Best Mans Wedding Speech

Order of Speakers:-
1st: Father of the Bride 2nd: The Bridegroom 3rd: The Bride 4th: The Best Man

The Best Man is the final speaker. His material should be light and humorous, to get the guests in a party mood for the celebrations to follow. As he is the last speaker, he should include a final toast to the Bride & Groom in the closing section of his speech.

When writing your speech, visualise how it will work. For this reason, you will find below examples of text and hints on toasting and leading applause, etc. Include these notes in your written speech in brackets, to remind you what to do.

Format: Divide your speech into three sections: 1: Opening, 2: General Chat and 3: Closing.

The Opening should be informally spoken without script. However, you don't need to memorise your speech word for word. Take it with you as it is perfectly acceptable to read from it, but do look up at the guests as often as possible.

Opening

Firstly, applaud the bride at the end of her speech.

Then, e.g: "
"I'd just like to begin by offering my own special toast to the bridesmaids."
(add, where applicable) "and the maid of honour and pageboy(s)"...etc. (Raise your glass).

General Chat

You could firstly express your thanks for being chosen to be the best man

E.g:
"I would also like to thank (e.g.) Steve (the groom) for choosing me as best man - I do consider it an honour and I managed not to lose the ring!"

Maybe say something about how long you've known the groom or how you met. If you have known him since childhood, perhaps say something amusing about when you were kids or at school, etc.)

E.g:
"I remember Steve's mum buying him his first suit when he was eleven years old and it was miles too big........... I see he's finally grown into it!"

Then go on to say something like:-
"But Steve is a great guy and I know he'll make a good husband............not like some....."
which could lead you into some wedding / marriage related quips:-
e.g.:
"There was this man who went on his honeymoon - alone! He said his wife had already seen Niagara Falls!"

"There are some men who are afraid of marriage - one guy I heard of was such a confirmed batchelor that, every time he got the urge to get married, he arranged for a woman to come round in a dressing gown and hair curlers with a plate of burnt toast!"

"Some men allow themselves to become henpecked. A man should assert who's the boss right from the start - he should look his wife straight in the eyes and say: "You're the boss!"

"To make a marriage work, a man should be diplomatic - he should be able to convince his wife that she'd look fat in an expensive fur coat."

Closing
Round off your speech with some nice remarks about the Bride & Groom:

e.g:
"But joking apart, when you two people like (the bride & groom - e.g.) Steve & Julie get together, there's only happiness ahead. And I know you're all getting anxious to start the celebrations - so that's enough from the Best Man - although, today, the best man is Steve and the best lady is his lovely new wife Julie - so, let's wish them all the very best." Lead the applause to the couple and the guests will join in - this will avoid any embarrassing silence as you sit down.

Go to Wedding Speech Tips.