At absolutely none of my three brothers' weddings did any females from the wedding party give a speech. And we are talking really liberated wives, here. One of them went to college and has a job and everything. Another is a left-wing liberal-type. All three weddings were thrown by their families. Yet none of them had chicks giving speeches. One of those weddings had ME giving a speech, for crying out loud. I was later given to understand that the bride was sick to her stomach anticipating that one. Oh, also my cousin's wedding had no women giving speeches, but they are kind of rigorist, religion-wise.

I wrote my speech on the limo ride from the hotel to the church. Keep it short and don't try to be funny or amusing. It's the couple's (by which I mean the bride's) moment of glory, not yours, so don't give some long story about a mutual experience or anything that uses the word "I" a lot. Say something nice and sincere and let people eat. No one LIKES those speeches anyway, and most of them in my experience degenerate into attempts to make the speaker seem cool or popular by making fun of the newlywed whose side he is on. Even if no one is impressed or thinks to herself "That was a lame speech" it's hardly going to be a moment of infamy or embarassment. On the other hand, trying to reach for too much in the humor or sentiment or eloquence departments and falling short....

Suck it up. There's no crying at weddings. Except by losers, at any rate.