Best Man Toasts
From LoveToKnow Weddings
It’s an honor being chosen as best man. Being asked to stand up for the bride and groom isn’t a privilege offered to just anyone, it means you’re someone very close and special to the groom. It also means the groom feels you’re someone who can be trusted with great responsibilities, most notably the wedding toast.
Opening Lines
Writing a best man speech may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be a challenge. All you need to do is drawn on your experience as someone special to the bride and groom and throw in a few words about love and maybe a bit of advice.
Once you get over the fact that all eyes are on you, it’s probably best to clue everyone in on your relationship to the Happy Couple. If you’re a best friend or a brother, let everyone know right off the bat. If you’re not related, you might want to tell everyone how many years you’ve known the groom. You may also want to lead with a humorous anecdote that sums up your relationship with the newlyweds.
"Excuse me everyone, may I have your attention please.
"I have a few words I'd like to say about Josh and Mindy.
"I'm Jack Curley,Josh"s best man, and I'd first like to say that, after having you as my best friend for the last 27 years,being asked to be your best man at your wedding is an honor that I will treasure forever.
Short and Sweet
It’s best to keep the toast short and to the point. There may be a lot you want to say, but the guests are there to party, not listen to the best man wax nostalgic about junior high school pranks. Feel free to offer a story or a poem, but keep it simple, the last thing you want is for eyes to glaze over as guests struggle to pay attention. If the guests have already finished their champagne, it’s a good indication the speech has gone on too long.
"I'd like to tell you a funny story about the first time I met Dana. When Jeff told me about her, he was not very forthcoming. In fact, she was quite the mystery. We finally got the chance to meet her at a new car exhibition at our local dealership. It was a great opportunity for Jeff to show off his new lady to all his car guys. Of course, we were absolutely flabergasted when he walked in with this beautiful young lady, and we were immediately obsessed with how old she was. Jeff, being the man of very few words, was not going to relinquish that tid bit of information. As a matter of fact, to this day, I don't even know how old Jeff is! Well, one of our mutual friends, the car salesman, came up with the idea that if we got Dana to test drive a car, she'd have to produce her liscence, and we could glean her birth date and no one would be wiser. Not only did I learn Dana's age, but I also learned that she was as interested in nice cars as Jeff and I were. From that moment on, I knew she was in!"
The Purpose
The purpose of best man toasts are to wish the Happy Couple well and invite all of the wedding guests to join you in a toast. Hopefully you will have written down what you want to say, and even practiced once or twice. If you didn’t, the speech will come out sounding awkward. For goodness sakes, don’t try to wing it. This is not the time for ad-libbing and this seldom works unless one is a professional.
Give Thanks
Traditionally you should also give thanks. Thank the parents of the bride (or the newlyweds) for hosting the wedding, thank the parents of the groom for their role and thank the Happy Couple for bestowing this honor upon you.
Once this done, it’s time to wrap things up. Ask your guests to lift their glasses, and offer a toast to the Happy Couple.
When the toast is over, the festivities will begin. No doubt you’ll be congratulated for a fine job and the groom will know he picked the right person for the job.
"Now, everyone please raise their glass and join me in a toast"
To Mindy and Josh:
May you be friends to each other as only lovers can, and may you love each other as only best friends can.
CONGATULATIONS!!!"
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Comments
From my own experience when I was asked to be a best man, I thought yes what an honour but then, oh no, the speech. Luckily I could write poetry, so I wrote a poem and also luckily I hit the jackpot, it went down a storm, it was perfect and I had accolades all night from lots of guests and photographers. So I created my own website to help other guys and it has been very successful and I am so lucky to have had so much superb feedback from guys who were clearly quite nervous.
The beauty of a personalised poem is the fact it is personal, you can read it, and given time to practice, it can be delivered in a meaningful way and last but not least, you don't have to let on it wasn't you who wrote it!! But the real beauty is it is a comfort to the best man in case of emergencies; panic attack, too much to drink, etc. So if anybody wants help, I would be delighted to help out, just check out my website TheBestManSpeech.co.uk
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