Best Man Speeches

        Traditionally, one of the roles of the Best Man is to make sure that the groom actually shows up for the wedding.  Really!  So if the groom ditched the ceremony and ran away, the Best Man would have to break the news to the whole wedding party.  Now that's a tough speech to give.  Fortunately, most Best Man speeches are a little more fun!   Here are some tips:

• Brainstorm - Start off by thinking about stories about the groom.  How do you know each other?  What memories bring a smile to your face?  What do you know about the bride, how they met, what their relationship is like?  Get all this stuff down on paper, then run it by some people, and see what they like.  Oh, and, uh, DON'T mention the bachelor party.  

• Balance - Now that you've got some good stories for entertainment value, make sure that you've balanced the speech out with some good mushy stuff.  Remember, the audience for this speech includes some older folks who'd just like to hear a pleasant speech that'll make them say "oh my, wasn't that nice?"  You need to make sure those people are taken care of!  It's best to start with the funny stuff, then transition to the mushy stuff.  

• Remember the Requirements - Every Best Man speech should start with thanking the families of the bride and groom, and end with the toast.  The thanks is pretty easy and straightforward - talk about how nice the ceremony is, and how everyone is so glad to be there.  The toast... well, that's different.  There's a lot of pressure to be not only eloquent, but to be deep and sufficiently concise.  Don't be afraid to go through drafts - speak from the heart!  This is the capper for your speech.  Plus, after you deliver it, you can start drinking too...

• Be Loose! - Nobody wants a rigid speech here;  it should be as heartfelt and genuine as possible.  Instead of actually writing this speech out word-for-word, just write general bullet points to guide you - that way the words will come naturally, and you won't just be reading it from a card.  Relax, and smile - these are all your friends!  They love you.  And they're probably already drunk anyway.

       Hopefully now you're ready to wow'em at the wedding.  If you want to check an example, I have one sample Best Man speech on this site.  Good luck!