Key Takeaways: Express Gratitude And Sentimentality In 3
Ultimately, a best man speech is an opportunity to make your best bro look good in front of all his friends and family. Your speech should demonstrate how much you value your brotherhood or friendship. At the same time, you can enjoy 5 minutes of wedding fame without making things all about you. A great toast can make you a memorable celebrity at the wedding and have people laughing at your
Before jumping up at the reception and speaking off the cuff, remember to:
- Outline and plan your speech ahead of time. Use notecards if needed.
- Focus on the groom and his bride. Dont go on and on about yourself.
- Nail the opening line with a funny joke, quote, or teaser that leads into a great story.
- Avoid inappropriate or cringey topics that could embarrass the groom.
- Express gratitude to the groom and wedding hosts.
Giving a toast or speech is an essential social skill that can make you one of the most likable people in a room. If you want to learn more about the art of giving showstopping toasts, read this guide on How to Give an Awesome Toast: Advanced Strategies for Speeches.
Funny Best Man Speech:
“Hello! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Sam, the best man. I’ve known since middle school, which means since before we learned what a mullet is and that it wasn’t a good look for either of us.
and told me there are some topics I should avoid in this speech so
… is really the best friend I’ve ever had. He’s done so many wonderful things that it would be difficult to name them all Hey, Michael, I can’t read your handwriting here!
But seriously, it’s all true. This guy is a great friendthe best I’ve gotand I’m very proud to stand by his side today.
, I was hoping to be the best-looking person in the room today but obviously, I failed miserably. You look beautiful. I’m so happy for the two of you.
May you always find joy in the little things, like Xbox and Star Wars, oh wait, no that was and me in middle school. Find joy in each other, and have a lifetime of happiness together. Let’s toast the newlyweds!”
Best Man Speech For Brother:
“On my fourth birthday, my parents got me a brother I wanted a puppy.
But seriously, as a kid wanted to do everything I did. He used to follow me around. He used to sneak in my room and play with my Matchbox cars. Our parents could get him to eat his broccoli by making me eat my broccoli.
It wasn’t until after I went to college that he started going down his own path. He started doing volunteer work. He found a job he loves, an apartment that’s pretty killer and, of course, he found .
, you are radiant today, and you make my brother so happy. Thank you for doing that. He’s a good guy. To me, he’s the best person you can have by your side.
I’m so happy you two found each other. I mean it when I say that I’m gaining a sister today.
And I’m glad I didn’t get a puppy. I love you, little brother.
Congratulations to both of you. I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together. Let’s toast the newlyweds!”
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Tip #: Practice Reciting Your Speech Out Loud
Writing your wedding speech is half of the battle. Once its completed, the other hurdle to overcome is honing in on your delivery.
Focus on these areas when practicing your speech:
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Volume: Speak louder than you think you need to.
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Pace: Slow down. Almost everyone talks faster than they should when delivering a speech.
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Inflection: You wont engage guests with a monotone delivery. Change your inflection at appropriate parts of the speech.
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Eye-contact: Connect with the couple and guests by making eye-contact. If this idea makes you more nervous, make fake eye-contact by looking at the top of everyones head.
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Posture: Stand tall. It will instantly make you look and feel more confident.
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Hand gestures: Be aware of your hand gestures. Make enough to be entertaining but dont make so many that they become distracting.
Tips To Improve Your Speech Writing
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First Of All Plan Waaaaay Ahead
If the bride and groom themselves are taking months from the year to prepare for their wedding when they have the help of a professional wedding planner, imagine how long you will need when you are doing all of this solo. At least two months before the wedding is a good enough time to start writing your speech.
Remember, this will not be the only thing you will have to do for the wedding. There will be other events and endless suit fittings you will have to attend. Also, you have a personal life you mustnt neglect. In such a packed schedule, writing your speech may completely leave your mind. Before it does, start your draft.
How To Write A Best Man Speech
Writer’s block is no excuse for procrastinating on the best man speech. All you have to do is follow our best man speech outline, which is a tried-and-true template for getting started. Obviously, you don’t need to include every element in your speech instead, customize it to fit the couple, the event and your relationship with the groom.
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How To Write A Best Man Speech For Best Friend Or Brother: Easy Step
If youre ready to prepare something more in-depth than the quick ideas above, this step-by-step guide can help you write a thoughtful speech that the groom may remember forever. After all, being named the best man at your friend or brothers wedding is a tremendous honor. But like any honor, it comes with some responsibilities. After you finish all your bachelor party and wedding duties, an epic best man speech can be like the fireworks at the shows end.
Here are 5 simple steps to make it count:
Tip #: Get Professional Help To Write Your Speech
When youre simply too busy, overwhelmed, and stressed to write a last-minute wedding speech, hire a professional wedding speech writer.
As the owner of Wedding Words, a professional wedding speech and vow writing company, I work with frazzled maid of honors and busy best men to remove their anxiety and inspire relief and confidence.
Every wedding speech I write is completely custom. I work directly with you to learn the unique nature of your relationship with the couple and write speeches that feel emotionally heartfelt and entertaining.
Rave reviews from past clients on The Knot and Wedding Wire will show you how happy my clients were to get help writing their speeches.
Are you ready to check writing your speech off of your to-do list? Get in touch now.
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Short And Sweet Best Man Speech:
“As the poet, Dante once said, ‘A great flame follows a little spark.’ When met , there was a little spark. I know because I talked to him the next day.
From the way he talked about , this girl/boy he chatted up at a party, I could tell this spark was something special.
You two are fantastic together. May the flame burn longand may sparks continue to fly.
To the newlyweds. Cheers!”
Still Stuck Here Are Some Tips For Giving A Best Man Speech
- If in doubt, leave it out – even if theres only a small chance a line might offend dont risk it. Looking for ways to make your best man wedding speech funny? Check out our blog on best man jokes that are sure to keep guests laughing.
- Keep it simple stories in roughly chronological order works a treat. For a quick guide, take a look at this best man speech structure post.
- Mix it up always include praise about the groom such as his talents and good qualities. This can be nearer the end or woven throughout and undercut for comic effect.
- Cut to the chase dont make the sentences over-long dont signpost every joke. Want your speech to be match fit? See my blog from flabby to funny best man speech.
- Read your speech out loud on the page is a good gauge but vocality is reality. Do you run out of breath before finishing a line? Does a line seem to sing or die as it leaves your lips?
For how best to deliver your wedding speech, check out some of our blogs below!
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Mistake #: Getting Drunk
Yes – at most weddings alcohol will be flowing from fairly early on. And yes – a drink or two might give you a little Dutch courage to help you get through your speech. But a drunken, slurring best man reflects badly not just on you, but also the groom and the rest of the bridal party.
Try to avoid having more than one or two drinks until the speeches are over. At the very least drink water between any alcoholic drinks.
Introduce A Recurring Theme
Choosing an overall toast theme can help you start strong. If you decide that your relationship with the groom can be summed up by sports, by college, by vacations, by a mutual love of running, or whatever fits you, that can be your theme. And if thats the case, your opener is simply the first, or the best, story you have related to that specific theme.
The inspiration for this actually came from a maid of honor toast Honsberger witnessed. The MOH wanted her theme to be about opposites attracting, so she mentioned many ways in which the bride and groom, as well as her, were opposites. Theres no doubt that you can pull from this idea and find a consistent theme for your best man speech.
Hello and welcome, my names , and Im here to talk about my amazing friends Mike and Liz. They are truly a story of opposites attracting.
For example, Lizs favorite food is french fries, and Mike is allergic to potatoes. Mike has an obsession with ice cream, and Liz is lactose intolerant .
Thankfully, things have a way of working out, and we are gathered tonight to celebrate the most important thing they have in commonincredibly good looks. I mean, LOVE.
Just like that, youve captured the audience, let them into the world of the married couple, and excited them for the rest of your toast.
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It Would Offend The Bride Or Her Family
You don’t have time to waste on a story that takes five minutes to set up you want to chuckle right away.
Neither the bride nor her parents should be insulted. Don’t bring up the groom’s failed romances or more attractive ex-girlfriends. It’s fine to make light of your flaws, but don’t catalogue them all.
Kid The Groom But Not The Bride
Making jokes about the Groom is totally appropriate and even expected in your Best Man remarks. When done in good fun, with humorous wit or by recounting moments of hilarity due to mishaps or failures on the part of the Groom, you will delight and entertain the guests without insulting or embarrassing the wedding couple.
However, the Bride is considered beyond reproach, criticism or humorous finger pointing on this very special day. She is to be honored, lauded and applauded while the Groom is open to light, fun-loving critiquing, joke-making and laughter. Keep your remarks emotional and engaging yet tasteful from start to finish since you know how to write effective best man remarks.
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Last Minute Wedding Speech
Oh dear. Schoolboy error. Youve got a last minute wedding speech on your hands.
Dont worry, a lot of people do the same. Thats why the Speechy team have designed a bespoke speech package just for you. Its a bit like our normal packages only you do slightly less work and we do a whole lot more.
As ex BBC TV scriptwriters were used to a lack of sleep, surviving on coffee and debating the merits of a word at 2am. Were experienced at finding a story even when there appears to be nothing much to say. We can find the romance, humour and poignancy where most people find a gleaming sheet of blank paper.
Find out more about our 48 hour bespoke speech package or, if thats out of your price bracket, check out our uber-templates. Theres one designed for each of the wedding speaker roles and they guarantee a speech that rocks without you having to stress or do very much.
So dont panic. Your wedding speech can still be brilliant the fact its last minute only means its got an extra shot of adrenaline.
Best Man Speech Template #1
1) Compliment the bride and groom and/or the wedding.
To start your speech, compliment the bride and groom, or the wedding. Whatever you feel is worth referring to and is likely to be agreed with by the crowd. This is a quick way to be seen as respectful by guests.
2) Introduce yourself and your relationship with the groom.
It’s important that towards the beginning of your speech, you introduce yourself. Give a brief introduction about who you are, and your relationship with the groom. You might mention how long you have known one another or how you met, which will explain why you may have been selected to be the best man.
3) Say thank you!
Express your gratitude towards the people who helped make the event possible, including the wedding party, and the guests. This is a great way to appear polite and express your personal appreciation for those who helped make the wedding a reality.
4) Tell the story of how you and the groom met, a great inside story you and the groom share, what your first thoughts were when you met the bride, etc.
Follow up the introduction with an inside story about you and the groom. It can be about some experience that you shared together in college or when you were growing up together. You can also include some story about the bride if she is well-known to you.
5) Talk about how much the groom means to you.
6) Talk about the couple and your overall thoughts on their relationship.
8) Summarize your thoughts.
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Mistake #: Going Too Far
Its part of the wedding tradition for the best man to embarrass the groom in his speech, and a groom who feels totally comfortable throughout has probably been given too easy a ride.
However, its a delicate balancing act and going too far will make everyone feel awkward – not just the groom.
Also remember that at most weddings the guests come from a wide age range – from young children to elderly relatives – and subject matter and tone suitable for your inner circle might well not be suitable for them too.
So try to keep the content as clean as possible, and if you really cant resist one or two more adult references, keep them artfully vague so that any children present are blissfully unaware.
A Best Man Speech Example To Make Your Own
We asked Litt if he had heard any standout best man speeches that immediately came to mind, and he was happy to share a particular favorite. His words below:
“I was just at a wedding where the best man gave one of the best best man speeches Ive ever heard. The premise was that the groom was governed by something called ‘Andys law,’ which is, as the best man explained, the opposite of Murphys law. So instead of ‘anything that can go wrong will go wrong,’ the best man went through all these different examples where things had just totally played out in the grooms favor somewhat unexpectedly. Then, the end of the speech was about how the ultimate example of Andys law was finding Liz, his now-wife. It was very funny, but also, in the end, it was very sweet.”
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Negativity About Marriage In General
Honestly, if you are cynical about the whole till-death-do-us-part deal, either you hide that long enough to present a speech, or you dont present a speech at all. This is an event committing two souls together. Why would you ruin it with your antagonism? Save that for a different audience. You may also check out special occasion speech examples.
Be Hilarious With A Straight Face
While still technically a joke, this is you working hard to sound serious while saying something absurd. Honsberger points out that it makes the guests think, which then leads them to lean in and pay close attention to your toast. If you do this right, youll hear a little bit of laughter immediately, and then the rest of the crowd will laugh after a few seconds of figuring out that what you just said was a joke. Its beautiful to see that sequence unfold.
Good evening, I am , the best man and of . Tonight were in a room full of great men doctors, lawyers, military veterans, and successful businesspeople yet I am the ‘best.’ His words, not mine.
“As Abraham Lincoln once said, and thats what brings us all together tonight to celebrate .
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