How To Give The Best Wedding Speech
The maid of honor and best man are typically childhood friends, roommates from college or family members. Not only do they play an important role during the ceremony, these honorary individuals can expect to give one memorable and crowd-pleasing wedding toast at the reception. From organizing your thoughts to practicing delivery, the wedding planners at the Manor share simple tips and tricks, to ensure your toast goes off without a hitch.
Give A Formal Introduction
Begin your speech by formally introducing yourself; though one side of the family may know you, most people will not. Introducing yourself should be short, yet direct, so that guests know your relationship to the bride or groom. Consider including a short anecdote of how you met the bride or groom and how honored you feel to be the maid of honor or best man. By giving a short introduction, you establish credibility with the audience and start the toast on a strong note.
Share A Story
Elaborate off the introduction and add a sentimental or humorous memory you share with the bride or groom. While inside jokes may have deep meaning to you, it’s best to keep them to a minimum, as your audience will fail to understand and feel left out. Choose a positive story and do not poke too much fun. Wrap up this part of the toast by acknowledging the couple and express why you care about the couple and your friendship. By doing so, it proves sincerity while simultaneously expressing gratitude for the tight bond you share.
Highlight the New Spouse
This part of the speech positively turns the story over to highlight the spouse. Begin by describing your first impression of the spouse or express the happiness your friend shared meeting them. In addition, include why this significant other is the ideal match. You can also choose how to tie the wedding theme of romance and the undying love they have for one another together within your speech.
Use Descriptive Words and Metaphors
After talking about the bride and groom, you can expand on your thoughts and include a sentimental thought to become the key takeaway point of your speech. You can include a metaphor to describe the couple’s love and the start of their life together. The key to choosing a metaphor involves finding an ordinary point of relation for the couple to keep in their hearts. For example, relating the couple’s love to a rainbow, or comparing the amount of love they have for one another to the infinite amount of grains of sand on the beach, can be particularly powerful and memorable. If you choose not to include a metaphor in the wedding toast, the theme of endless love is perfect for a wedding toast.
Setting Up The Toast
While conclusions can sometimes be the hardest part of a speech, you can simply conclude your wedding toast by joyfully wishing the couple every happiness in the world, wish the couple the best or that you, hope that this is the beginning of many happy celebrations for them. Be sure to always address the couple to make the toast personal. Afterwards, politely instruct all guests to raise their glasses and wish the couple well as they embark on their new life together. Finally, be sure to shout out “cheers!” For an outdoor wedding, celebrate the toast with sparklers or lanterns to add a special touch to the wedding.
Celebrate
Being a maid of honor or best man requires both responsibility and honor, during the wedding toast. You must present yourself in front of the wedding guests, but more importantly prove your love for the couple. When delivering your speech, calm any nerves by focusing all of your energy on delivering the best wedding speech and live in the moment. Doing so will allow the toast to be short and sweet, so guests can enjoy the moment with you. Overall, a toast should be from the heart, so the maid of honor or best man can mold the toast however she or he sees fit. Contact the wedding planners at The Manor for superb advice on how to give the best wedding toast. Cheers!
