best man speech help
Discussion
ascayman said:
i hope you dont mind but i was a bit nervous about doing this speech, so i prepared a few lines...........i've just done those in the toilet and am feeling a lot more confident now.
No. Don't.You'll be faced with a room full of stoney faced people thinking you are some sort of drug dependant half wit.
Here's a tip, try and come up with your jokes!
Seriously, it's so dull hearing people trot out the same 'jokes' at every wedding you go to.
However, if you need some help getting started, here is one of the funniest jokes I heard in a best man's speech. Only really works if the groom has a bit of a chequered past.
"Of course xxx (the groom) used to be a bit of a wild child. I'll never forget the day I went around his house and he had 6 E's"
long pause while everyone gasps....
"What a game of scrabble that was."
Seriously, it's so dull hearing people trot out the same 'jokes' at every wedding you go to.
However, if you need some help getting started, here is one of the funniest jokes I heard in a best man's speech. Only really works if the groom has a bit of a chequered past.
"Of course xxx (the groom) used to be a bit of a wild child. I'll never forget the day I went around his house and he had 6 E's"
long pause while everyone gasps....
"What a game of scrabble that was."
k" into his speech. The oldies were asking us all night what it meant though...Bullett said:
My best man actually did a powerpoint.
Pictures of me through the years, gathered from my mother, his own and various (so called)friends.
Got a lots of laughs, several awww-cutes and was really good.
Two weeks? leaving it a bit late.
i always find the ones wheres theres props etc dont work as well + its not a traditional wedding. 2 weeks is plenty of time i can only come up with something when i leave it till the last minute! i do have a rough speech just wondered if anyone had any good jokes / experiences etc.Pictures of me through the years, gathered from my mother, his own and various (so called)friends.
Got a lots of laughs, several awww-cutes and was really good.
Two weeks? leaving it a bit late.
loltolhurst said:
Bullett said:
My best man actually did a powerpoint.
Pictures of me through the years, gathered from my mother, his own and various (so called)friends.
Got a lots of laughs, several awww-cutes and was really good.
Two weeks? leaving it a bit late.
i always find the ones wheres theres props etc dont work as well + its not a traditional wedding. 2 weeks is plenty of time i can only come up with something when i leave it till the last minute! i do have a rough speech just wondered if anyone had any good jokes / experiences etc.Pictures of me through the years, gathered from my mother, his own and various (so called)friends.
Got a lots of laughs, several awww-cutes and was really good.
Two weeks? leaving it a bit late.
Im so glad my best man didnt come out with any of the cliche jokes, he re-counted a few funny tales from our youth, said a few nice things and as a result it was great.
You are to embarass ONLY the following persons:
The Groom
Yourself
You are not to embarass the following persons:
Everyone else
The new mrs won't appreciate the best man telling everyone about that time she was sick in her shoes.
I'm thinking about starting mine like this (maybe it's crap)
Very obviously reading from sheet of paper, muttering a little too loud: "Greet everyone"
Look up, addressing the room: "Hello"
"Thank them for coming to the wedding"
"Thanks for coming"
"Tell story about [groom] and that Italian dancer -oh wait, I've crossed that bit out"
Then get on with the proper speech.
The Groom
Yourself
You are not to embarass the following persons:
Everyone else
The new mrs won't appreciate the best man telling everyone about that time she was sick in her shoes.
I'm thinking about starting mine like this (maybe it's crap)
Very obviously reading from sheet of paper, muttering a little too loud: "Greet everyone"
Look up, addressing the room: "Hello"
"Thank them for coming to the wedding"
"Thanks for coming"
"Tell story about [groom] and that Italian dancer -oh wait, I've crossed that bit out"
Then get on with the proper speech.
.....and round it off with the old classic
"And finally I'd just like to congratulate the lovely couple on their most excellent choice for a romantic honeymoon in North Wales"
"And finally I'd just like to congratulate the lovely couple on their most excellent choice for a romantic honeymoon in North Wales"
- pause*
- confused looks*
hornetrider said:
.....and round it off with the old classic
"And finally I'd just like to congratulate the lovely couple on their most excellent choice for a romantic honeymoon in North Wales"
That is a classic!"And finally I'd just like to congratulate the lovely couple on their most excellent choice for a romantic honeymoon in North Wales"
- pause*
- confused looks*
Any jokes that don't work - claim you got them from www.bestmanspeeches.com
Keep it simple and not too long.
Do rehearse/learn it so you only need a brief prompt card.
Don't say anything bad about the bride or her family.
Do make sure that you're overtly complimentary to the bridesmaids etc
Work out your own humour - if you are a naturally garrulous raconteur go for punchlines and involved stories. If you're not, don't go anywhere near contrived punchlines and jokes because you won't pull it off.
Dry humour works very well in this environment - deadpan delivery is easy to pull off and works with most people. Even if you're a sweating, gibbering lump of nerves you should be able to perform.
Have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Don't waffle.
Speak to his parents, the bride, the brides parents and his other chums to come up with a list of unfortunate (but clean) incidents. Pick a short, balanced selection and edit the tale to the bare minimum.
A bit of dutch courage is often helpful but don't drink too much because you'll feck it up.
Practice again - some can wing it but 99% can't (no matter what they think)
Enjoy it - it's a great honour from a chum and you can get legitimately trolleyed afterwards.
Do rehearse/learn it so you only need a brief prompt card.
Don't say anything bad about the bride or her family.
Do make sure that you're overtly complimentary to the bridesmaids etc
Work out your own humour - if you are a naturally garrulous raconteur go for punchlines and involved stories. If you're not, don't go anywhere near contrived punchlines and jokes because you won't pull it off.
Dry humour works very well in this environment - deadpan delivery is easy to pull off and works with most people. Even if you're a sweating, gibbering lump of nerves you should be able to perform.
Have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Don't waffle.
Speak to his parents, the bride, the brides parents and his other chums to come up with a list of unfortunate (but clean) incidents. Pick a short, balanced selection and edit the tale to the bare minimum.
A bit of dutch courage is often helpful but don't drink too much because you'll feck it up.
Practice again - some can wing it but 99% can't (no matter what they think)
Enjoy it - it's a great honour from a chum and you can get legitimately trolleyed afterwards.
The best man's speech is the most pressured at a wedding because the major expectation of you is to be funny. If people don't get a couple of laughs out of the best man's speech, they generally don't think it's very good.
That said, people do expect a few cheesy one-liners which should get you through, if be a little unmemorable.
To be truly memorable, you need to do something really different, which runs a strong risk of being unfunny.
Stick to your personality. If you're a generally witty, good humoured person you wouldn't be asking on here for ideas so I'd generally do the usual thanks to everyone and slip in some stories about the groom (clean-ish ones)
Feel free to rip gags off the internet - a lot of people won't have heard some of the stuff unless they're serial wedding go-ers or have done the same thing themselves.
My cousin got married and the best man ripped virtually the whole thing off the internet because he was so nervous and didn't know what to say. No-one knew and it actually wasn't so bad.
Finally, speak from the heart. Too many best men concentrate solely on ripping it out of the groom and making half-arsed jokes. Try also saying what a nice chap he is, how happy you hope they are, etc. Be sincere and you'll get some respect from all IMO.
That said, people do expect a few cheesy one-liners which should get you through, if be a little unmemorable.
To be truly memorable, you need to do something really different, which runs a strong risk of being unfunny.
Stick to your personality. If you're a generally witty, good humoured person you wouldn't be asking on here for ideas so I'd generally do the usual thanks to everyone and slip in some stories about the groom (clean-ish ones)
Feel free to rip gags off the internet - a lot of people won't have heard some of the stuff unless they're serial wedding go-ers or have done the same thing themselves.
My cousin got married and the best man ripped virtually the whole thing off the internet because he was so nervous and didn't know what to say. No-one knew and it actually wasn't so bad.
Finally, speak from the heart. Too many best men concentrate solely on ripping it out of the groom and making half-arsed jokes. Try also saying what a nice chap he is, how happy you hope they are, etc. Be sincere and you'll get some respect from all IMO.
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