Best Man speeches are usually the most anticipated amongst all Wedding speeches and despite common myth, it is not the crowd of guests that makes a Best Man nervous, instead it boils down to a lack of confidence in the content of his speech. If you have the right content for your Best Man speech, then the only nerves should be on those speaking after you, as they will have a hard act to follow.

You know by now the format and structure of giving a Best Man Speech, when it needs to be funny, insert some Best Man jokes, when it needs to be sincere, consider adding some lines of poetry and ensure that your Wedding Toast is a winning one.

Once you have mastered the content, you need to decide on how you wish to deliver the speech. You will perhaps have done some research and found everyone advising you to memorize it and deliver it off the top of your head. Others may suggested the “safety first” route of reading it directly from a sheet of paper. I suggest neither of these routes. Wedding Days can be long stressful days for a Best Man and adding fuel to the fire would be the pressure of remembering your Best Man speech in its entirety without skipping a crucial piece, whilst reading the speech directly can sound monotone.

How do we overcome this conundrum? Bring cue cards with you and keep in your pocket until it is your time to speak. While it is not necessary to have your complete Best Man speech written on these cue cards you should have words that act as prompts.

There are 2 exceptions, where you must have your segments of your speech memorized, the Opening lines and Closing lines (including the Wedding Toast). Your speech may well live or die by these lines so have them etched in your mind ready to deliver at will.

Try to maintain eye-contact as much as possible and smile as you speak, your guests will do likewise. When complimenting the Bride turn and look in her direction, ditto for the Groom. Don’t speak too quickly, relax, and speak with poise and character. 

I cannot over-emphasize the importance of the right content for your Best Man speech, not only for the guests, but to give you that surge of confidence as your moment of reckoning arrives. The more you enjoy your Best Man speech, the more your guests will enjoy it.

One final tip, and one that you may end up thanking me for on the Big Day, write two sets of cue cards and give one set to a family member or a trusted close friend at the wedding, you may have some “jokers” trying to get their hands on your copy before the speeches begin, and the last thing you need is to, stand to give your Best Man speech, reach into your pocket and find it empty. 

There you have it folks master the content ( you are on the right site for that) and deliver the perfect Best Man speech, to a rousing ovation from the Wedding Guests.

Top 20 Best Man Jokes (part 2)

Wedding jokes are with us again today as we continue our Countdown of the Top 20 Best Man Jokes, today we unveil numbers 15 to 10. Best Man jokes come in all shapes and sizes but I recommend using short funny one-liners throughout your Best Man speech as it is better to get a constant stream of laughter rather than relying on one long Best Man joke.

15 John is an athletic guy who never let his love of food stand in the way of his enjoyment of sport, no he always waits until half-time to order his pizza.

14 I’m a married man myself and recently met a lady at a business function, I noticed she was wearing her wedding ring on the wrong hand and said “Excuse me but aren’t you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong hand?”, she replied “Yes I am, I married the wrong man”.

13 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.

12 Married life can be confusing, in the first year, the Bride speaks and the Groom listens, in the second year the Groom speaks and the Bride listens, and in the third year they both speak and the neighbors listen.

11 Sarah said to me it was always her ambition to marry an intelligent, handsome, funny guy, but thankfully she married John instead.

10 I was with Sarah the night she met John and she said that “he was handsome from afar”, I think she now realizes that he is actually far from handsome.

On Monday we will discuss “How to Deliver The Perfect Best Man Speech” whilst next Friday we will continue our countdown of The Top 20 Best Man Jokes , until then have a great humor-filled weekend.

Best Man Speech Closing Lines

The closing lines in your Best Man speech are the lines you say that end your main speech but lead into the Wedding Toast. They are the most important lines of your Best Man speech, so it is vital that they are sincere, good-natured and appeal to the heart. Wedding guests have a tendency to remember the closing lines of speeches more than most so if you want your Best Man speech to be remembered for the right reasons then spend time mastering them.

By now you are armed with ten super Wedding Toasts so to help you along the way with closing lines I have provided 5 examples below.

Ladies and Gentlemen before we raise a toast to the happy couple I would just like to add what an honor it has been for me to be your Best Man today. I look forward later on to getting to meet those of you I already don’t know and getting reacquainted with old friends. Being Best Man is not an easy task but you made it easy for me so I thank you for that and finally I hope my speech was as enjoyable for you, as it was uncomfortable for me.

Ladies and Gentlemen as my speech comes to a conclusion, I would ask you to make a silent toast to absent friends. Today has been a very special day, and I have been very proud to stand as Best Man on this great occasion. Whether I have lived-up to my billing as Best Man is not for me to say, however there can be no doubt that you have been the best audience and I thank you all for that.

Ladies and Gentlemen today has been an amazing occasion and it is with a mixture of joy and relief that my speech draws to a close, joy for you and relief for me. Before we raise a toast to the happy couple I would like to finish my Best Man speech by thanking you all for your ears and sense of humor, God knows at times during my speech you needed it. To the Wedding Party I would like to finish by saying the pleasure has been all mine.

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. John and Sarah are the ideal couple, and you have been the perfect audience and I am very much honored to stand as Best Man today. A special mention must go to my Groomsmen who helped with my speech, I wrote the entertaining, sincere, funny parts, they wrote the rest.

The end of my Best Man speech is upon us, ladies and gentlemen, so before we toast the Newlyweds, all that remains is for me to thank each of you for my making my role as Best Man an unforgettable experience. Unlike my speech, it is a day that I don’t want to end and I look forward to the rest of the evening and the chance to meet with you all. Today has been a wonderful occasion one that will live long in the memory and I am sure, like me, that you are privileged to be part of it and for that we are indebted to the families of John and Sarah.

The key to writing a successful closing line is to remember it is a teaser to the Wedding Toast, you do not want a hilarious closing line followed by a mediocre Wedding Toast, so keep them poignant, light-hearted or gracious and enjoy the rapturous applause that follows.

Tomorrow we continue our “Countdown of the Top 20 Best Man Jokes” as we unveil numbers 15 to 10.