Simply Wedding Speeches

The final draft of your best man speech

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:23:51 +0000

You’ve completed the first draft of your best man speech, so now is the time to really knock it into great shape for the day and then practice it until you know what you’re going to say inside out and backwards! You don’t need to know it word perfect though - you need to be able to speak around your main points, so that it comes out sounding completely naturally.

The first step in moving towards this goal is to read your speech out loud and make notes on it as you go along. What reads well on paper doesn’t always sound so good when it’s spoken aloud, plus your writing style may be different to how you speak too.

Something else worth pointing out at this stage is that although you should speak out loud, you can do it sat in a chair - you’re not practicing speaking yet!

Anywhere that doesn’t sound right, doesn’t sound like you, or you trip over when saying it needs to be changed and keep working at it until you are completely happy with it. It shouldn’t take too long to do this, but it’ll make a big difference to how you deliver your speech.

Once you are completely happy that your speech is in good shape for you on the wedding day it’s time to move on.

Now you need to really put yourself mentally in the same place you’ll be for the wedding reception. Try to visualize the room that you’ll be in, the layout of the tables, the number of guests - as much detail as you can. With that in your head start to practice out loud, projecting to the back of the (imaginary) room, making sure you include all the guests when you talk by moving your gaze about the room.

Some people find it useful to record themselves, and if you feel it will help you do so.

To start with you’ll need your speech in front of you, but as you progress you should find you need it less and less. This is the stage that you should take your speech and write down nothing but the key points to guide you through it.

Once again practice with these key points until you’re comfortable; once you’ve done that your best man speech is ready for the big day.

Is the thought of giving the best man speech giving you sleepless nights?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of having to give a best man speech, here is the information you don’t want to miss. Detailed info to help you plan for all aspects of the speech to help you deliver it flawlessly. Click here to learn more

New site launched - Wedding MC Jokes

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:24:41 +0000

We’ve just launched a new site called Simply Wedding MC Jokes, which is pretty self explanatory. For information see the website by clicking the link above.

Completing the First Draft of Your Best Man Speech

admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:15:00 +0000

It may not seem like you’ve done much so far, but you have put some thought into what the groom means to you and hopefully got a few funny anecdotes, jokes, or situations that are suitable for your best man speech.

Take another look at them and start to think about which has the best potential for your best man speech.

If they all seem too shirt you can combine two or three. And don’t be afraid of embellishing them a little to maximize the humor value - nobody said you’ve got to tell the absolute truth as long as what you say rings true.

Also, it doesn’t have to be the funniest thing ever - all the guests will be on your side and more than willing to laugh at anything that vaguely resembles a joke, so as long as it is slightly funny you’ll get away with it.

Once you’ve decided on a story or stories, write them down in full, making sure the humor and content are suitable for the wedding. As mentioned before, you mustn’t step over the boundaries and those will vary from wedding to wedding. Don’t offend the bride, her family, or anyone else and if there is the remotest danger then edit it out.

Lead in to your funny anecdote with a quick introduction - who are you and how do you know the groom. This serves to put your friendship in some kind of context, whether you’ve been lifelong friends or known each other for 10 years.

Now you’ve filled in some of the gaps you have the first draft of your best man speech. It still won’t feel like it’s ready - and it isn’t yet - but with a little bit of work you’ll be able to shape what you have and mold it into a speech that fits you perfectly and brings the house down on the big day.

Writing the Introduction and the Best Man Toast

admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:35:22 +0000

Since the Groom will probably have ended his speech thanking you and the bridal party - possibly presenting you with gifts too - and toasted the Bridesmaids, you should start by thanking him on their behalf.

An outline of a typical Best Man’s Speech would be:

Introduction - thank the Groom on behalf of the bridesmaids and for any gifts that were received and comment on the Bride and Groom and the wedding
Body - introduce yourself, talk about how you met and tell a funny story or anecdote about the Groom, or joke at his expense - this is where the content you brainstormed before will be once it’s been developed
Message - if any messages have been received from anyone unable to attend the wedding you should read them
Best Man’s Toast - raise your glass to the Bride and Groom

We’ll develop the body of your speech later, so for now you just need to concentrate on the introduction and toast. Also it is good to prepare a sentence to introduce any messages that have been received before reading them out. Lets take a look at these elements below:

Introduction

“On behalf of the bridesmaids I’d like to thank Charlie for his kind words and wish he and Jenny many happy years ahead.”

That’s it, you can flesh it out a bit if you like, but that’s all you need to say.

Messages

“In addition to everyone who was able to make it today there are some that were unable to attend. Charlie’s Aunt Mary and Uncle Ted have sent a message of congratulations, which I’ll read to you now:”

Read the message and be ready for the toast.

The Best Man Toast

“I obviously have no idea how Charlie managed to get Jenny to say yes, when he asked her to marry him, but however he managed it she’s looking fantastic today. I’d like you all to raise you glass… to the Bride and Groom.”

Having got that far you now have the basic structure of your Best Man Speech in place. The next stage is to work on filling out your funny stories to complete the first draft of your speech. Don’t worry if it doesn’t feel like it belongs to you yet. That’ll come later.

How to Brainstorm Best Man Speech Ideas Fast

admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:10:36 +0000

The thought of giving the best man speech can leave even the hardiest of us suffering sleepless nights, as not only do we suffer the stress of speaking in public, we’re expected to be funny too.

Writing the best man speech can feel like an insurmountable task to begin with, especially if you aren’t used to speaking in public. The truth is that the majority of people don’t like to speak in front of a group of people, but it is something that can be overcome. One of the big keys is preparation.

However, since you don’t need to play around with the structure of the best man’s speech you can follow a step-by-step process to first brainstorm some ideas and then fill in the blanks. Remember that giving a speech is just one of the best man’s duties and if you manage to avoid losing the rings then the hard part of the day is over. That means even you can enjoy your speech!

The bulk of your speech will be devoted to mild humiliation of the groom and so it is a good idea to start to jot down some ideas. Think about your relationship with the groom:

What are his likes and dislikes?
How did you meet?
What common interests do you have?
Can you think of any funny situations he was involved in?
Is there anything you really don’t like about him?
Does he have any habits that are eccentric or just plain annoying?
What do you like about him?

Just write down everything at the moment, now isn’t the time to judge your ideas. Once you seem to have exhausted you list of ideas - and this only need take 10 minutes or so - put your pen and paper to one side and forget about it for the time being.

In a day or so, go back to the paper and read what you’ve written down. Is there anything else that comes to mind? Can you link any themes together, even by the most tenuous of links? Whatever it is get it down on paper. Once you’ve brainstormed all your ideas now is the time to start to cross off some ideas.

Anything that would be remotely offensive to the groom, the bride, their families or any of the guests should be removed now.

That includes ex-girlfriends, swearing, drunken escapades, criminal activities, drug taking, or anything at all that isn’t suitable for either children or grandparents. Obviously this may vary quite a bit, depending on the families and guests, but if in doubt remove it from your list.

That’s it, you’ve now completed the brainstorm - that’s the hard work over.

Step 5: on the wedding day

admin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:29:12 +0000

Your wedding day is going to be a day that’s full of emotion, but as I mentioned before, once the actual ceremony is over and you are actually married you’ll be able to relax. That means however much you may dislike public speaking, your groom speech will be pretty straightforward.

Many actors and performers find it useful to practice breath control before going on stage to help with nerves and you may find this useful. Simply take a minute or so where you can get some peace and quiet; close your eyes and inhale slowly and deeply; hold your breath for a couple of seconds and breathe out slowly. Pause and repeat several times and you’ll probably feel calmer and energized.

The usual order of wedding speeches is the Father of the Bride, followed by your Groom Speech and finally the Best Man, although this may not necessarily be the case. The Best Man may be acting as MC or you may have someone else taking care of this function, but you simply wait until you are introduced, stand during the applause and once it starts to quiet down start speaking.

Starting the speech “My wife and I” is a great way to get people cheering for you, which will boost your confidence if you are feeling nervous, but once you’re talking you’ll find it easy. Make sure you allow space for people to applaud or laugh and always wait until you can be heard before continuing.

Whatever happens the speech isn’t important. As long as you thank those who need to be thanked you’ve done your job. At the end when you propose your toast allow people time to top up their glasses and when the guests site down, so do you. Time to enjoy the rest of your wedding day!

Is the thought of giving your groom’s speech giving you sleepless nights?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of having to speak at your wedding, here is the information you do not want to miss. Detailed info to help you plan for all aspects of the speech to help you deliver it flawlessly. Click here to learn more

Step 4: practicing the groom’s speech for the big day

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:00:51 +0000

While you’ve run through your groom speech a few times now, you probably haven’t yet rehearsed it realistically and to do this you need to try and mentally picture yourself on the big day.

Whenever you think of the actual wedding day you’ll probably be feeling a little nervous, but one thing to remember is that once you’ve actually tied the knot you’ll be able to relax. That is, your nerves about the wedding day are almost certainly about the wedding ceremony, and not the wedding reception, although they may feel like the same thing prior to the day.

Ideally you already know the layout of the room you’ll be speaking in and how many guests there will be. Picture them in your mind’s eye and when you’re ready get up to speak. Although you’ll probably need to refer to most of your speech the first couple of times you run through it, you’ll start to remember the vast majority of it.

You should aim to speak from notes on the day, although you may also like to take your entire speech in with you too. Although you won’t need it, having it with you may give you a feeling of security, especially if you feel you’ll forget everything you want to say.

Make sure you are projecting your voice to the back of the (imaginary) room so that everyone can hear you. Also, make sure you move your gaze from place to place so that it doesn’t appear that you’re speaking to the same guests throughout your speech. If you have some public speaking training you’ll have been taught this already, but it is worth repeating. And when you’re addressing a specific person or persons you may like to look at them while speaking.

Once you’ve run through your groom speech 3 or 4 times like this you should have it down. Perhaps you’re still making changes, which is okay. The main thing is that you’re comfortable with your speech when you give it.

Step 3: fine tuning the groom’s speech

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:40:26 +0000

Now that you’ve completed the first draft of your Groom Speech you’ve done most of the hard work. The next step is to start changing what you’ve written down so that you can speak it naturally.

The written word is quite different to speaking and so while your speech may read well as it is, I can almost guarantee that when you say it aloud you won’t be happy with it.

You don’t need to make BIG changes - just to stop yourself tripping over words and making it sound natural - for example, abbreviating cannot to can’t.

The best way to do this is to have the first draft of your speech written out in full. Simple read it aloud, first making mental notes of where it needs to be worked on and afterwards making notes with a pen. You may also start to have additional ideas for your speech. It’s almost never to late to add material, as long as you will be comfortable delivering it on the day.

Once you’ve read your speech through several times and started to incorporate the changes you find, that’s it. Unless you have any more ideas about content you’d like to add you have your final groom speech.

All you need to do is practice it until you are completely happy with it and you’ll be ready to deliver the Groom’s Speech on the day!

Step 2: the first draft of your groom’s speech

admin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:27:33 +0000

Now you’ve got some ideas down on paper it’s time to expand on them and complete the first draft of your Groom Speech. To do this simply go through the list in the previous post step by step, expanding the notes you made previously.

Below is a sample speech that covers each step. Ideally you should modify these to match your own personality and really make the speech yours, but if you’re really stuck make sure you change the names! You don’t need to be humorous in your speech - you don’t want to overshadow the best man after all! - although if you feel like it then by all means add some gags.

“I’d like to thank Bill for his kind words and thank him for accepting me into his family” - nice and simple, it’s a single sentence. If you want to say more then do - it’s your speech.

“Both Jenny and I would like to thank all of you for sharing this day with us and making it so special. We’d also like to say a big thank to all of you who have been so generous and bought us presents.”

“We hadn’t realized how nerve-wracking the weeks leading up to the big day would be and with so many things to do and remember! Our parents have been fantastically supportive over this time and on behalf of both of us I’d like to say a big thank you to Jenny’s parents, Mary and Bill, as well as my own Mom and Dad.”

“Please accept our small token of thanks.” - you should prearrange for flowers or some other suitable gift to be given to the mothers by a bridesmaid or another member of the wedding party.

Now is the important bit - speak to your wife directly, telling her how much you love her and how fantastic she looked today. I’m not going to write this bit for you, you’ll have to do this bit yourself, and as only you know both yourself and your friends, you know how far you can go with being sentimental without going over the top.

“I’d like to thank John for being a great friend and the natural choice for best man today as I knew I could rely upon him not to lose the rings on the way to church.”

“Finally, Jenny and I would like to mention the bridesmaids for all their help both today and leading up to the wedding - a very big thank you to you all. Ladies and gentlemen… please raise you glasses to the bridesmaids.”

Once you’ve written each section, or modified the speech above to incorporate your own notes and personalized it to your satisfaction, congratulations: You have completed the first draft.

Step 1: planning what to say

admin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:09:37 +0000

Since the purpose of the groom’s speech is to thank everyone involved in the wedding, it is relatively straightforward and you just need to make sure to mention everyone who should be. Remember that unless your wife is speaking too, the majority of your speech should be on behalf of both of you.

The basic structure of the groom’s speech is set out below, but as long as you thank everyone who needs to be thanked you can play with the structure to suit:

Thank the bride’s father
Thank the guests for coming and for the gifts
Thank both sets of parents and present the mothers with a small gift
Compliment your wife
Thank the best man
Toast the bridesmaids

Your first step therefore is to start getting down some ideas on paper based on the themes above, and if there is anything else that comes to mind, write it down and fit it into the final structure at a later stage.

You probably don’t need to generate as many ideas as the Best Man or Father of the Bride, so just spend a few minutes making notes about each of the topics for you to flesh out later. The main things to think about are anything specific that your in-laws have done for you that you’d like to mention, and what you want to say about your wife.

Since your speech only needs to be a few minutes - and in fact can be as brief as you like - you don’t need to think up much content as most of your time will be taken up thanking people as well as waiting for applause or laughter to die down. Once you’ve got a few notes down you’ve completed the first stage.