From the category archives:

Best Man Advice

How to give great Best Man speeches

by Dave on January 6, 2009

Best Man speeches come in all shapes and sizes varying from the mediocre to the great, the key to making your speech a great one is to know what to say and to deliver with confidence. Knowing what to say is very important as we have all been at weddings where a Best Man has gone off on a tangent of his own thus alienating the audience.

Here is an outline complete of what you need to say in your speech, each section has an example along with it.

A warm introduction and opening line

Ladies & gentlemen I am very proud to stand before you as Best Man today. John & Sarah are the perfect couple and Sarah I speak for all of John’s friends when I say he is the happiest he has ever been since you have come into his life.

Compliment the Bride

“Sarah, you have so many qualities that it would be impossible to fit them all in to this speech but to name a few, you are kind, generous, beautiful, warm, funny and today you are as radiant as the sun itself

Praise for the Bridesmaids

The bridesmaids look beautiful outdone only by our stunning bride, they have been a wonderful source of love and friendship to both Sarah and John.

A funny story or one-liner at the Groom’s expense (without being vulgar)

John never lets his love of food interfere with his sports, no he waits until half-time to order his pizzas.

A classic Best Man joke

John is known to keep a sharp eye on his bank balance, so I must warn him, my own wife’s credit cards were recently stolen, but I decided against reporting it to the police as the thieves were spending less than she was.

Mention how delighted you are to be Best Man

To stand as John’s Best Man makes me very proud, we have been friends for 10 years, John gives without thought of reward and is the best friend anyone could have.

End on a charming closing line

Ladies and Gentlemen, in a few minutes we will be raising a toast for the Bride and Groom, and as a man who is willing to raise his glass for anything, I look forward to it. A special mention must go to my Groomsmen who helped with my speech, I wrote the entertaining, sincere, funny parts, they wrote the rest.

Provide the Best Man toast

May your love be modern enough to last to survive the times and old-fashioned enough to last forever

Once you have your material complete then you can practice the delivery. Practice in front of a mirror, in the shower, anywhere you get a minute of privacy recite the words aloud until you are confident with the delivery.

Don’t worry too much about remembering it 100% as you should have cue cards for the wedding day with buzz words highlighted for each paragraph allowing you to look down to collect your thoughts for each section of the speech.

In preparing the content of your speech it is worth reading this post  5 topics to avoid during Best Man speeches 

Being Best Man is an honor and one to be enjoyed so when it is your turn to speak stand with a big smile on your face and enjoy the experience

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Funny advice on marriage to use in Best Man Speeches

by Dave on January 5, 2009

One of the most enjoyable and easiest methods of raising laughter and spirits while giving your speech is to include lighthearted marital advice to the newlyweds. Irrespective of whether you are married yourself, you can provide advice as if you were an expert albeit in a fun manner. This section can raise as much laughter as funny best man jokes and will be enjoyed by all.

You have two ways of leading into this section of your speech, if you are single you might say “Though I am not married myself I did extensive research on the internet and am now happy to pass my expertise over to the Bride and Groom…”

Or if you are a married you might say ” As a married man I could warn the newlyweds of what to expect from marriage but given that my own dear wife is here I will be going easy on the subject…”

You could then use one of these lines, choose whichever best suits your style of speech.

A successful husband is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

There are four words certain to end any row “you are right honey.”

Never answer “dust” if your partner asks you “what’s on TV today?”

Remember that in the word “wedding” the “we” comes before the “I’.

You will grow old and you will both change but the fun part is falling in love with same person over and over again.

These are in essence wedding one-liners that can help add further humor to your best man speech and ensure you receive confidence-building applause as you move on to the next part of it. It is important not to follow this up with more jokes, for better effect vary between sincerity and humor.

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The Duties of a Best Man on the Day of the Wedding

by Dave on December 9, 2008

With all the excitement and nerves that come with the thoughts of giving a best man speech, it is important not to overlook the other duties expected of you in your role as the head of the groomsmen. The wedding day itself will go very quickly believe it or not, and you will have people pulling at you with varying requests so don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked to an extent where you may overlook an essential task.

The Duties of a Best Man on the Day of the Wedding

  1. Ensure that the groom, the groomsmen and yourself arrive on time and dressed appropriately.
  2. Remind groom about the necessary payments that need to be paid on the day and have them secured in the appropriate envelope (examples might be band, DJ, hotel, etc.)
  3. Ensure all guests have transportation to the wedding reception.
  4. Securely look after the wedding rings until such time that they are ready to be exchanged.
  5. Sign the marriage license and act as legal witness to the marriage.
  6. Coordinate with groomsmen to ensure they remain at the church until the photographer has finished.
  7. Give the best man toast, and sometimes act as MC for the reception.
  8. Dance with the maid of honor.

If you haven’t already done so then it is worth reading this previous post on;  The Top 5 Items A Best Man Should Have On The Day Of The Wedding.

Another task to bear in mind is that if the formal wear is rented, then it is sometimes the best man’s duty to return the rented suits the following day. However the most important duty in my book is to enjoy yourself, you should be proud to be chosen as best man so spend the day with a smile on your face.

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Ideas for Best Man Speeches for the Groom’s Brother

by Dave on November 17, 2008

If you are a best man and you also happen to be the brother of the groom then you have an opportunity for extra lines that you could insert into your speech. However on the flip side it is vital not to offend so you may perhaps want to revisit an earlier post 5 topics to avoid in a best man speech

When providing a best man speech to your brother you can still use the same best man jokes and one-liners as in any best man speech but you also have the chance to say things like the 4 examples I have provided you with below:

  • John has been a great friend through good times and bad, in fact, he’s been like a brother to me.
  • John and I have always been the closest of brothers, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for him and likewise there is nothing he wouldn’t do for me, in fact that’s how we spent most of our youth, doing nothing for each other.
  • Growing up John was a very considerate brother, whenever he was getting blamed for something he would immediately point the finger at me saying that I did it.
  • As John’s brother I am here to praise him not ridicule him, though I must say the vote was a close one.

Providing a best man speech for your brother is not only an honor but also an honor to be enjoyed, so spend time preparing your best man speech then you will find that you will be the one who ends up enjoying it most.

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Solutions For Successful Best Man Speeches

by Dave on November 12, 2008

Having a back-up plan for your best man speech is essential particularly if you are not comfortable speaking in front of a large group of people. In fact even if you are an experienced speaker, it is always beneficial to have a contingency plan available when giving your speech. We are not talking about anything drastic, but just a few suggestions to bear in mind for the big day.

Here are examples on how to deal with possible hiccups during your speech;

Problem; one of your jokes goes down like the proverbial lead balloon.

Solution; remain composed, turn to face the groomsmen, smile and say “next time guys leave the jokes to me.”

If you are looking for best man speech jokes then this previous post is for you, Top 20 best man jokes

Problem; you suddenly forget someone’s name when talking about them.

Solution; instead of pausing and making it obvious that you have forgotten their name divert to charming descriptive titles like “beautiful bride”, “proud parents”, “lovely lady”, “loyal friend” etc.

Problem; during your speech you suddenly forget your lines.

Solution; say to the guests “at this stage I would like to ask the groomsmen to read out the faxes and emails”, as they read them out, sit down and have a quick scan through your speech to collect your thoughts so you can start again with your mind refreshed. If you haven’t already done so I strongly recommend reading this post;

Telegrams, faxes and emails, secret weapons in giving a great best man speech

Problem; a heckler interrupts your speech.

Solution; smile, look in his/her direction and unleash one of our 5 great responses to hecklers who interrupt your best man speech.

Successful best man speeches are determined by two things, the way you deliver the speech on the the day and how you prepare for it in advance. Spend time preparing and you can look forward to your speech with confidence and you enjoy delivering a speech that would make a professional proud.

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