simple, elegant, and impossible to argue with. Hepburn’s words work particularly well for couples who’ve weathered challenges together or when you want to emphasize partnership over romance.
- “Love is not about how many days, months, or years you have been together. Love is about how much you love each other every single day.” – Unknown Perfect for couples who might be older when they marry or for second marriages. It shifts focus from duration to intensity, which feels more honest about how real relationships actually work.
- “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” – Mignon McLaughlin This one acknowledges that marriage isn’t a fairy tale ending—it’s an ongoing choice. Guests appreciate the realistic optimism, especially those who’ve been married long enough to know the truth of it.
- “Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones When you want to end on a note that’s both romantic and grounded in reality, this quote delivers. It suggests that life will have its ups and downs, but love makes it all meaningful.
Humorous Endings That Land Every Time
Comedy in wedding speeches requires careful calibration—you want laughs without undermining the sincerity of the moment. These quotes strike that perfect balance between wit and warmth.
- “Marriage is a workshop where the husband works and the wife shops.” – Unknown Only use this if you know the couple well enough to gauge their sense of humor about gender roles. It works best when delivered with obvious affection and a wink.
- “Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener.” – Unknown This gets genuine laughs because every married person in the room knows exactly what it means. The key is delivering it with fondness rather than cynicism.
- “A good marriage is one where each partner secretly suspects they got the better deal.” – Unknown Brilliant because it’s both funny and genuinely sweet. It suggests mutual admiration disguised as self-deprecation, which most happy couples will recognize in themselves.
- “Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning, all you need is two hearts and a diamond. By the end, you wish you had a club and a spade.” – Unknown Timing is everything with this one—pause after “diamond” to let people catch up, then deliver the punchline with perfect deadpan expression.
- “Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.” – Will Ferrell Modern couples love this because it feels relevant to their actual lives. It’s also wonderfully specific, which makes it funnier than generic marriage jokes.
Heartfelt Quotes for Emotional Moments
Sometimes the speech calls for something that tugs at heartstrings without apology. These quotes work when you want to leave guests reaching for tissues in the best possible way.
- “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” – Maya Angelou Angelou’s words carry weight because of who she was, but they’re also simply beautiful. The parallel structure makes them memorable and quotable.
- “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss Surprising source, profound sentiment. This works especially well for couples who found each other later in life or after difficult previous relationships.
- “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving.” – Ann Landers Perfect for couples whose relationship clearly grew from friendship. It acknowledges the romantic spark while emphasizing the deeper foundation.
- “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” – Victor Hugo This quote speaks to anyone who’s ever felt insecure in a relationship. It’s about unconditional acceptance, which is what we all hope marriage provides.
- “Love is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Ideal for couples with shared goals, values, or dreams. It emphasizes partnership and common purpose over mere attraction.
Modern Quotes That Feel Fresh
Contemporary voices bring new perspectives to age-old truths about love and commitment. These quotes feel current without being trendy, meaningful without being pretentious.
- “A great relationship is about two things: first, appreciating the similarities, and second, respecting the differences.” – Unknown This resonates with modern couples who understand that healthy relationships require both connection and individual identity.
- “The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.” – Nicholas Sparks Sparks gets dismissed as cheesy, but this quote captures something real about transformative love. It works when you’ve witnessed the couple genuinely bring out the best in each other.
- “Love isn’t something you find. Love is something that finds you.” – Loretta Young Perfect for couples with a great “how we met” story, especially if it involved unexpected circumstances or timing.
- “You don’t marry the person you can live with—you marry the person you can’t live without.” – Unknown This distinction feels important to modern couples who have more choice about whether to marry at all. It emphasizes necessity over convenience.
- “Real love stories never have endings.” – Richard Bach Beautiful for couples who feel like they’re just beginning their adventure together. It suggests that marriage is a new chapter, not a conclusion.
Quick-Hit Closing Lines
Sometimes you need something brief but impactful—a single sentence that wraps everything up with elegance and authority. These work when your speech has already covered the emotional territory and you just need a clean landing.
For Traditional Celebrations:
- “May your love story continue to inspire everyone who knows you.”
- “Here’s to love, laughter, and happily ever after.”
- “May your marriage be everything your wedding day promised.”
For Close Friends:
- “I can’t wait to see what adventures you two create together.”
- “Thank you for showing us what true partnership looks like.”
- “Your love gives the rest of us hope—and that’s no small gift.”
For Family Members:
- “Welcome to the family—officially this time.”
- “May your home be filled with the same joy you’ve brought to ours.”
- “Love brought you together, but friendship will keep you there.”
For Colleagues or Acquaintances:
- “Wishing you both a lifetime of shared dreams and separate bathrooms.”
The secret to any great wedding speech ending isn’t finding the most beautiful words—it’s finding the words that feel true to your relationship with the couple and authentic to your own voice.
A quote that moves you will move your audience, but one that feels forced will fall flat no matter how poetic it sounds.
Choose something that complements what you’ve already said rather than contradicting it. If your speech was funny, don’t suddenly pivot to Shakespeare unless you can bridge that transition smoothly.
If you’ve been heartfelt throughout, don’t throw in a punchline just because you think you should.
The best wedding speech endings feel inevitable—like the quote you chose was the only possible way to conclude what you had to say.
Trust your instincts, practice your delivery, and remember that your genuine affection for the couple will carry you through even if your quote isn’t perfect.