Wedding Speech - Ideas For The Best Man
I have to admit that wedding speeches scared the heck out of me. I'm not shy and retiring, I'm a salesman and accustomed to giving presentations and speaking to large groups. But when I was asked to be Best Man at my buddy's wedding the whole self confidence thing went right out the window.
I mean after all, this is a really big day in their lives and they've asked me to play an important part. The wedding speech I give will be remembered for better or worse by my best friend, his new wife, and a bunch of other people.
Oh, and traditionally you're the last one to give a speech after the Father of the Bride the Groom and the Maid of Honor. No pressure there.
So how do you go about putting a wedding speech together? Well here are a few ideas you can start with.
Once you have it down on paper, practice it. You don't have to remember it word for word in fact you probably shouldn't. You want to sound like its almost an extemporaneous speech, not something that you labored over.
Before you give your speech, make sure you had a snack about 15 minutes prior and for sure don't load up on the free Champaign. This will calm you down a bit and make the speech go easier.
At the end of your little talk it is traditional that you offer a toast to the parents of the Bride and Groom. Might be a good idea to know their names.
And that's all there is to it. Sounds easy right? Well if you have a least a month to go before the big date and you work at it you'll do just fine. If not, forget the advice about not taking advantage of the free Champaign. You might as well have an excuse for the performance you are about to give.
I mean after all, this is a really big day in their lives and they've asked me to play an important part. The wedding speech I give will be remembered for better or worse by my best friend, his new wife, and a bunch of other people.
Oh, and traditionally you're the last one to give a speech after the Father of the Bride the Groom and the Maid of Honor. No pressure there.
So how do you go about putting a wedding speech together? Well here are a few ideas you can start with.
- Ask the Groom what he would like for you to say. He probably won't be very helpful with this because he doesn't know anymore about speech writing than you do. However, if you ask him what NOT to say, he may have more than a few ideas. This step prevents unintentional embarrassment.
- Jot down some notes about your relationship with the Groom. How did you meet, how long ago, why you are buddies, why did he ask you of all people to be the Best Man. How is this marriage going to change your relationship with the Groom.
- If you know her more than in just passing, go through the same drill regarding your relationship with the bride.
- Once you have the background firmly in your mind, do an outline of the points you want to cover then flesh it out with words./li>
Once you have it down on paper, practice it. You don't have to remember it word for word in fact you probably shouldn't. You want to sound like its almost an extemporaneous speech, not something that you labored over.
Before you give your speech, make sure you had a snack about 15 minutes prior and for sure don't load up on the free Champaign. This will calm you down a bit and make the speech go easier.
At the end of your little talk it is traditional that you offer a toast to the parents of the Bride and Groom. Might be a good idea to know their names.
And that's all there is to it. Sounds easy right? Well if you have a least a month to go before the big date and you work at it you'll do just fine. If not, forget the advice about not taking advantage of the free Champaign. You might as well have an excuse for the performance you are about to give.
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