When your best friend honors you by asking you to serve as his best man in his wedding it is a great complement, but now that you have been asked, what do you do?
As a retired clergyman I have officiated at more weddings than I can remember and attended many of the receptions that follow. I have seen some great events when the best man took command of the situation and delivered many of the finest 'toasts' and 'speeches' that I have ever heard.
It's not hard really! You just get up in front of a few hundred people and deliver a nice speech about your friend and his new bride, right?
Well not exactly! Along with the great speeches I have heard some very dismal, long winded and self serving speeches by the well meaning best man.
I have advised many a best man that were a little nervous about what to do and I would like to share some of that advise. There are no hard and fast rules here, just using good judgement and clear and concise words will make for a very successful toast.
Here are 5 useful tips for preparing and delivering a very good toast to the Bride and Groom:
1. Don't 'wing it'
The material that you use should be well prepared, write it out in advance and practice.
2. Keep your remarks positive.
Don't talk about embarressing situations or stories, they may be funny to a few that 'were there' but you can bet they will not go over well with most of the guests, or more importantly, the bride and groom.
3. Keep it short
People will be impressed by the clarity and brevity of your speech if you keep it to the point.
4. Be sincere
The groom is your best friend, speak from the heart and mean the things you say.
5. Don't drink too much
Even one glass of beer or wine can loosen the tongue more that you think. Try not to have too many drinks, at least until after the toast.
When I started this post I also did some research on the subject and found several online resources that are available today that were not available even a few years ago, that may be useful in preparing your toast, helping with the writing of vows and even putting together the wedding on a budget.
Let me know if you found this post to be helpful. Good luck with the Wedding!
