Best Man's Speech

[Tom Zenk]

Was best man twice last year and enjoyed it immensely - don't stress about the speech, it will all come together by the time it's the wedding breakfast. Good luck!

[Fatty Facesitter]

As above, just enjoy it. I was best man at a wedding last October and thankfully my speech went down a treat. I'll try and dig it up and cover some of what I put down and give more pointers then.

 

And if you can, try not to leave it all until the last minute. Which by starting this thread it appears you're not doing, so kudos for that. Don't forget to thank the UKFF for giving you the inspiration for the speech either and we want video evidence of this.

[lambyUK]

Ive been best man twice now. First one was shite, and i didnt even like the Groom!

 

Second one went brilliantly.

 

Will give you a few small tips. Try and avoid using stuff from the Internet! The chances are you use gags that have been used at countless weddings before. You can obviously use the Internet in regards to structuring your speech, but that is all. I shat myself as the Groom at the wedding opened up with the EXACT same thing as I had written. I had to improvise which helped an awful lot. Try not to stare at your speech whether its on paper or speech cards. Use bullet points and just elaborate. In the end, you know the stories so it sounds much more natural if you describe them as if you were talking to your mates.

 

I also involved the audience whereever i could so it felt like they were part of the speech. One of stories involved the Groom's father and his father's best friend. I got them to stand up and involved them.

 

Also, have a glass of champagne and perhaps a JD and coke before the speech. It really helped settle my nerves.

[Glenryck Pilchards]

As others have said start a speech off with a joke, it breaks the ice and you will gain in confidence. A popular one used round my neck of the woods is "Thank you everyone for attending, I am a little bit nervous today (fumble paper) and I have prepared a few lines; I have just snorted them in the toilet."

 

Talk about the following:

 

* How you know the groom

 

* When you first met the bride

 

* When the groom asked you to be best-man

 

* What a great couple they are

 

Interject those bits with a joke. Whatever you do, do not mention the stag do.

[Tom Zenk]

As a previous poster said, tell the bridal party they look beautiful is a must, they seem to love that even if it's a fib

[Kenny McBride]

I'll just mention the best gag from my sister's wedding. The best man claimed that when he'd always known my brother-in-law was a great guy, but he realised how great my sister was after the first night be spent in their company. The action went on all night, there were multiple partners and vibrating hardware (you should have seen my mum's face)...and that was the best night he'd ever spent playing Tekken.

 

As everyone else has said, steer clear of anything wildly risque - clear it with the groom if you're even a little bit unsure. And be cool. Everyone knows you're nervous and they're all in a good mood so any sort of slip will be forgiven easily. In the event, if you just remember that people want to remember it as a great speech, you can't go too far wrong with a pretty decent one. Even if your gags don't work, as long as you are sincere when you say how great she is for him, how it's obvious she got her looks from her mum (and gran, if she's there) and how she looks amazing but was still very nearly outshone by her beautiful bridesmaids, people will still think you're ace.