Hey folks, have you got any wedding day speaches you can recommend. I need if for my cousin’s wedding. I’m not best man or anything but I am in the wedding party so I’ll be expected to say something.
Any good suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks much.
This sonnet by Shakespeare always makes me cry:
116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments, love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Why not just tell a funny story about your cousin, maybe a time when the two of you got in trouble as kids or something. Preferably something that nobody else knows about until now.
At MY cousin’s wedding, I congratulated him and his bride, and told his bride that I taught him to pick his nose when we were kids, and offered to do the same for their kids when they started having 'em. He turned 4 shades of red.
QuickSilver:
I was recently best man and MC at my best friends wedding (no, Julia Roberts wasn’t there). One of the groomsmen who had agreed to make a small speach had everybody laughing with this: He got up to the microphone and explained that when he had been asked to speak at the wedding, he decided to get his “people” on it. His “people” had worked long and hard, and here’s what they came up with. He then pulls an envelope out of his pocket, takes out a birthday card (which is for a 5 year old), and starts to read the front of the card. He then apologizes for reading the wrong speach, takes a wedding card out of the envelope, and reads the cover and inside of that. In conclusion, he thanks his “people” at Hallmark, congratulates the Bride and Groom, puts the card on the head table in front of them, and sits down. It was short, sweet, and everyone had a good chuckle. I’m sure you can get varying reactions depending on the card you choose.
When I was called upon to do this I went to the largest local library. There I found a book of wedding speeches and toasts. I was able to adapt from what was there.
There is no single solution to this problem – you really do have to gauge your audience and choose the best speech for the occasion. Some people will go for a somewhat racy, easy-going speech, but other demand a more formal oration.
QuickSilver,
The Best Man should really sweat it out, and have to make the big speech. If you have to do one, you should not have any real pressure as a groomsman. But definately complement the Bride! This is compulsory! And a nice joke about your cousin is good. Keep it short, and sweet.
Enjoy.
To marrage, the only hunt where the prey has to take out the license.
Talk about how there’s no way they’re just getting married for the sex because you slept with the bride before and she wasn’t that good.
This is especially entertaining in a speech if you are a woman!
Yer pal,
Satan
I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Three months, two days, 22 hours, 7 minutes and 16 seconds.
3756 cigarettes not smoked, saving $469.61.
Life saved: 1 week, 6 days, 1 hour, 0 minutes.
Be careful with the jokes!
I was asked to make a speech at the wedding of a friend of mine. He was a university teacher and his wife-to-be had taken one of his classes (before they started dating) and received a B. Another friend suggested to me to say “The bride got a B in the class, but I’m happy to see she came back to get the A!” I thought that was funny and included it in the speech. Little did I know that this B grade was still a sore point and the bride didn’t think my comment was at all funny.
The weeding speech could be the most dangerous thing you ever attempt.
Some people get very sentimental & sloppy, while others are downright crass. If you’re brave, why not a variation on Hugh Grant’s speech in “Four Weddings & a Funeral” (now, back to Angus and that sheep…).
Seriously, if you’re not a funny guy (and you do know, in your heart- if not, ask someone), don’t try it. Be sincere and CONCISE! Everyone wil appreciate it, as this is one of those painful moments in an otherwise lovely reception.