When I went to my cousin's wedding, his father in law gave a really good speech about how he was skeptical of him initially, but eventually warmed up to him. As an audience member, I expected just what he spoke over, which was his relationship with the bride and the groom, and gave some funny moments of their time. He ended with actually congratulating the bride and groom and then sat down after applause. The one aspect I did not like about the speech, was that it was absurdly long and drawn out, and it was hard to pay attention to him the entire time.
I agree that long, drawn out speeches lose their interest after a certain amount of time, but it seems like the speech had some lasting impact for you.