In truth, no wedding is complete without speeches. Wedding speeches are a platform and an opportunity to give thanks, and to celebrate the couple’s new life together. Your friend has asked you to be the best man at his wedding, first of all, congratulations on the honor.
Best Man’s Wedding Speech
Being a best man comes with its perks and responsibilities like groomsmen shepherding, liquor distribution, and making a toast at the reception. You are the best man, so your toast has to be a killer one. A best man’s speech should be short and heartfelt, and humorous.
This speech is usually given by the groom’s best friend or his brother when the reception is proceeding. It comes as an endorsement to the groom’s toast, so it has to be good. To give the perfect best man speech, you need to have a personal relationship with the groom otherwise, you end up boring the guests.
This speech takes between three to five minutes, and it culminates in a toast that comprises best wishes for the newlyweds as they usher in the next chapter of their lives.
Why is this speech important?
The purpose of the best man’s speech is to set a loving, positive tone for the couple, and to lighten the mood at the reception. As the best man, people expect that you have several anecdotes about your friend, and tell a few stories from your experiences with him, including the most significant memories made together.
The best man’s speech can sometimes go off the rails, especially if the groom has had an eventful past, so make sure that any personal stories shared have the groom’s approval. The best man’s speech should be memorable, light-hearted, and funny.
You can use one-liners to give a short tribute to the couple and toast to their life together as long as you don’t embarrass your friend. All in all, you are the best man, so it’s your responsibility to make the groom feel appreciated and on top of the world even if you leave the audience laughing or crying.
Who does the speech focus on?
The best man’s speech ideally focuses on the groom and his relationship with his best friend or brother. It can however incorporate other things. The perfect speech will entail stories rather than random jokes and facts, so make sure you have a couple of tales to tell.
When delivering the speech, pen out all the reasons why you think your friend is great, and why he will make a great husband to his new wife.
This speech needs playful humor, so you can do some light teasing but be careful not to embarrass the groom on his big day. As the best man, you are allowed to mock the groom, but avoid corny jokes as they could get quickly boring.
The best man speech should be about the couple, so don’t take too much time talking about yourself, just your relationship with the bride and groom.
How long should it last?
The best man’s speech is a vital part of the day, but you don’t want to take all the time in the world to give a toast, the shorter the speech, the better, ideally not more than five minutes.
When giving the speech, remember that older people are also present, so be respectful in your tone and choice of words.
It is hard to unsay something once it is already offended someone, so leave raunchy jokes, expletives, and embarrassing stories out of your speech.
To ensure your speech is meaningful and timely, you can prepare in advance and practice before holding the mic.
If you plan to walk up and ace the speech on the wedding day then you might be in for some disappointment.
As the best man, your job is to make the groom and his bride look good, so use your five minutes to do just that. As much as the speech should be short, keep it over 45 seconds so that it does not look like you didn’t put any effort into the preparation.
Remember to be charming, and be nice to the new bride. Avoid snarky stories, and remember you are not there to burst your friend’s balls in front of his family.
A best man’s speech is very important to the groom especially, so you might want to prepare early to avoid letting your friend down on such an important day.
You can note down some ideas as they come to you to make the speech well-structured and to avoid blabbering.
What you shouldn’t say in a best man’s wedding speech
Most people go wrong with best man wedding speeches when they don’t prepare well, so they end up saying all the wrong things. Best man speeches that are embarrassing, offensive, and controversial don’t go well so ensure yours doesn’t have dubious jokes.
The idea is to make the groom and bride look good, so don’t embarrass your friend and his new wife in the name of cracking a joke. If you have a story you want to share with the guests but are in doubt if the groom wants it publicized, ask him first before making any rogue decisions.
When making a best man’s speech, you need a plan, and you need to stick to it. As long as you don’t overstay your welcome on stage and be sincere, you are definitely winging it.
You need to be very confident to deliver this speech. All the guests are looking up to you to insight them on the relationship between the newlyweds, so you cannot afford to slack.
When your best friend asks you to be his best man in his wedding, you have to bring your big guns out.
This is a special day to him, and making you a part of it is an honor. Regardless of any fears, you may be having, you need to step up and bring your best game to sear this important event in everyone’s memory.
You require a killer introduction and one-liners to put everyone, especially the groom at ease.
There are lot of ways in which you can approach best man wedding speeches, you can simply visit http://www.bestmanspeechestoasts.com for 25 brilliant, outstanding and highly entertaining professionally written best man wedding speeches you can either use as your own or which you can modify and use in your speech.
