An important part of a Best Man speech is building a rapport with your audience. Whilst going around personally introducing yourself to the wedding guests is worthy, it is not practical. However building a relationship and breaking down the barriers between you and your audience is vital. If you are Master of Ceremonies (M.C) at the wedding then as everybody settles down for their meal, and before you hand the microphone over to the first speaker, normally, the father of the Bride, welcome everybody to the event, announce your name and explain that you are Best Man.

Other ways of introducing yourself to the wedding guests can be done via your Best Man speech. The method of introducing yourself will be dependent on your style of Best Man speech.

If you are giving a sincere speech you introduce yourself by saying “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to todays very special occasion, my name is Mike, and I am very proud to be John’s Best Man but even more proud that I have been able to call him a friend for the last 10 years”.

If you are giving a funny speech then say something along the lines of “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mike and I am your Best Man today, and for those of you who do know me, you may wish you didn’t by the end of the evening”.

For a lighthearted speech you might say something like “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen my name is Mike and I am delighted to be Best Man today. Should I meet any of you at the bar after the speech then my full name is Mike Wouldulikeadrink. Seriously today is a fantastic day and I am ably assisted by my fellow Groomsmen, Kevin, Jack and Brian”.

It is vital to ensure your introduction complements your style of Best Man speech, and remember to keep it short, then you can focus your attention on complimenting the Bride and your relationship with the Groom.

Wedding jokes and Best Man humor is again under the spotlight as we continue our trawl through the Top 20 Best Man Jokes. It is Part Three of our countdown today from No. 9 to No. 5, in previous posts you will have seen Top 20 Best Man Jokes (Part one) and Top 20 Best Man Jokes (Part two). Wedding jokes and Best Man jokes in particular should be kept short but plentiful and these 5 gems certainly fit the bill. 

9 Why do men chase women that they have no chance of marrying? It’s like watching dogs chase cars they have no chance of driving.

8 Before Sarah came into John’s life his idea of a romantic night out was a candlelit football stadium.

7 A woman said to her husband “Do you know I was a fool when I married you?” to which she replied “Yes, honey, but I was in love and didn’t notice”.

6 A little boy, at a wedding, looks at his mom and says, “Mommy, why does the Bride wear white?” His mom replies, “The Bride is in white because she’s happy and this is the happiest day of her life.”
The boy thinks about this, and then says, “Well then, why is the Groom wearing black?”

5 A man marches into his local police station demanding to speak to the burglar who broke into his house the night before. “You will have your chance in court” was the Sergeants reply. “No, all I want to know is how he snuck into my house without waking my wife, I’ve been trying for years.”

Next Friday we will finally complete our tour through wedding humor and unveil “The Four Funniest Best Man Jokes” whilst on Monday we will discuss “Wedding Speeches – Why Anagrams Work”, until then folks have a great weekend.

Wedding speeches, including the Best Man’s Speech and the Best Man’s Toast should run between 3 to 5 minutes in length, depending on the amount of people speaking on the Big Day. If you have the traditional running order of 3 or 4 speakers then you should try to speak for up to 5 minutes. On the other hand if there are more people in the Wedding Party due to speak such as an Usher or Matron of Honor, advise them to keep their speeches relatively short, two to three minutes maximum.

On a previous post we discussed the importance, and gave great examples, of Best Man Speech Opening Lines, here are two more opening lines that break the ice if you are giving either a short Best Man speech or a long Best Man speech.

Icebreaker for a shorter Best Man Speech

Ladies & Gentlemen unfortunately I will only be giving a short speech today because of my throat..John has threatened to cut it, if I go on too long.

Icebreaker for a longer Best Man Speech

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, it has been lovely to see so many old friends here today, and for those of you who don’t know me, you might feel you do by the end of my speech.

It is the content that is key to a winning Best Man speech that will keep the guests smiling. Once you stick to the format of a Best Man speech this should ensure that you stand just behind the Groom himself as the most popular man at the party.

Tomorrow we continue our journey through the Top 20 Best Man Jokes as we chart Number 10 to Number 5.