The duties of a Best Man go beyond delivering a toast and acting as the Groom’s witness at his wedding ceremony, there are many other duties expected of you so to help you be best prepared the following is a guide to the tasks you should be doing one week before the wedding day.

1. Check with the Groom who is picking-up the suits.

Make sure that you are clear on who is arranging the collection of the wedding suits, and double-check with the Groomsmen to see if anyone wants to be refitted, so they are dressed comfortably for the wedding.

2. Be aware of the venue for the wedding rehearsal and ensure guests have directions to it.

If out of town guests are coming to the wedding rehearsal, it is a nice gesture to call/email them with directions to the venue.

3. Have a toast ready to give at the rehearsal dinner.

This is just a short toast in honor of the Bride and Groom and should not be confused with the main Best Man speech which you give on the wedding day.

4. Call the various wedding vendors to confirm the wedding details.

It is well worth your time to call each of the various wedding vendors such as the photographer, the limo driver, and DJ to reconfirm times and ensure there are no hiccups on the big day.

5. Know who wants to speak at the wedding.

If you are acting as M.C then you need to know who plans on giving a speech at the wedding, so in order to properly rehearse your introductions ensure you are aware of this information.

6. Spend time perfecting your Best Man speech.

The week of the wedding is not the time to begin making changes to your speech, so spend the time practicing the delivery of your speech so it gains maximum impact.

7. Get plenty of rest.

As Best Man you will find the wedding day an extremely busy day with an onslaught of activity from the moment you wake up, so do yourself the ultimate favor and get as much rest as possible during the week of the wedding.

It is important for to discuss with the Groom who is doing what so that there is no crossover and you can delegate some duties to the Groomsmen in order to save time or to help them feel more included in the occasion.

Best Man speeches are often judged by their humor, their wit and the mixture of loving and funny stories that they contain. Another important element is the delivery of the speech, great content is one thing but a mundane speaker will find it difficult to bond with the wedding guests.

As Best Man your jokes need to be funny, your stories heartfelt and your toast uplifting, you also need to ensure you speak for the right amount of time and that you have omitted nobody from the speech. As anyone who has ever given a Best Man speech before will confirm, they are not an easy to master and with that in mind over the next 4 weeks I will be counting down the Top 10 tips for Best Man speeches. We begin our countdown with numbers 10 to 8, in our quest to help you create funny Best Man speeches that will provide memories of a lifetime.

Best Man Speeches Tip Number 10
Create an outline.

Like a good book your speech needs to have a beginning, middle, and end, unstructured speeches that don’t flow in a smooth manner will only end-up confusing the wedding guests, so the importance of working from an outline when creating your speech is essential. From your perspective, once you have your outline plotted, you will find your creative juices begin to flow and the speech-writing process will become less daunting. Your outline should contain some of the following elements;

1) opening lines / intro.
2) welcome everyone.
3) people to thank (here express gratitude to those who have made special efforts in the planning of the wedding).
4) people to praise (people to praise include the Bride, the Bridesmaids, the Bride and Groom’s parents, along with the Groom).
5) short story about the Groom (can be funny or embarrassing just ensure there is nothing too offensive).
6) story about the Groom as a friend.
7) heartfelt story about the Bride and what makes her a special person.
8) loving story about the Bride and Groom.
9) congratulatory toast to end your speech.

Short Best Man jokes and wedding one-liners should also be included at various intervals within your speech.

Best Man Speeches Tip Number 9
Get off to a confident start.

It is normal to feel apprehensive about giving a speech in public particularly a Best Man speech where a lot is expected of you. A great way to build confidence is to begin your speech without referring to your notes whilst smiling and looking directly at the wedding guests. Building a rapport is important and direct eye-contact and a smile will help you attain this. It is unrealistic to expect to deliver your whole speech without referring to your notes however, so do have your cue cards with you, but make sure you have your opening lines memorized to help you engage the audience from the start.

You want to deliver a speech that appeals to everyone so if you are telling a funny story about the Groom and your speech includes a handful of funny jokes then balance your speech out by opening with some serious heartfelt remarks before launching into humor. Don’t try to be too clever when opening your speech, a confident opening will provide you with the perfect platform to deliver your Best Man speech in style.

Best Man Speeches Tip Number 8
Don’t forget to introduce yourself.

While you can expect that the majority of the guests know who you are they may be unsure of your relationship to the Groom, so take a minute to introduce yourself. Refer to your relationship to the Groom here as this allows you one of the first opportunities to add humor to your speech. This humor should expressed as a short one-liner so you can save your longer stories for later in your speech. While introducing yourself, it is also a nice touch, and one that will be appreciated, to include your Groomsmen in your introduction.

Next week we continue through our journey of tips for Best Man speeches by revealing numbers, 7, 6 and 5 in our countdown.

The adenaline rush after giving an awesome Best Man speech is amazing, there is nothing like people coming up to you time and time again congratulating you on an amazing Best Man speech. Not everyone of course is lucky enough to receive the plaudits mind you as lack of preparation or sloppy material will leave your speech floundering. Today we look at 7 tips worth bearing in mind as you prepare for the Best Man toast.

1. You will be nervous.

Don’t worry you will not be alone, as anyone who has ever given a Best Man speech will confirm, you will be fraught with anxiety and your legs will feel like caving in under you. Combat this by making sure you have a great Best Man speech to deliver as your confidence will get a spectacular boost with the right material.

2. Everyone wants you to do well.

Despite your nerves you can rest assured that both the wedding party and the guests are all rooting for you, no one wants you to deliver a poor speech.

3. The speech is for both the Bride and the Groom.

Some Best Men make the mistake of using their Best Man speech to focus purely on the Groom without so much as mentioning the Bride. It is true that the bulk of your speech will be centered on the Groom but ensure there is a section for complimentary words about the Bride.

4. Be prepared for hecklers.

No matter how good your speech is, don’t be surprised if a boozy guest tries to be Mr. Funny and interrupt your speech, so have a good heckler response prepared in case a heckler interrupts you.

5. Understand the correct format of a Best Man speech.

You don’t want to give a toast without knowing the correct format of a Best Man speech so ensure your speech matches this format.

6. There is an expectancy on the Best Man to add humor to proceedings.

Sincere Best Man speeches are fine and may suit some personality types better, but do have some funny Best Man jokes or witty stories also included as the guests will expect humor from your speech.

7. Giving a Best Man speech is not as difficult as you think.

Most people dread the very thought of giving a Best Man speech, but with winning content the dread will  turn to excitement and allow you to enjoy the lead-up to the wedding rather than worrying about the speech.

Giving a witty short speech will ensure you have the guests eating out of the palm of your hand, so ensure all your energy goes into having appropriate content for your speech then relax and enjoy what will turn out to be a very special day.