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66 Creative Toasts to End Your Best Man Speech

• Posted by by Lisa Plaitt

As the best man, you will have the duty of writing a speech for the newlyweds. During this time, you can keep it lighthearted and playful, or opt for something straightforward and simple.

No matter what, you will have to make sure that you honor the bride and groom, and wish them a happy future together. 

While you might have the best man’s speech down to a T , how do you end it with a toast? In this article we have put together 66 different ways to give your best man toast that you can adapt and change.

So, whether you are looking to make fun of the newlyweds, or want to keep it serious, here are 66 ways to raise a glass to the lucky couple. 

Toasts to the Happy Couple

• “To my best friend [NAME] and his beautiful wife/groom [NAME] – here is to a wonderful future filled with lots of love and true happiness.”
• “It has been a huge honor to be your best man. However, it has become an even bigger honor to ask everyone in this room to toast the newly married couple. To the bride and groom!”
• “Let us all wish the bride and groom many years of love and happiness. May you be the kind of friends that only lovers can be. May you love each other in the way only best friends are able to.”
• “To the happy couple, may their love story unfold like a fairytale, with many a happy ending, and not a single wicked stepmother in sight.”
• “Here’s to the couple, may their love be like a cozy fire in the winter – warm, comforting, and always there to chase away the chill.”
• “To the newlyweds – may you always look at each other with the same sparkle in your eyes as when you first met!”
• “May their marriage be filled with love, laughter, and a mutual understanding that no matter what, they will always be each other’s wingman.”
• “Let us lift our glasses in celebration of the union of two remarkable individuals. May your marriage be a testament to how you both make each other stronger, more self-assured and madly in love with one another through the years.”
• “May your marriage never feel like hard work, but instead be full of moments that are as easy as breathing. May it bring out the best in you and give you even more reason to be thankful every day.”
• “Let’s raise a glass to a love that will make even Cupid jealous, and may their marriage be filled with laughter, adventure, and all the good things in life.”

Toasts to the Groom

• “Cheers to the groom, who has found a partner in life who can tolerate his witty humor and two left feet on the dance floor.”
• “A heartfelt congrats to the groom who finally found the missing piece to his puzzle, and I have to say, she fits him like a glove – a really pretty, elegant glove.”
• “To the handsome groom, may your love for your bride continue to be the anchor that steadies you both through life’s storms.”
• “May you, dear groom, be imbued with courage, wisdom, and love to be the best husband and partner you can be.”
• “Here’s to the groom, for having great taste in women! He found his queen among a sea of frogs and convinced her that she’s a real princess. May your love story last forever, and may you live happily ever after! Now, let’s raise our glasses and drink before she run away at midnight! Cheers!”
• “Here’s to the groom: he may have once been a single man, but now he’s got two bosses!”
• “Cheers to the groom, who is finally taking the plunge after years of dating! Now that you have found your perfect match, I just hope she doesn’t change her mind and leave you heartbroken. So make sure to stay on your best behavior – no more late nights out with the boys!”
• “In honor of this special day, I’d like to offer the groom some advice: As long as you two are willing to split the remote control and always make sure there’s enough toilet paper in the house, I’m confident your marriage will last forever.”

Toasts to the Bride

• To the beautiful bride, may your happiness be as radiant and timeless as the dress you wear today.
• Here’s to the woman who stole the groom’s heart and forever captured his love.
• Let’s raise a glass to the bride, whose smile brightens up even the dreariest of days, and who, today, takes her vows with the one she loves most.
• You have brought so much light and beauty into the world and today, as you marry your soulmate, you shine brighter than ever.
• To the stunning bride, here’s to a lifetime of love and adventure, of sharing everything, and always standing by each other’s side.
• “Here’s to the bride! A woman with an eye for detail and a heart of gold. She never fails to surprise us all with her words and actions, but most especially with the way she loves our groom.”

Toasts to the Future

• “Let us toast to the remarkable bond my buddy and his partner possess. Even though it wasn’t easy, they made it through and taught us that no matter what challenges stand in the way, true love will always find a way. Cheers!”
• “Let nothing stand between the two of you—not even time or distance—and may every day bring more love than the last. Congratulations to the bride and groom! May your future be bright, beautiful, and full of blessings. Cheers!”
• “Wishing you both a lifetime of health and happiness, where you can continue to explore all that life has to offer together as one. May you keep smiling with every struggle and crying with every joy – knowing that whatever comes your way will bring even more strength to your relationship.”
• “Here’s to the beautiful journey ahead – may it always be filled with genuine happiness in each other’s arms! Congratulations!”
• “Here’s to the couple as they begin this next chapter in their lives together. May they have strength to overcome any obstacles that come their way, courage to take risks when necessary, and compassion to understand one another despite life’s differences.”
• “Let’s toast to the special bond shared between this loving couple – one filled with trust, respect and admiration. Here’s wishing them a long and happy life together as husband and wife, surrounded by family and friends who can’t help but smile when thinking about them!”

Funny Best Man Toasts

If you have created a best man speech that has plenty of funny lines that will capture the room and cause lots of laughter, then you will want to end it that way too.

Here you will find a few examples to get your inspiration flowing.

Related read: 60 Funny Wedding Wishes for Newlyweds

• “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of my best friend and his better half. I’d like to take this opportunity to raise a toast to them on such an auspicious occasion.”
• “To my best friend, I’m so happy he has found someone who loves him just as much as I do!”
• “To my dear friend [Groom’s name], who I’ve known since we were kids, I must say, it’s about time you grew up and got married. I mean, seriously, what took you so long? But, in all honesty, I couldn’t be happier for you, my friend.”
• “May their marriage be like coffee: strong, hot and never bitter!”
• “To the bride and groom, may their love be like a game of chess – always evolving, never boring, and always ending with a mate.”
• “It comes as no surprise that we were not shocked when [NAME] asked [NAME] to marry them. We knew [NAME] had found the one when he stopped playing his Playstation. To the happy couple!”
• “To the bride and groom, may they never argue over who is the real boss in their relationship, but instead always play rock, paper, scissors to settle it.”
• “For the last time, I am going to ask everyone in the room to raise their glass and – if you are still able to – stand and wish the newlyweds a happy and bright future!”
• “If you had trouble hearing me at the back – I did ask to use a microphone, but the silence at the front of the room should help to reassure you that you are not missing a thing. Here’s to the bride and groom!”

• “Before I end this speech, I want to give some advice to the best man. Always remember to say the three magical words: ‘You’re right dear’. To the bride and groom!”
• “Let’s make sure this day is just as special as possible; after all, you only get married once – or at least we hope you do.”
• “May the newlyweds find prosperity in all aspects of life, excluding a receding hairline, which seems to be an unavoidable reality.”
• “I once read that the best man’s speech should always take as long as the amount of time it takes the groom to make love. So, here is to the happy couple!”
• “Thank you everyone for keeping the clapping to a minimum today. I have a terrible hangover. I couldn’t let the groom drink alone last night, could I? Let’s raise a final glass to the new Mr and Mrs [NAME].”
• “And now that I have come to the end of my speech, it has been great to have been a part of the only few minutes the bride wasn’t able to plan. Here’s to the happy couple!”

Best Man Toasts for Brother

Sometimes your best man is your brother. Here are a few ideas to end that toast.

• “It is with great honor that I stand here today and raise a toast to my wonderful brother – may the next chapter of his life be just as amazing as the last! Cheers!”
• “To my best friend, who also happens to be my brother, and his new wife. Let’s raise a glass to the many wonderful years that are ahead. Now, let’s dance, be merry, and eat cake!”
• “It is said that as my brother’s best man I am supposed to talk about what good qualities he has, and to sing his praises. However, I won’t lie and I cannot sing. To the happy couple!”
• “So raise a glass to my bro, who has more friends than Instagram followers – but just as many likes!”
• “It became obvious that my brother had fallen in love and found the one when he spent a lot more time with [BRIDE] instead of his Xbox.”
• “Here’s to my bro! A man who knows what he wants in life, except for a wife. He was so sure of himself until that fateful day when she said yes and turned his world upside down.”
• “This day has been a long time coming. My brother has finally admitted that I am the best man.”
• “May this marriage be the beginning of a brand new chapter in your lives, and may it bring lots of love and wonderful moments that you can share together.

Toasts That Include a Quote 

If you like a good quote, then find one that suits the occasion. Here are a few to think about: 

• “To end this speech, I would like to tell you some wise words that Socrates once said: ‘My advice to you is to get married. If you find a good wife, you will be happy. If not, you will become a philosopher.’ To the newlyweds!”
• “Oscar Wilde once said: ‘The man who says his wife cannot take a joke forgets that she took him’. To the bride and groom!”
• “Just before we raise a glass to [NAME] and [NAME], here is something Pauline Thomason once said: ‘Love is blind. Marriage is an eye-opener.’ To the newlyweds!” 
• “Just like Dr. Seuss once said: ‘You know when you are in love when you cannot fall asleep because your reality is finally better than your dreams’.
• “Emily Bronte once said: ‘Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same’. To Mr and Mrs [NAME].”

Toasts to the Bridal Party

While not traditional (the groom is the one who often toasts the bridesmaids), you can also compliment them too. Here are some examples:

• “I want to say a special thank you to all the bridesmaids. They have been wonderful and helpful throughout the process and today.
• “To the bridesmaids: Here’s to you all for being there with my sister during this exciting time. May your friendship remain strong as she embarks on this wonderful journey of marriage and new beginnings.”
• “Please raise your glasses to… The bridesmaids!”
• “Here’s to two of the best bridesmaids anyone could ask for! Without you, the wedding day would not have come together as perfectly and joyfully as it did. From helping with the dress fittings to doting on the bride during her special day, I want to thank both of you for your unwavering support and friendship.”
• “To the bridesmaids – may they always stay as beautiful and graceful as they are today!”
• “To a long-lasting friendship between these beautiful ladies, who have been by each other’s side through thick and thin. May your bond be strong for many years to come.”

Final Thoughts

Whether you choose a heartfelt, humorous, or nostalgic toast, the most important thing is that your words come from the heart and reflect the love and joy of the newlyweds’ union.

With these 66 creative and meaningful toasts, you’ll have the confidence and inspiration you need to deliver a memorable and unforgettable best man speech.

So, raise your glass and make a toast to the happy couple and their beautiful future together.

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Lisa Plaitt

Hello, I’m Lisa Plaitt and I have been married to my wonderful husband for almost five years. We met almost a decade ago now and I love him more everyday. But on my wedding day - the day that was supposed to be about celebrating us - I was far too stressed to enjoy it. My husband proposed to me in spring and it was a very lowkey setting, in our backyard without anyone else around to see it. It was a perfect proposal. But then everything got real, and I was suddenly thrust into planning mode.

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How to End a Best Man's Speech

Last Updated: December 23, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Rachel Weinshanker . Rachel Weinshanker is a Certified Event and Wedding Planner and the Owner of San Diego Life Events, an award-winning wedding and event planning business based in San Diego, California. Rachel has over eight years of event planning experience, and her work has been featured in many notable publications. San Diego Life Events has been awarded the Wedding Wire Couple's Choice Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Rachel is a graduate from San Diego State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 77,608 times.

So, you’ve written an awesome best man’s speech but you just can’t find the right words to close it out. Whether you’re looking for the perfect punchline or a beautiful toast, we’ve got your back! There are a ton of options here so rest assured that you’ll find the right solution based on what you’ve already written. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to craft a positive note, a toast, a quick joke, or some lovely well-wishes for the couple. Read on to learn everything you need to know about mastering the end of your speech.

Ending a Funny Speech

• For example, the person’s boss may be present, so you don’t want to say, “I wish you well, and hopefully Greg works harder for his bride than he does for his boss.”

• For example, say, “Here’s to you, Harry and Ginny, and Ginny, don’t try his ketchup spaghetti.”

• For example, you can say, “Emily deserves a great husband. Thankfully, you snapped her up before she found one.”
• For a funny ending, you might say something like, “To the two things that make a great marriage, a good sense of humor and selective hearing. To Peter and Paul.”
• If you aren’t comfortable making a joke, leave the humor out. A sincere, upbeat ending sounds better than a forced joke.

Finding with a Heartfelt Sendoff

• For instance, say something like, “Please join me in raising a glass to the happy couple.”
• If you don’t dedicate a separate line to the toast, clearly indicate that the end of your speech is coming. For instance, you might say the couple’s names, then stop and pick up your glass.

• For a serious ending, say something like, “Here’s to a lifetime of love and fulfillment.”

Rachel Weinshanker

Our Expert Agrees: When you're writing a best man's speech, keep it short and sweet, and even if your speech includes lighthearted jokes at the couple, end it on a positive note. That will leave the crowd feeling inspired and happy to be a part of the occasion.

• For example, you may think of saying, “Dante once said, ‘A great flame follows a little spark.’” If you have to have the quote, use it in the beginning of your speech.

• For example, avoid saying, “Take some time to listen and communicate, and I know we’ll be here someday to celebrate your 50th anniversary.”

Wrapping up with an Anecdote

• For example, say, “I wish my best friend and his bride a life filled with happiness, adventure, and great memories.”

• Good subject matter involves things like your friend’s hobbies, dancing, cooking, or experiences.

• For instance, say, “When Greg turned off Sunday football to meet up with Jane, I knew they really were in love.”

Delivering the Speech

• Also note any times you have trouble speaking the lines. As the best man, you have to sound enthusiastic. Adjust your speaking style as well as your speech.

• Many best man speeches run into trouble by rambling. Keep your ending short and to the point.

• For a great ending, the entire speech has to move quickly and lead into the final line. That’s why it’s important to rehearse your speech as a whole.

• You can always print or write out speech notes on notecards. Keep these with you in case you get stuck during the speech.
• Avoid reading from a script. The best speeches look and sounds natural.

• Be confident in the fact that you learned and practiced the ending. As long as you aren’t offensive, you will usually get a positive reaction.
• You don’t have to look directly at your audience. Glance around the room, focusing on different foreheads. No one will know the difference.

Sample Speeches

• ↑ https://www.primermagazine.com/2010/learn/best-man-speech
• ↑ https://www.moss.co.uk/inside-pocket/post/how-to-write-a-funny-best-man-speech
• ↑ https://www.thebestmanspeech.com/Advice13.cfm
• ↑ https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/fun/18-tried-and-tested-jokes-for-the-best-mans-speech/

Expert Q&A

• When in doubt, remove a story or joke. You are better off having a totally serious ending rather than saying something inappropriate. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Be respectful of everyone around you. As long as you stay positive, your speech will be fine. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Practice your ending to refine it and make it a part of your whole speech. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Sometimes the crowd won’t follow along with your speech. If they look unhappy, change to a different tactic. Being positive and upbeat can help you recover. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If your jokes or stories aren’t well-received, cut them out. Inappropriate jokes spoil the mood most of the time. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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About This Article

If you’re unsure how to end your best man’s speech, there are a few options you can choose from. Consider closing your speech with a heartfelt comment on their marriage. For example, say something like, "I wish my best friend and his bride a life filled with happiness, adventure, and great memories," or "Here's to a lifetime of love and fulfillment." You can also wrap up your speech with a short joke, such as, “Emily deserves a great husband. Thankfully, Paul snapped her up before she found one.” This will work well if your speech is a comedic one. After your closing line, raise your glass and toast to the bride and groom. For more tips, including how to prepare for your speech, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Best Man Toasts, Wedding Speech Closing Lines

End your wedding speech with a bang.

Use these best man toasts to wrap up your wedding speech and deliver a mic-drop moment. Or take a sincere approach to your closing remarks and leave the wedding party touched by your thoughtfulness.

Any way you choose to approach your best man speech, we’ve got you covered!

Simple best man toasts and groomsmen’s toasts

1.) To the happy couple, Mr and Mrs [name]!

2.) Ladies and gentlemen, to the bride and groom!

3.) Now please join me in raising your glasses as we toast to the Bride and the Groom. I give you Mr. and Mrs. [name]!

4.) May you share all your dreams on the same pillow.

5.) May the rest of your lives be filled with magical moments.

6.) To my best friend and his beautiful bride: the new Mr and Mrs [name].

7.) May you both live as long as you want, And never want as long as you live.

8.) Please join me in raising a glass to the happy couple — to [bride] and [groom].

9.) I would like to wish you a lifetime of health, wealth, happiness and love. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s toast to the bride and groom.

10.) May you always be friends as well as lovers.

11.) Here’s is to a lifetime of love and happiness!

12.) When the husband drinks to the wife, all would be well; when the wife drinks to the husband, all is. – English proverb

Even more short wedding toasts.

Tactful best man toasts

13.) May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

14.) I’d like you all to join me in wishing the happy couple all the wealth, health and happiness in the world. To the bride and groom!

15.) Let us all wish [bride] and [groom] years and years of happiness. May you be friends to each other only as lovers can, and may you love each other only as best friends can.

16.) May neighbors respect you, Trouble neglect you, The angels protect you, And heaven accept you.

17.) I’d like you all to join me in wishing the new Mr and Mrs [name] all the wealth, health and happiness in the world. To the bride and groom.

18.) What an honor it has been to serve as [groom’s] best man. And it’s even more of an honor to ask you all to join me in toasting the newlyweds. Cheers!

Get inspiration from these movie quotes for your wedding speech.

VIDEO: How to give a wedding toast in 6 easy steps

Sincere best man toasts.

19.) Here is a toast to a perfect couple — to a long life together filled with happiness, adventure and lots of wonderful memories.

20.) Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife. – Franz Schubert

21.) For this is [bride] and [groom]’s time. And it’s time to raise your glass high in the air. To the bride and groom! We wish you a long and happy marriage.

22.) May you live as long as you like, And have all you like as long as you live.

23.) Congratulations on this big step in your lives. Let’s all raise our glasses and toast to the happy couple. May years of happiness and amazing memories await you!

Check out these Marriage Quotes and Sayings.

Useful best man toasts

24.) May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, The foresight to know where you are going, And the insight to know when you have gone too far.

25.) To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with. – Mark Twain

26.) To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up. – Ogden Nash

27.) A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. – Mignon McLaughlin

28.) Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. – Barnett R. Brickner

29.) Always keep the lid down.

30.) A good marriage is at least 80 percent good luck in finding the right person at the right time. The rest is trust. – Nanette Newman

31.) Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. – Michael Leunig

32.) Never go to bed angry… always stay up and argue.

33.) Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without. – James C. Dobson

More popular toasts for any occasion.

Marriage advice toasts

34.) Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threaded, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. That is what makes a marriage last. – Simone Signoret

35.) Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly. – Rose Franken

36.) The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. – Audrey Hepburn

37.) The grand essentials of happiness are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. – Allan K. Chalmers

38.) The best way to remember your anniversary is to forget it once.

39.) Always remember the three little words…”You’re right dear.”

40.) The capacity to love is tied to being able to be awake, to being able to move out of yourself and be with someone else in a manner that is not about your desire to possess them, but to be with them, to be in union and communion. – Bell Hooks

41.) Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. – Erica Jong

42.) Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. – Victor Borge

43.) In a great romance, each person plays a part the other really likes. – Elizabeth Ashley

115 Bridesmaid Toasts for Weddings

VIDEO: 7 Easy Wedding Toasts

Funny best man toasts.

For a best man speech ending in a joke, try these on for size:

44.) To the two things that make a great marriage — having a good sense of humor and selective hearing.

45.) Love is blind, marriage is the eye-opener. – Pauline Thomason

46.) Today has been a very emotional day — even the cake is in tiers.

47.) This toast will be like a mini skirt: long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to hold your attention.

48.) It’s not as great a day for the bride as she thinks. She’s not marrying the best man.

49.) Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out. – Michel de Montaigne

50.) [Bride] and [groom], before I finish, I’d like you to turn to face each other. You’re now looking into the eyes of the person who is statistically most likely to murder you. To the bride and groom!

51.) It’s a funny thing that when a man hasn’t anything on earth to worry about, he goes off and gets married. – Robert Frost

52.) By all means, marry if you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. – Socrates

53.) A man is already halfway in love with any woman who listens to him. – Brendan Francis

54.) Before we raise our glasses to the happy couple, I’d like to make a toast to wives and lovers everywhere — may they never, ever cross paths!

55.) The man who says his wife can’t take a joke, forgets she took him. – Oscar Wilde

More funny wedding toasts and cheers.

Best man toasts for a brother

56.) To my very best friend and brother, and to his beautiful new wife, we salute you! Now let’s dance, drink and have a slice of cake!

57.) [Bride], I’ve never seen my brother happier and I know that’s because of you. May the Lord bless you with many, many happy years. Welcome to the family!

58.) To my brother and his new wife, may today be the beginning of a wonderful new and long-lasting chapter in your lives, and may you always love, honor and cherish each other, just as you do today.

59.) Apparently, as best man, I’m supposed to sing my brother’s praises and talk about his good qualities. Unfortunately, I can’t sing and I won’t lie.

60.) You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day. My brother has finally admitted that I am in fact the best man.

61.) We all knew my brother had found the one when he started spending more time with [bride] than he did playing on his Xbox!

The best wedding toasts for raising a glass to the new couple.

Quotes to use for best man toasts

62.) There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage. – Martin Luther

63.) We love because it’s the only true adventure. – Nikki Giovanni

64.) Love, be true to her; Life, be dear to her; Health, stay close to her; Joy, draw near to her; Fortune, find what you can do for her, Search your treasure-house through and through for her, Follow her footsteps the wide world over, And keep her husband always her lover. – Anna Lewis

65.) Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner. – Amy Bloom

66.) There’s nothing more admirable than two people who see eye to eye keeping house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends. – Homer

67.) My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each other will so deepen and grow, that years from now you will look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least. – Anonymous

68.) The best marriages, like the best lives, were both happy and unhappy. There was even a kind of necessary tension, a certain tautness between the partners that gave the marriage strength, like the tautness of a full sail. – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Check out the top ten best wedding songs.

Love quotes

69.) Love is a fire that feeds our life. – Pablo Neruda

70.) It is written, when children find true love, parents find true joy. Here’s to your joy and ours from this day forward. – Unknown

71.) Where there is great love, there are always miracles. – Willa Cather

72.) Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

73.) To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. – Lao Tzu

74.) The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. – John Green

75.) Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope. – Maya Angelou

76.) But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. – Kahlil Gibran

77.) Insomuch as love grows in you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul. – Saint Augustine

78.) Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible — it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could. – Barbara De Angelis

Wedding blessings and wishes.

Love sayings

79.) There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. – George Sand

80.) Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love, and the blossom when we love the one we married. – Sam Levenson

81.) When love reigns, the impossible may be attained. – Indian proverb

82.) You know you are in love when you see the world in her eyes, and her eyes are everywhere in the world. – David Levesque

83.) There is no remedy for love but to love more. – Henry David Thoreau

84.) True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. – Anonymous

85.) We never live so intensely as when we love strongly. We never realize ourselves so vividly as when we are in full glow of love for others. – Walter Rauschenbusch

86.) Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination. – Voltaire

87.) Love is the sum of our choices, the strength of our commitments, the ties that bind us together. – Emily Giffin

88.) He who wants to do good, knocks at the gate: he who loves finds the door open. – Rabindranath Tagore

89.) One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love. – Sophocles

90.) Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

91.) Where there is love there is life. – Mahatma Gandhi

Check out the best disco songs for weddings.

Romantic quotes

92.) Grow old with me. The best is yet to be — the last of life for which the first was made. – Robert Browning

93.) My heart is ever at your service. – William Shakespeare

94.) Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. – Emily Bronte

95.) You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because your reality is finally better than your dreams. – Dr. Seuss

96.) What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined…to strengthen each other…to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories. – George Eliot

97.) The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman’s heart. – Josiah G. Holland

98.) To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow—this is a human offering that can border on miraculous. – Elizabeth Gilbert

99.) We are each other’s harvest, we are each other’s business, we are each other’s magnitude and bond. – Gwendolyn Brooks

100.) After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her. – Mark Twain

101.) There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day, knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps. – Ronald Reagan

Wrapping it all up

We hope this list has been useful in finding the right best man toasts for you to use at a wedding. Whether you choose a long or short speech, these lines will have you closing on a high note!

By Greg Johnson | Published 3/4/2020

You’re on the Best Man Toasts, Wedding Speech Closing Lines page.

You may also like:

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Greg Johnson is a website editor, writer, and content designer. For over 10 years, he has covered subjects like pop culture, music, sports, history, famous quotes, and kids jokes. He is co-founder and editor of ListCaboodle.

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Bridesmaid Toasts, Wedding, Maid of Honor Speech

25 Best Man Toast Ideas to End Your Speech

This best man toast guide includes 25 excellent toast ideas, as well as advice on who the best man toasts in his speech

Getty Images / Anchiy

One of the duties involved in giving the perfect best man speech is to give a best man toast  to the newlyweds – you’ll have to ask everyone to raise their glasses and drink to the happy couple and their future together.

A best man toast is the ideal way to end a best man's speech, but who does the best man toast and what do they  actually  have to say? 

To help you nail your best man speech toast, we have dozens of examples you can steal, with everything from funny quotes to great best man toasts that are more traditional. 

25 Best Man Toast Ideas & Tips for Nailing the End of Your Speech

As well as examples of best man toasts, we also have expert advice on who should the best man toast. When carrying out this  very important role, you want to ensure you are toasting to all the right people, and not taking away from anyone else's toast responsibilities. 

Whether you want to thank the bridesmaids, end with a laugh or stick to tradition, these best man toasts are short, sweet and  just what your speech needs. It's also the best solution if you're looking for a fun way to end a best man speech. 

Who Does the Best Man Toast in His Speech?

How to end a best man speech , traditional best man toast ideas.

• Funny Best Man Toast Ideas

Quotes for a Great Best Man Toast

Best man toasts to the bridesmaids.

Before deciding what toasts to include in your speech, you need to know who you're toasting. So who does the best man toast in their speech?

Traditionally, the only people who the best man is obliged to toast in his speech are the newlyweds, however it's quite common for the best man toast to include a nod to the bridesmaids, too. 

Though this is usually done by the groom, if you are at a wedding where there is no groom, the groom isn't making a speech, or you just want to thank them as well, including a mention of the bridesmaids in your best man toast is welcomed. 

If you are particularly close with your best friend's family as well, you may want to mention them in your best man toast, but note that this is not traditionally done. 

If you want to be completely certain on the matter of who does the best man toast, check with the nearlyweds to ensure you're not doubling up on toasts. 

There's no point delivering a killer intro if you don't know how to end a best man speech now is there? In an ideal situation, your best man speech ending should be just as funny and witty as the beginning, and a brilliant toast is the perfect tool to use. 

You can use the body of your speech to toast to the bridesmaids, say something nice about the rest of the wedding party and mention some nice words about the groom, but there's no better way to end a best man speech than with a lovely toast to the couple. 

Sometimes the traditional way is the best – so if you want to play it safe with a classic and heartwarming best man toast, consider one of these…

• “Please join me in raising a glass to the happy couple – to [NAME] and [NAME]”
• “I’d like you all to join me in wishing the new Mr and Mr/Mrs [NAME] all the wealth, health and happiness in the world. To the newlyweds!”
• “To my best friend and his beautiful partner: the new Mr and Mrs/Mr [NAME]”
• “Please make sure your glasses are charged and join me in toasting the new Mr and Mrs/Mr [NAME]. Ladies and gentlemen, to the happy couple!”
• “They say you don’t marry the person you can live with, you marry the person you can’t live without. That sums up [NAME] and [NAME] perfectly. To the happy couple”
• “Here is a toast to a perfect couple – to a long life together filled with happiness, adventure and lots of wonderful memories”
• “To [NAME] and [NAME] – here is to a lifetime of love and happiness”
• “Raise your glass and join me in a toast to [NAME] and [NAME] – may you always be friends as well as lovers”

Funny Best Man Toast  Ideas

If you’ve peppered your speech with lots of best man jokes , continue in the same fashion and finish with a funny best man toast. Here are a few examples to give you an idea.

• "Time to raise our glasses to the happy couple because I like both of you -do you have any idea how rare that is?"
• “For one more time, I’m going to ask everyone to charge their glasses and – for those who still can – stand, and raise a glass to the newlyweds”
• "Raise a glass to the happy couple. May your marriage be as strong as the drinks in your hand. Cheers!"
• “Part of the best man speech involves a toast and for me, the best kind of toast is French toast. So, buvons à ce couple heureux”
• “Please can everyone join me in toasting two young – well, quite young anyway – people in love. To the happy couple”
• “To the two things that make a great marriage – having a good sense of humour and selective hearing. To [NAME] and [NAME]”
• “To [NAME] and [NAME] – we all knew [NAME] had found the one when he/she started spending more time with [NAME] than he did playing on his/her Xbox!”
• “[NAME] and [NAME], before I finish, I’d like you to turn to face each other. You’re now looking into the eyes of the person who is statistically most likely to murder you. To the happy couple!”

Getty Images / SolStock

If you really want to wow the guests and have a speech ending that will resonate with everyone, do your research and choose a quote as your best man toast. For even more ideas, we’ve got some inspirational quotes about love and marriage to inspire you.

• “I would like to end on some wise words from Socrates: ‘My advice to you is to get married. If you find a good wife/husband, you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll become a philosopher.’ To the happy couple!”
• “Here’s one of my favourite Oscar Wilde quotes: ‘The man who says his wife/husband can’t take a joke forgets that she/he took him.’ To [NAME] and [NAME].”
• “Before we raise a glass to the newlyweds, I’d like to share a Pauline Thomason quote with you: ‘Love is blind – marriage is the eye-opener.’ To the happy couple!”
• “Here’s a poem by Ogden Nash to finish on: To keep a marriage brimming with love in the loving cup, where you are wrong, admit it, and when you are right, shut up! To [NAME] and [NAME]”
• “To [NAME] and [NAME] – here’s an Antoine de Saint-Exupery quote to finish on: ‘Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.’”
• “Before we raise our glasses, I’d like to share this Mignon McLaughlin quote with [NAME] and [NAME]: ‘A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.’”

A thank you in your best man toast to the bridesmaids is a lovely and thoughtful idea. Traditionally the groom toasts the bridesmaids but there is no harm in complimenting them too, just check in with your friend to see if they are doing the same. 

• "The beautiful bridesmaids have been amazing. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you all to raise your glasses. I give you… the bridesmaids."
• "I would like to say a special thank you to the bridesmaids, who have been wonderful throughout the day. Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses."

Make sure you read our guide to overcoming wedding speech nerves to ensure you deliver your speech flawlessly!

Related Hitched articles

How to End a Best Man Speech: Tips and Examples

One of the most crucial aspects of giving a best man speech is knowing how to end it. Make the newlyweds feel special and leave the audience with a memorable impression. However, how precisely do you do that?

There are numerous ways to conclude a best man speech, and ultimately it comes down to your preferences and the overall mood of the speech.

Some individuals like to conclude with a sentimental toast, while others like to do so with a joke or anecdote that makes them laugh.

Whatever strategy you choose, the most important thing is to maintain it in a way that is appropriate for the couple and their families.

In this post, we’ll look at a few ideas and techniques for best man speeches that will leave the audience with a lasting impression.

We will give examples of several speech closings, ranging from sentimental to hilarious, and offer advice on how to pick the best strategy for your individual speech.

Therefore, whether you’re a seasoned public speaker or this is your first time serving as best man , we have all the information you need to wrap up your speech in confidence and flair.

The Importance of Ending Your Best Man Speech Well

When it comes to giving a best man speech, the ending is just as important as the beginning and middle.

A strong conclusion can leave a lasting impression on the audience and make the newlyweds feel truly special. Here are some reasons why ending your best man speech well is crucial:

• Leaving a positive lasting impression:  The ending of your speech is what people will remember most. By ending on a high note, you can ensure that the guests leave with a positive impression of both you and the newlyweds.
• Making the newlyweds feel special:  The best man speech is a chance to celebrate the newlyweds and their love. A heartfelt and sincere ending can make the couple feel truly special and loved.
• Wrapping up your speech effectively:  A strong ending can help to tie together the different parts of your speech and leave the audience feeling satisfied.

To ensure that your best man’s speech ends well, it’s important to consider your audience and the tone of your speech.

If your speech has been humorous, a light-hearted and funny ending can work well. On the other hand, if your speech has been more sentimental, a heartfelt and sincere ending may be more appropriate.

Some ways to end your best man speech include:

• A toast to the newlyweds:  Ending your speech with a toast to the newlyweds is a classic way to wrap up your speech. Just make sure to keep it short and sweet.
• A final joke or anecdote:  If your speech has been humorous, ending with a final joke or anecdote can be a great way to leave the audience laughing.
• A heartfelt message:  If you want to end your speech on a more sentimental note, consider sharing a heartfelt message with the newlyweds. This can be a great way to make the couple feel truly loved and appreciated.

Remember, the ending of your best man speech is just as important as the rest of your speech.

By taking the time to craft a strong and memorable conclusion, you can leave a lasting impression on the audience and make the newlyweds feel truly special.

How to End Your Best Man Speech

As the best man, you have the important task of delivering the final words of your speech.

It’s important to end on a strong note that will leave a lasting impression on the happy couple and their guests. Here are some tips to help you end your best man speech with style.

Finish Strong

Your ending should be memorable and powerful. You can end with a heartfelt message, a funny joke or a toast to the newlyweds.

Whatever you choose, make sure it reflects your relationship with the couple and your wishes for their future together. Keep in mind that your ending is the last thing people will remember from your speech, so make it count.

Keep it Short and Sweet

While you want to end strong, you don’t want to overstay your welcome. Keep your ending short and sweet, so you don’t lose your audience’s attention. A good rule of thumb is to keep your ending no longer than a minute or two.

End with a Poem or Inspirational Quote

If you’re looking for a more poetic or inspirational way to end your speech, consider ending with a quote or poem that reflects the couple’s love story. You can find many great quotes and poems online that will inspire and uplift your audience.

Raise a Glass

A classic way to end a best man speech is to raise a glass to the happy couple. This is a great way to toast to their future together and show your respect and admiration for them.

Thank the Happy Couple and the Audience

Finally, don’t forget to thank the happy couple and their guests for allowing you to be a part of their special day.

Express your gratitude for the opportunity to be the best man and share in their joy. This is a great way to end your speech on a sincere and upbeat note.

Ending your best man speech can be a challenge, but with a little research and planning, you can create a powerful and memorable ending that will leave a lasting impression on the happy couple and their guests.

Remember to keep it sincere, upbeat, and respectful, and you’ll do just fine.

When it comes to ending a best man speech, it’s important to finish strong. We want to leave a lasting impression on the newlyweds and their guests.

Here are some tips to ensure that your closing remarks are memorable and effective:

• Recap the highlights:  Briefly summarize the key points of your speech, highlighting the most memorable moments. This will help reinforce your message and ensure that your audience remembers the important parts of your speech.
• Offer congratulations:  Congratulate the newlyweds on their marriage and offer your best wishes for their future together. This is a great opportunity to express your happiness for the couple and to show your support for their relationship.
• End with a toast:  A toast is a traditional way to end a best man speech. Raise your glass and propose a toast to the newlyweds, wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. Make sure to use a heartfelt and sincere tone, and avoid any inappropriate or offensive comments.
• Keep it concise:  Remember that your closing remarks should be brief and to the point. Avoid rambling or going off on tangents, and stick to the main message of your speech. This will help ensure that your audience stays engaged and interested until the very end.

By following these tips, we can ensure that our best man speech ends on a high note.

With a little preparation and a lot of heart, we can leave a lasting impression on the newlyweds and their guests, and help make their wedding day even more special.

When it comes to ending a best man speech, it’s important to keep it brief. We don’t want to drag on for too long and bore the guests, but we also want to make sure we leave a lasting impression.

A short and sweet ending is the perfect way to wrap up our speech. One way to keep it short is to avoid going off on tangents.

We should stick to our main points and not get sidetracked with unnecessary stories or jokes.

We can also use bullet points to help us stay on track and keep our ending concise.

Another way to keep it sweet is to end with a memorable quote or phrase. This can be a heartfelt message to the newlyweds or a funny one-liner that ties into our speech.

Whatever it is, it should be something that the guests will remember long after the wedding is over.

This is a great way to end our speech on a positive note and show our appreciation for the opportunity to be the best man.

Keeping our ending short and sweet is the perfect way to wrap up our best man speech.

By staying on track, using memorable quotes, and thanking the newlyweds, we can leave a lasting impression on the guests and make the wedding day even more special.

Sometimes the best way to end a best man speech is with a poem or inspirational quote. This can be a great way to leave the newlyweds with a lasting message that they can carry with them throughout their marriage.

Here are some tips to help you choose the perfect poem or quote to end your speech.

First, consider the tone of your speech. If you’ve been telling funny stories and making jokes, you might want to choose a poem or quote that is lighthearted and humorous.

On the other hand, if your speech has been more serious and sentimental, you might want to choose a more heartfelt poem or quote.

Next, think about the couple. What are their interests and values? Is there a poem or quote that speaks to their relationship or their hopes for the future? Choosing a poem or quote that is meaningful to the couple can add a special touch to your speech.

When it comes to delivering the poem or quote, make sure to practice beforehand. You want to be able to deliver it with confidence and emotion.

Consider printing out the poem or quote and reading it from the paper, or memorizing it if you feel comfortable.

Ending your best man speech with a poem or inspirational quote can be a beautiful way to leave a lasting impression on the newlyweds.

By considering the tone of your speech and the couple’s interests and values, you can choose a poem or quote that is meaningful and special. Remember to practice beforehand so you can deliver it with confidence and emotion.

When it comes to ending a best man speech, raising a glass is a classic and effective way to conclude.

It’s a chance to toast the newlyweds and express your well wishes for their future together. Here are a few tips to make sure your toast hits the mark:

• Keep it short and sweet: A long-winded toast can drag on and lose its impact. Keep your toast to a few sentences or a short paragraph.
• Use the couple’s names: Make sure to include the names of the bride and groom in your toast. This personal touch will make the toast feel more meaningful.
• Express your wishes for their future: Whether it’s health, happiness, or success, express your sincere hopes for the couple’s future together.
• Raise your glass: Don’t forget to actually raise your glass during the toast! This is a visual cue that signals to the audience that the toast is ending.

Here are a few examples of toasts that you can use as inspiration:

• “To [Bride’s Name] and [Groom’s Name], may your love for each other continue to grow stronger with each passing year. Cheers!”
• “We raise a glass to [Bride’s Name] and [Groom’s Name], wishing you a lifetime of love, laughter, and happiness. Congratulations!”
• “Here’s to [Bride’s Name] and [Groom’s Name], two people who are truly meant to be together. May your love story continue to inspire us all. Cheers!”

As the best man, it is important to express gratitude towards the happy couple for giving you the honor to be their best man.

We can start by thanking the couple for their friendship and the opportunity to be part of their special day. This is a great way to show appreciation and make them feel special.

It is also important to thank the audience for their presence and support. We can acknowledge the effort and time they took to attend the wedding, especially those who traveled from far away.

This is a great way to make the audience feel appreciated and included.

One way to express gratitude towards the happy couple and the audience is by raising a toast.

We can propose a toast to the couple for their love and commitment towards each other, and to the audience for their presence and support.

This is a great way to end the speech on a positive note and leave a lasting impression.

In addition, we can also include a personal anecdote or story about the couple to show how much they mean to us.

This can be a heartwarming moment that will make the couple feel special and appreciated.

Thanking the happy couple and the audience is an important part of ending a best man speech.

It shows gratitude and appreciation towards those who made the wedding possible and memorable.

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Rock Your Best Man Speech Using Our Expert-Approved Advice

• Chapelle writes articles for The Knot Worldwide. She covers all things wedding-related and has a personal interest in covering celebrity engagements and fashion.
• Before joining The Knot Worldwide, Chapelle was an editorial intern for Subvrt Magazine.
• Chapelle has a degree in English writing from Loyola University New Orleans.

Pat yourself on the back—you're the best man. It's a good feeling when one of your loved ones asks you to be their right hand for the wedding. Beyond the fun best man duties , like planning an epic bach party , you'll have to give a rousing best man speech. We believe it's arguably the most meaningful duty, but don't let that get you nervous. Whether you're a public speaking pro or have only delivered speeches while on the eighth-grade debate team, boost your chances of making your best man speech a hit by using our helpful tips, ideas and examples for inspiration.

In this article:

Printable Template | How to Write | Examples | Tips | FAQs

Printable Best Man Speech Template

Delivering a best man wedding speech doesn't have to feel like a chore. Use the template below as a checklist while you're writing your best man speech.

How to Write a Best Man Speech Outline

We're guessing the thought of crafting a flawless best man speech from scratch feels pretty overwhelming right about now. Start by drafting a bare-bones outline (trust us, drawing up a rough outline is way more palatable than writing a fully fleshed-out speech). You don't need to include every element in your wedding speech . Instead, customize it to fit the couple, the event and your relationship with the groom.

1. Have a killer opening line.

Successful best man speeches always start with a good opener. Introduce yourself and explain your connection to the happy couple. Have fun with this part by sharing a quick joke or quoting a poem so your speech doesn't start off stale. For example, "Hello everyone! For those of you who don't know me, thank you so much for coming to my wedding. [pause for laughter] Sorry about that...I'm a little nervous."

2. Thank the other speakers.

Once you address the audience, give props to the previous speaker to help lead into your speech. If you know your speech has a sillier sentiment, now's your chance to warn your audience in the change of direction. Here's an example: "Let's give it up to the amazing speech given by the wonderful maid of honor . If you enjoyed how thoughtful and sweet her speech was, you better get the tissues ready for this one!"

Next, express your gratitude to the couple's parents. Thank the couples' parents for not only raising incredible adults and, if they helped pay for the wedding, for hosting such a great party. Here's an example: "I'd like to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to the couples' parents for raising such amazing people, who I'm fortunate to call my best friends. I would also like to thank their parents for hosting such an awesome celebration for all of us to enjoy this evening."

3. Say a few words about your friend's new spouse.

Another writing a best man speech tip is always to give a special shoutout to the new spouse so they feel welcomed and included. Yes, we know you most likely have a closer relationship with the groom, but don't let that stop you from showering them with kind words––it's their big day too. Talk about the qualities you like about them and why you love them in the groom's life. Try this, "I'm so happy [Spouse's Name] fell in love with [Groom's Name]. Firsthand I've seen the grace, intelligence and confidence [Spouse's Name] has, which explains why [Groom's Name] knew he wanted to marry [Spouse's Name] after their first date."

4. Share personal stories.

What's going to make your best man speech stand out are personal stories. We suggest adding one or two anecdotes, like your favorite memories with the groom (and their partner, if you want). Avoid choosing a story that rambles on and has no sentimental or funny ending—keep it lighthearted and short. Here's a silly example, "I remember when we first met in first grade. [Groom's Name] had just glued his hand to his face but still used his free one to shake my hand and ask if I wanted to be his friend."

5. Talk about the couple's relationship.

This is the time to speak about why the groom and their new spouse are a great couple. Share how they first met and how their relationship has grown so other guests can get a better insight into the newlyweds. If you helped the love birds meet, say something like this in your best man speech: "I know I said earlier I'm the best man, but I lied. I'm actually Cupid because I'm the one who introduced these two eight years ago."

6. Propose a toast.

Finally, close out your best man speech with a heartfelt toast. Ask everyone to raise a glass and provide well wishes to the newly married couple. Steal this wedding toast : "Everyone, please join me in raising a glass to such a wonderful couple. I wish you a lifetime of peace, love and happiness. Love you guys!"

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Best man speech examples.

Now that you know how to write the outline, let us provide you with some inspiration. Here are four best man speech ideas for every type of delivery.

Short Best Man Speech Example

Short best man speeches can make the grade just as much as long ones. Try this short but sweet example.

As the poet, Dante once said, 'A great flame follows a little spark.' When [Groom's Name] met [Spouse's Name], there was a little spark. I know because I talked to him the next day.

From the way he talked about [Spouse's Name], this stranger he chatted up at a Halloween party, I could tell this spark was something special.

You two are fantastic together. May the flame burn long, and may sparks continue to fly. Cheers to the newlyweds!

Funny Best Man Speech Example

Funny best man speeches are our favorite. You get to show off your comedic skills while giving loving well-wishes to the happy couple.

Hello! For those who don't know me, I'm [Your Name], the best man. I've known [Groom's Name] since middle school, which means that it was before we learned mullets weren't a good look for either of us.

[Groom's Name] and [Spouse's Name] told me there are some topics I should avoid in this speech so…[Look through cue cards, then shake head and dramatically drop them all to the floor but one.]

[Reading from the remaining cue card] [Groom's Name] is really the best friend I've ever had. He's done so many wonderful things it would be difficult to name them all. Hey, [a Groomsman's Name], I can't read your handwriting here!

But seriously, it's all true. This guy is a great friend, the best I've got, and I'm very proud to stand by his side today.

[Spouse's Name], I was hoping to be the best-looking person in the room today but obviously, I failed miserably. You look beautiful and radiant. I'm beyond happy for the two of you.

May you always find joy in the little things, like your Xbox and 'Star Wars.' Oh wait, that's my personal goal. You should actually find joy in each other, and do everything you can to have a lifetime of happiness together. Let's toast the newlyweds!

Best Man Speech for Brother Example

Need best man speech examples for your brother? Use our speech below as a guide to delivering a sweet message to your older or younger brother.

On my fourth birthday, my parents got me a brother…I wanted a puppy.

But seriously, as a kid [Groom's Name] wanted to do everything I did. He used to follow me around. He used to sneak into my room and play with my Matchbox cars. Our parents could get him to eat his broccoli by making me eat my broccoli.

It wasn't until after I went to college that he started going down his own path. He started doing volunteer work. He found a job he loves, a pretty killer apartment and, of course, he found [Spouse's Name].

[Spouse's Name], you're the nicest person I've ever met, and my brother is so blessed to have someone like you in his life. Thank you for being there for him.

I'm so happy you two found each other especially because I'm gaining a sister today. Oh, and I want to set the record straight. I'm glad I didn't get a puppy that day. I love you, little bro.

Congratulations to both of you. I wish you lots of laughter, love and joy as a married couple. Cheers to the newlyweds!

Best Man Speech for Best Friend Example

For those who need a best man speech sample for their best friend, we got you covered. Here's how to tell your BFF you're happy for them on their special day.

Good evening, everyone! I'm [Your Name], and I'm extremely honored to call myself [Groom's Name]'s best man. Also, please excuse the puffiness under my eyes, I've been happy crying since before the ceremony.

I first met [Groom's Name] while working at a pizza joint called Domenica's while in college. I hated being a server with all my heart, but whenever [Groom's Name] and I were scheduled together, it made it so much more bearable.

We laughed until we cried, ate hundreds of garlic knots and I can't tell you the amount of times we accidentally got pizza dough stuck to the ceiling during our pizza toss competitions. But even after we both quit and moved on to bigger and better things, we still kept in touch and I'm eternally grateful.

One of those bigger and better things was [Spouse's Name]. [Groom's Name] really discovered the perfect piece to his puzzle. [Spouse's Name] laughs at his bad jokes, listens to his long monologues about Batman vs. Superman and most importantly, loves him no matter what. [Spouse's Name] is a phenomenal and caring person who deserves the world, and I know [Groom's Name] will do everything he can to give it to them.

Thank you both for allowing me to be a part of your beautiful wedding, and I can't wait to see what else is in store for you in the future. Love you guys, and cheers to the handsome couple!

Best Man Speech Tips

Good news! We got how to give a best man speech tips from Dominic Bliss, wedding writer and author of Being the Best Man for Dummies. Study up on these helpful pointers below to minimize pre-speech jitters and ensure a smooth delivery.

Plan ahead.

The first tip in our guide on how to write a best man speech is to get started in advance. (As in, do not procrastinate.) "Start writing a best man speech at least two months before the wedding," Bliss says. "As the wedding nears, there are lots of events—suit fittings and a coed shower, perhaps—that could distract you from getting your writing done." Brainstorm and write down any stories, jokes or best man speech quotes you want to include. The more time you have to prepare your best man speech, the better. This way, you'll be able to be fully present at upcoming wedding festivities.

Be genuine.

Whether the wedding guests are strangers or family, it can feel nerve-racking to deliver your best man speech with all eyes on you. To ease the awkwardness, provide anecdotes and stories about your relationship with the couple. Everyone loves a bit of nostalgia, and the guests get to know you better.

With that said, stay true to how you normally act while making your speech. There's no need for you to change who you are for some made-up public speaking persona. If you feel more comfortable cracking jokes throughout your speech, do it. If you are better at being sentimental and don't mind leaving everyone misty-eyed, take that approach. Remember, the couple chose you to speak at their wedding because they felt you could add something special to their big day. As long as you deliver a heartfelt speech, the newlyweds and guests will love it.

Know what topics to avoid.

There are a few topics to omit from the best man speech. No matter how funny you (and even the groom) might think they are, someone is bound to be offended or put off if you mention:

• Negativity about marriage in general.
• Past relationships.
• Previous marriages/divorces.
• Drinking, drugs, gambling.
• "Adult" humor or any other mention of sex.

After all, your best man speech should celebrate the newlywed couple and their love rather than causing future friction. Keep it PG.

Consider adding jokes.

If you want to deliver a funny best man speech, consider poking some fun at the groom. "Every groom will have some funny characteristic or quirk you can ridicule," Bliss notes. "As long as it's something everyone can appreciate, it's sure to get a laugh. Avoid obscure references or inside jokes. You want older guests and those who don't know him well to see the funny side too." Be strategic about your jokes too. You can make jokes about the groom but leave their new spouse alone.

Write it down.

Even those with a great memory will feel more confident with a written speech or at least a few bullet points to keep them on track. Nerves can mess with your memory, so don't think you're a failure if you have to bring notes with you. (Even CEOs do this at corporate events.) Bliss suggests using small note cards instead of a sheet of paper since they "won't flap around."

And yes we know many groomsmen will want to read off their cell phones out of convenience, but wedding planners recommend against it. The lighting from your phone screen can ruin the wedding photographer's photos and can be distracting to guests. Practice writing down your speech instead—it's quite soothing.

Practice with an audience.

This tip is a must when it comes to writing a best man speech. Even if you think you have this whole thing in the bag, practice delivering your wedding speech aloud at least three times. When you're by yourself, take a video and watch the playback to get a feel for how your speech is going. (Do you say "um" between every sentence? Are your gestures a little robotic?) If your friends can't offer critiques in person, "send [the video] to a close friend who won't be going to the wedding and who can give you honest feedback," Bliss recommends.

Finally: don't mumble. A great best man speech becomes boring if it's monotonous or guests are straining to hear you. Speak confidently and slowly.

Best Man Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time giving a best man speech, you might have a lot of questions. Here are answers to the top wedding speech inquiries.

How Long Should a Best Man Speech Be?

In general, the best man speech length should be at least three minutes, but no more than five minutes. This is enough time to say something meaningful before guests get too antsy. Of course, you should adjust your speech length to the event. If you're speaking at a last-minute wedding, it might require a brief speech, while a formal affair could call for a longer toast. But you might also be wondering, "how many words should a best man speech be?" We suggest between 700 to 1000 words.

How to Start a Best Man Speech

Begin your speech by addressing the audience and thanking them for attending the wedding. Here's an example, "Hello, everyone. On behalf of the newlyweds, I want to thank everyone for attending this amazing celebration." You can even butter up the crowd by saying how lovely everyone looks this evening. Then, introduce yourself and how you know the groom or couple. This is a great opportunity to add a funny story or memory you have with them that can lead you into the rest of your speech.

How to End a Best Man Speech

Raise your glass and offer a toast wishing the couple a lifetime of happiness, excellent health and success. Your toast can include one final joke or be a marriage quote from your and the groom's favorite movie. Either way, take this chance to sincerely express the newlyweds well. Remember, concluding the speech is the easiest part.

Does the Best Man Have to Give a Speech?

It's not required, but it's expected that the best man gives a speech—especially if the other honor attendants are giving one. If speaking in public makes your stomach turn, consider showing your appreciation for the couple in a different way. We've seen best men do upbeat choreography, sing the couple's favorite song or even present a wedding video they made.

When Does the Best Man Give His Speech?

Following the traditional wedding speech order , the best man speaks after the maid of honor and is the last speech during the reception. There's no need to use this itinerary since the speech order depends on your reception timeline and wedding party size. The to-be-weds might even ask you to deliver your speech during the rehearsal dinner, which most likely will be in front of a smaller audience (score!). Before the wedding and during, double-check with the couple to ensure you know when to give your best man speech so no one has to hunt you down when it's your turn.

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Best Man Speech: The Definitive Guide to Smashing it

by Catherine D July 12, 2019

Here’s all you need to deliver an incredible and unforgettable best man speech.

Congratulations!

You’ve just been awarded the highest honor a bro can receive.  You’re the best man! And that’s an honor greater than being knighted by the queen. But I’m sure you know what comes with it.

You’ll have to give that best man speech brosef!

Though, you won’t want to give just any speech off the top of your head that nobody is going to give a damn about.

Just remember what Uncle Ben said to Spidey, “With great power comes great responsibility”. It’s that serious, man.

You’ve probably seen best man speeches like this before. The guy stands up, hits the glass and says something, uninspired, about how he’s bros with the groom, congratulates the bride-to-be, and then sits down.

Or maybe you’ve seen another kind of speech, where the best man stands up and talks about nothing for 10+ minutes, putting you to sleep, because who even cares?

During a reception, there are about a million different things going on. People will forget the things that do not grab their attention, especially at a reception.

Everyone there is busy talking, eating, laughing, and will not care or even remember a boring speech in a few days. But not yours, my friend, you’re going to be the star of the day.

In this guide, we give you everything you need to know in sequence - from the writing process, all the way to delivering that wedding toast. Get your notepad ready for some very important tips on giving your wedding toast!

So How Do You Write the Best Man Speech?

The hardest part is always just getting started. Here are some basic tips on how to write a best man speech so that you can be prepared and dominate when the time comes.

Be Prepared and Plan Ahead

Practice makes perfect. Creating a fantastic speech doesn’t happen overnight.

If you’re going to wow the audience, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done everything you possibly can and covered every base - and man, that takes time.

Generally, 2-3 months is the right amount of time to give yourself when writing for a best man speech to account for the overall writing process and potential rewrites.

Considering all of the events that follow, like the bachelor party and the suit fitting, you’ll be too busy in those final moments to prepare a killer best man speech that’s even half decent.

Record Every Thought

You might be on the bus or in your car and think of an incredible quote or one-liner to say in your wedding toast, but our memories are very limited.

It’s difficult to remember what you even had for lunch two days ago, much less something you thought up some random time.

No matter where you are, record your thoughts. You could write in a journal, use your iPhone’s “Voice Memos” app or an app like Evernote . Scratch them onto a napkin, carve them into a stone near you, just get those wedding toast ideas down!

As long as you start capturing your thoughts, you’ll eventually reach a gold mine.

Think of this more as ‘capturing’ than ‘writing’. It’s easier to capture your raw best man speech ideas than banging your head on the wall trying to ‘write’ something from scratch.

Keep a Positive Tone

When it comes to the best man speech, the main thing to keep in mind is the goal of what you want to accomplish - celebrating the bride and groom. Here are some things to focus on:

• Your best experiences with the groom.
• How great a pair the bride and groom are.
• The best qualities of the groom.
• Possible first thoughts on the bride when they met (If they were good thoughts!)

Focus on the best of times, and further expand upon those points the best you can and maybe you can use those for a few wedding jokes!

With that in mind, here’s what not to say:

What Not to Talk About in Your Speech

While you may be writing to make your groom laugh, you need to remember your audience is diverse. You have children, elders, and teenagers so you wouldn’t want to write something inappropriate.

Generally, it’s best to avoid things like these:

• Any previous relationships.
• Anything about drugs, alcohol, gambling.
• Perverse topics, or anything of a sexual nature.
• Harsh negativity.
• Inside jokes that are too specific.

The idea is to avoid anything raunchy or disheartening during your speech, even if it might be hilarious in your head, you’ll have to avoid it in your best man speech.

Think about how upset Grandma would be if you happened to talk about how her little Jimmy actually hasn’t been saving himself for marriage - what horror!

How Long Should a Best Man Speech Be?

So you have a great speech, and you’ve covered every single talking point that fit. Everyone’s going to love this, right?

Wrong! When writing a best man speech, you’ll want to keep it way, way shorter.

The problem is that what you wrote is almost 30 minutes long! No bueno amigo. Nothing on this Earth could keep people engaged in a wedding toast that long.

You’re not going for a ‘F.D.R. Repairing the American Psyche During The Great Depression’ type of speech. What you want is more like an ‘I Love You, Man’ speech.

It seems like everyone from everywhere throws out an arbitrary number ranging from 1-10 minutes, but really, research shows our attention span is even shorter than a goldfish .

Which means you have 8 seconds to make an impression . Let that sink in.

The best man speech is usually between meals at a reception. That means you have to make your mark - and get in what you have to say in a short time. Meaning that short best man speeches are perfectly fine, you don’t have to overthink it.

It can be 1 minute, it can be 5 minutes.  Keep the audience engaged in your speech and don’t ramble off unnecessarily.

How do you do that? Practice!

It’s All About Practice

You know, it’s okay to feel unsatisfied with what you wrote. After all, you’re not the most accomplished writer in the world. You just want to prepare a great best man speech and get back to Netflix binging.

The writing process can be tough, so here’s an ideal approach that most people use when writing the best material:

• Write a few pages of content just to get the speech ideas out.
• Realize that you’ve written a movie's worth of material.
• Take what you really like.
• Edit until you stop hating it.

Being intimidated serves no purpose.

Get Interviewed Bruh

If you’re not the best writer (or capturer), the previous steps might seem a little intimidating to you. That’s fine. Not everyone can put pen to paper as well as they’d like, and if that’s you, consider having a friend interview you!

Getting a friend or family member to interview you about your experiences with the groom is a great way of getting wedding speech ideas. Here are a few topics to get interviewed on:

• Where did you meet?
• Did you like each other at first?
• When did you become bros?
• What kind of crazy experiences did you have together?
• What kind of bad qualities does he have?
• What kind of good qualities does he have?

Answering these questions with a recording device can help you when you need to put the best man speech together, and you can recall things you might never have just by writing!

Be (Relatively) Sober

Even if you have a Wade Boggs alcohol tolerance, it’s best to keep the drinks to a minimum.

( The guy drank 64 beers on one cross country flight, what the hell? )

Having one or two drinks is fine if it helps calm the nerves, but any more will mess up any chance of giving a decent best man toast, and you’ll just look silly slurring your words or acting strangely. Remember, all eyes are on you during your best man speech.

Try Some Best Man Speech Jokes or Quotes

So suppose you’ve got your speech together, but you have a placeholder like:

[ Put a joke in here! ] in 3-4 spots, and you really have no idea what to put in there.

We got you covered.

Here are some best man speech opening lines you could work with and personalize for whatever you may need, because the opportunity for wedding jokes is a rare thing! These make great icebreakers to warm your audience up.

“Well, where do I even start? [Groom] is just incredible. He’s brilliant, funny, caring… Anyway, I can’t really read your handwriting [Groom], so just tell me whatever the rest was after.”

“[Bride], you really are an incredible woman. You deserve an absolutely incredible husband, so I’m not going to stop until I figure out what’s wrong here.”

“Thank you everyone for bearing with me, I Googled ‘best man speech jokes’ and every site asked for my credit card before showing me any examples, so here goes nothing.”

“For those of you who know the bride, she’s really a wonderful woman who deserves a wonderful man. So good job, [Groom], for marrying her before she found one.”

“For anyone who finds this speech particularly not funny, I got all of my jokes from [Groom] so please, blame that guy.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I wasn’t given a microphone tonight and I deeply apologize. To anyone in the back, If you hear silence at the front, be sure that you’re not missing anything.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, before I begin this speech I’d just like to say I am absolutely thrilled that I beat the bartender at rock-paper-scissors twenty minutes ago for the honor of best man.”

Putting Together a Best Man Speech Outline

Now that you have an idea of how to write a best man speech, it’s just as important to know how to structure it. While there are canned free best man speech templates out there, it's really best to get a bird's eye view on what you want to say and create a structure that works for you personally. Don't just take any random free speech template from online and fire it up. Not every outline or template will work for your needs, so get a good idea of your vision first then begin to structure it.

Flow matters, and it’s the most important thing in putting together great best man speeches. Without good flow, you’ll lose the crowd and people won’t follow what you’re saying.

Here are some great ideas to nail the best man speech structure and make your speech shine.

The Introduction

The introduction needs to serve a single purpose: Getting people engaged! This is the key aspect of any best man speech formula.

The One-Liner Approach

An incredible one-liner is a great way of getting started. A good idea for this would be to roast the groom a little bit, he probably wouldn’t mind.

For example, what faults does he have? You can take advantage of that to make slight jabs at him.

Or you can even make fun of yourself in the process, what do you both suck at? Maybe you want to talk about that awkward mullet phase you both had in high school. Live it up!

The Congratulatory Approach

Alternatively, you can open by showing gratitude to:

• The bride and groom, for bringing everyone together.
• The guests, for attending this incredible event.
• The parents of the bride and groom, for bringing them into this world.

This approach is a good option at the beginning. You can use it as a Plan B if you think you can’t gather an appropriate one-liner.

It’s easy to get lost in thought about what to follow up a good opener in a best man speech, but nothing is safer than a good story to engage your audience.

The idea is to create a connection to the groom and then present it to the guests.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Where you met the groom.
• What makes him a great guy.
• Crazy stories that show who he is.
• Why he’s an excellent fit for the bride.
• How he changed for the better after he met the bride.

Really, anything goes, and they’re all sure to keep people interested. Focus on the organic story of your friendship and don’t be robotic.

You’ll want to accomplish this in a way that stays kosher, though, avoiding unsavory details mentioned in our #4 tip.

Congratulate the Bride

So, you don’t have to do this, but we definitely encourage it. The issue is, not everyone really knows the bride. Honestly, maybe you met her a month ago, or a week ago.

Who knows, you could have met her literally just now. When your buddy gets hitched, it’s quite common to not really know the lady herself.

If this is true, you can handle this two ways:

Stick to something like:

“I knew she was a great fit for you the moment I saw you together”.

“She really is the perfect match for you dude.”

Sure the groom will know you barely know her, but whatever, if he really is your bro, he’ll appreciate that you’re saving face like this.

2. Avoid it.

Look, you’re the best man, it means the groom chose you, he knows you. Which means that he’s most likely expecting your best man speech to be about your experiences together, so keep the content focused around your relationship.

This means that it’s okay to avoid any mention of the bride after the first few words when writing a best man speech.

It works in most cases to just congratulate her in the intro, and then continue on with your speech avoiding her entirely.

This might sound a little underhanded, but it works, and most likely, the audience won’t notice.

If you know the bride, then speak about her.

If you’re just as close to the bride as you are to the groom, then you need to take all of the prior steps to make a compelling speech for the bride too, which won’t make the best man toast easy but hey, you don’t want to piss her off.

You could share a story about her too, or you can talk about one where the bride and groom shared with you, which is always a safe bet.

How to End Your Wedding Toast

Here’s where you wrap up your thoughts, and keep this part short, you don’t have to stress it too much.

It’s as easy as saying something like,

“Jack, Jill, to a lifetime of good health, love, and joy!”

There are a thousand different things you can say here, but the main idea is to keep the tone positive, upbeat, congratulate their love and wish the best for them.

NOTE: It is absolutely acceptable to keep a paper copy of your speech on hand because you’re not remembering your speeches like a world leader at the U.N. You’re just a guy who’s happy for his bro.

Best Man Speech Examples

Even if you have everything else down, it’s always best to have some speech examples of how to tackle your wedding toast.

People have done it before you, so why go in blind? Here are some different types of best man speeches for unique scenarios you may want to try for your best man toast.

Funny Best Man Speech (Example)

“Hello Everyone, I’m John, I’m the best man, and if you find this speech unfunny, [Groom] and I have the same sense of humor, so please blame him.

I’m just joking, of course, I promised [Groom] I wouldn’t roast him too much today or talk about anything too weird, so I’ll just talk about the good parts of his character...

...Thank you, everyone, have a great evening.

But really, [Groom] and I have been friends since before I knew how even to tie my own shoelaces. He’s a brother to me, even more than my actual brother, sometimes.

Sorry, Alex.”

Emotional Best Man Speech (Example)

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I’m the best man, Chris. [Groom] and I go way back, all the way from high school. Through the years, he’s grown from a pain in the ass, into a fine man.

[Groom] was always shy when it came to meeting new people, and that’s sorta hard to hear considering how a guy like that could be such a perfect match with [Bride]. But I can’t imagine him without you, because I’ve seen what it looked like.

[Bride], you are both so dear to me, please take care of [Groom], please keep him out of trouble.”

Short Best Man Speech (Example)

“Good evening, everyone, from the moment that [Groom] met [Bride], I knew that this was going to be something special.

The way you two talk to each other, you’re so alike sometimes that honestly, it kind of scares me.

But to quote Mark Twain, ‘To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.’ May your love be timeless.”

Hopefully these wedding toast examples give you ideas on how to model your own best man speech!

The Presentation - Delivering the Best Man Speech

You have the writing and the flow down. Great! Most of the hard work is all done.

But don’t forget, you’re delivering a best man speech. And grand statements are always accompanied by excellent speech etiquette.

Here are some best man speech tips that’ll help you deliver, so that you don’t look like an uncomfortable 4th grader at a talent show your Mom forced you into.

Practice Your Speech on Camera

You’re noticing a trend, right? Practicing the actual delivery of the best man speech in front of a camera is a great way to see what poor and good habits you have.

And then, you need to keep practicing to eliminate the bad ones. For example, do you notice that you slump too much? Do you happen to mumble? Do you look down a lot?

Take note of all of these when you look at the recording and then try the speech again while mindfully avoiding bad habits and watching out for awkwardly delivered wedding jokes.

Practice in Front of People

Sure, using a camera is an excellent way to correct issues, but there’s nothing better than getting an outsider opinion.

Getting a spectator to sit and watch you deliver your best man toast lets someone tear into your bad habits without any bias. It may be painful, but this is what you want, and a larger group of people is best.

That way, when it’s time to give the best man speech, the concerns an audience member might have are already known to you.

The Honest Truth Man

Remember that a best man speech is a celebration of the love and joy that the bride and groom share. You don’t have to stress about every minor detail, because the audience isn’t (and they’ll most likely all be drunk anyway).

They’re already lightened up, and in the mood for a good few words, so why spend your time being nervous? It’s not worth it. Enjoy yourself up there and just deliver that crushing best man toast.

After it’s through, you can start drinking again, which is what you’ll probably want to do anyway.

Say what you have to say, and raise a toast to the bride and groom. Use this guide as a helpful resource and come back to it as many times as you need to ensure a totally awesome best man speech.

Good luck on your best man speech!

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In This Article

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Best Man Speech Magic: Crafting Words that Resonate and Inspire

Via Unsplash

Hey there! Your friend’s wedding is just around the corner, and he’s chosen you to be the best man? Crafting the perfect best man speech might seem daunting, but trust us, it’s simpler than you imagine.

Below, you’ll find a wealth of tips and examples from Wedding Forward team to guide you through crafting a best man speech that will leave a lasting impression. Moreover, our editorial team interviewed two distinguished experts in the field: Mindy Weiss, the founder of Mindy Weiss Party Consultants and a best-selling author, and Steven Greitzer, a wedding tech entrepreneur and officiant, serving as CEO of Provenance . Their invaluable tips and advice also have been integrated into this article.

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Top Best Man Speech Examples

It is much easier to write a best man speech when you have some examples to draw upon for inspiration. That’s why Wedding Forward team have prepared variety collection of inspired best man speech to help you craft your own!

Best Man Speech For Friend

Best Man Speech for Brother

“Good evening, hope everyone is having a good time tonight. I feel very privileged and honored to be standing here tonight celebrating this lovely union. Two years ago, Matt gave the best man speech at my wedding and made a lot of awkward jokes. So needless to say, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a really long time! For those who don’t know, I am Matt’s brother, Mike. I first met Matt when I was two years old at our parent’s house in Boston. To be quite honest, I wasn’t thrilled because I really wanted a sister. And I think he knew because Matt would do ridiculous things like throw my toothbrush in the toilet, pour water at me when I was asleep and run across the room naked when I had any friends over. This made me less popular than I already was. Matt always excelled in school, was captain of the debate team (apologies to Cara, but he can argue his way out of anything!) and can make a mean steak. The truth is, despite him being an annoying brother at the time, I came out winning in the end. Because of him and this beautiful night, I am getting the sister I always wanted. Cara, you’re beautiful and our family loves you so much. Thank you for making my brother so happy. Let’s celebrate this amazing union and raise a glass to the newlyweds ! On behalf of the groomsmen and bridesmaids, we’d like to wish you a life full of love, happiness, and joy. To everyone who made tonight happen, thank you. You’ve made this night very special.” Source

Short Best Man Speech

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? As the best man, I stand here today to say a few words about the remarkable love story between my incredible friend, [groom’s name], and his beautiful bride, [bride’s name]. [Groom’s name] and I have been through thick and thin together, and I’ve had the privilege of witnessing his growth as a person. But it wasn’t until [bride’s name] came into his life that I saw a change I can only describe as transformative. Their love is like a beacon, guiding them through life’s ups and downs. So here’s to the newlyweds—a couple who have found not just love, but true companionship. May your journey be filled with happiness, passion, and an everlasting bond.”

Funny Best Man Speech Examples

Best man talk for adam and kate.

“Adam and Kate – What a great day to get married! Marriage carries new responsibilities. Kate – from now on, you should never argue or disagree with Adam, because he is now the head of the family and the king of his castle. You will be expected to keep your hair and make-up perfect at all times – to dress in a way that pleases Adam. You should cook his favorite meals every night and encourage him to go out with his friends on a regular basis. Do these simple things and your marriage will be blessed with many years of happiness. Kate – I know that Adam loves you very much… because he spent a long time writing this speech for me. Congratulations to the both of you!” Source

Best Man Presentation for Sarah & Simon

“Sarah & Simon – every great relationship starts with rings. In the beginning, the phone would ring and just the thought of speaking to one another was exciting. Your love grew and so did your commitment to each other. The engagement ring soon came after. There were no doubts… your love was true. The engagement ring has now turned into a wedding ring and we are all here today to celebrate your marriage. Now of course… the suffer-ring begins. (smile and raise your glass) Peace and happiness to the new bride and groom!” Source

Speech for Neil and Claire

“Hi my name is Paul and Neil has asked me to be his best man for this wonderful occasion. I would like to say it is a very special honor but with it, comes the responsibility of giving the bloody speech. I would not say it is very comfortable to wear a tuxedo in a 30-degree church, which is not air-conditioned. The church ceremony I’m sure you’ll all agree was a wonderful, wonderful occasion. Maybe a little hot, but I’m glad to see so many of you have replaced your electrolytes with fuel of the alcoholic kind since the reception began. I have known Neil and Claire for_________ [how many years] years. You might say Neil and I met by accident, but it is no accident that Neil met Claire. If you know Neil you know he is an excellent athlete, in fact I noticed his Athletes foot right away. This was a man who had his knees and ankles shaved, for easy taping. I knew this was a hard-core sports fanatic. We both share a tremendous love of football and basketball. For many years, we have had a running bet during the season as to who will score more goals or more runs which of course, I always won. Neil is a ______________ [Groom’s Occupation] in Truro, and I thought__________________________________[Funny or quirky aspect about grooms occupation] Neil is a man who has dedicated his life to __________________[Grooms occupation] And now I’m sure will use his experience with ___________________________[what the Groom does in his occupation] in his marriage with Claire. It is great that Neil found Claire. He has always been looking for someone young, dynamic, intelligent, attractive, and with good health insurance. Neil and Claire met_________________________ [where they meet], But I have it on good authority that Neil started looking for a wife on the internet. And with a multitude of resources at his fingertips, he found some really great stuff, but sadly was unable to find himself a suitable partner. That is, until I mentioned to him that the correct category to be looking should be Woman Seeking Man. I explained the way it works, send an old picture when you still had lots of hair, lie about your height and weight, and at all other times be sincere and honest. I imagine that when Neil and Claire met and introduced each other he said I’m Neil and she said, “I need a Diamond.” So, Neil said, sure let’s pick one out. Claire is a Diamond. Neil is a gem; I think together they make beautiful jewellery. No Marriage would be complete without some brotherly advice to help set you on your way… So I canvassed the room and got some really good stuff for you! Love, honor and cherish each other, and don’t forget to take out the garbage. Your wife is always right. Just in case she is not right, refer back to #2. Always, yes always, notice every new hairstyle or dress. Do something nice for each other every single day. If she asks if something makes her look fat the answer is categorically, NO. Flowers are always a good Idea, even if you are not in trouble. There is really nothing better than a good foot rub or massage. Your wife is more important than sports. I guess. Even the cup final. It is a great joy for me to see Neil and Claire so happy. You learn things when you get older. Hmmm, I mean more mature. You make better decisions, isn’t it great that two people would entwine and commit to each other for life. Love, isn’t that what it is all about? We are here to celebrate that glorious event and this ceremony is all about letting the world know how much Neil and Claire’s love for each other is a reflection of one’s own soul in another’s. Anyway, it is time to celebrate the joyous and unbridled love that these two spectacular people will share the rest of their lives. Would you please stand now and join me in a toast. To love and laughter and happily ever after.” Source

What are the key elements that should be included in a memorable and heartfelt best man’s speech?

That is what Steven Greitzer, wedding tech entrepreneur and officiant, CEO of Provenance, said:

“There are many key elements to take into account when pulling together a great toast:

• Include 2-3 stories in your speech that capture the essence of the groom and your friendship.
• Make sure your speech is appropriate by discussing “no-go’s” with the couple beforehand.
• Acknowledge the groom’s partner in your speech and speak about how the relationship has helped the groom grow (more on that below).
• Offer a thematic takeaway, such as the importance of friendship or the strength of the couple’s love.
• Be sure to practice

The Provenance Toast Builder is the best and easiest way to make sure your wedding toast captures what you’re trying to say.”

Try the Toast Builder

How to Write a Best Man Speech

For a great wedding speech, there are some simple rules you have to follow. Here you will find examples of best man speeches Dos and Don’ts from our editors.

• Plan your speech ahead (think about your best man speech structure, choose formal or funny style) and practice.
• Tell a short story ( keep the speech to about 5 minutes or less ) with jokes (2 or 3 will be enough).
• Get sentimental at some point, make compliments to the bride.
• Finish on an optimistic note (end your speech with love quotes or wishes for the happy couple).
• Be thankful (express gratitude towards the couple, their family, and anyone who helped make the wedding happen).

Don’ts

• Do not cross the 2-5 mins time limit.
• Do not make it about you.
• Avoid dirty jokes.
• Do not ignore the bride. Let her know how happy you are, that she is ending up with your friend.
• Avoid rude remarks. Keep your manners in check, even if it’s for a day.

Infographic

Best Man Speech Templates

Click here to download free printable templates of best man speech!

When creating the Best Man speech outline for your talk, include the following elements to involve everyone, making one and all feel that they are important participants in the merrymaking for the newlywed couple:

Use a Magnetic Opening Line

The opening words of your Best Man presentation should grab everyone’s attention. If you favor a romantic approach to start off a speech, you can start with a statement like, “True love wins all,” and then list the various ways the Groom, through his true love for his Bride, has won all her attention and affections.

• If some of the Groom’s favorite hip singer-songwriters date back to the 1960s and ’70s, you can quote from Bob Dylan: “ Love is just a four-letter word ,” going on to mention the many words of just four letters that relate to feelings of true love like “ kiss, hold, keep and ever. ” Be intent and clever with the use of language, and you will achieve better engagement with your audience.
• If your tastes (or the tastes of the newlyweds) are somewhat more classical, you can start by quoting the familiar line from Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “ How do I love thee, Let me count the ways. ” This popular line has been repeated in many variations by countless poets and songwriters ever since, so have no fear of labeling yourself as an egghead when quoting it. This opening line will also give you a chance to mention the main virtues and attributes of the Bride.

Thank the Other Speakers

It is always appropriate and appreciated if you thank the other speakers for the occasion. These speakers usually include the Maid of Honor and the Bride’s Father as well as any other members of the wedding party that the Bride and Groom ask to speak.

It is always good form to express your gratitude for their contributions to this special moment and event. Never criticize or make jokes about what they say or how they say it. Just thank them politely and continue with your own remarks since you know very well how to write a best-man speech.

Congratulate the Newlyweds

Congratulate the wedding couple on this exciting first chapter in their lives together. This is the ideal time to tell the guests how you met your great friend, the Groom. If you happen to be the Groom’s brother or cousin, you can recreate moments of hilarity from your younger years together or shared experiences of suspense or intrigue.

Recalling funny incidents or telling best man speech jokes involving the Groom is totally acceptable, so long as you keep the format and content clean and respectable.

Expert tip from Steven Greitzer:

“A great best man speech strikes the perfect balance of humor and sincerity. You want it to be memorable, but for the right reasons. Check with the couple to see if there are any topics you need to avoid or any topics that might be of particular concern to anyone in the audience. In the Provenance Toast Builder , the couple has the option to call out any topic they do, or don’t, want you to include. If you have any jokes in your speech you are unsure about, run them by someone who is close to the couple who you trust. And if you have a feeling that a joke might upset them or not land well with the audience – err on the side of caution. It’s their big day, not yours! There’s a way to have a funny best man speech that doesn’t upset grandma. Find the balance.”

Compliment the Bride

Now it is time to pull out the stops and give high praise to the Bride using your knowledge of how to write a best man talk. Highlight and emphasize her finest qualities, talents, and accomplishments.

Let them know just how overjoyed you are to celebrate the marriage of these two special people of whom you think so highly. Then give the Bride another charming compliment using top-quality speech writing tips.

Read Messages from Absent Guests

Take time to read some messages from invited guests who could not attend the wedding. This gesture is always appreciated by the absent guests and the Bride and Groom, alike. It also includes their congratulatory thoughts and best wishes for the newlyweds in the day’s special events.

Include a Famous Quote or Poem

Enchant your attentive audience of wedding guests further by reciting a well-known quote or poem that suits the occasion. This adds a creative literary element to the post-wedding celebration for the honored couple. You may want to consult other templates, including a listing of groomsman speech examples.

Best Man Speech Quotes

Choose Best Man speech quotes that reflect the couple’s personality, add humor, and keep them relevant.

Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop. H. L. Mencken

Marriage is a workshop where husband works and wife shops.

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. Mignon McLaughlin

Propose a Toast to the Wedding Couple

Raise your glass of champagne so the guests can eagerly follow your example as you deliver a heartfelt toast of optimistic good wishes for the excellent health, increasing wealth, and everlasting happiness of the newlyweds.

The toast should be given with gusto and true sincerity and may include mild best-man speech jokes. Remember that you speak for all the well-wishers in the room who want all the best for this newly married Bride and Groom, so put your best energy, spirit, and talents for convincing elocution into this featured Grand Finale.

The “Thankful” Speech

“Hello everyone, it’s such a pleasure to be here tonight as [Groom’s] best man. And I want to begin with saying what an honor it is that I was chosen to stand by your side today. You’ve always been someone that I looked up to and I am just beyond grateful that I get to share in this moment with you and [Bride]. [Groom] is someone that I’ve come to care for greatly over the years and I am so happy that he’s found someone to share his life with and start a family with. [Groom] has always been my right hand throughout the biggest moments of my life and I can’t wait to be able to watch everything beautiful unfold for the two of you. Cheers to a lifetime of happiness!”

The “Smart Move” Speech

“There’s an old saying about friendship that reads, “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them,” and goodness that couldn’t be more true for me and my boy, [Groom]. I could go into all the funny stories that include some of that stupidity but instead I’d rather focus on all the smart moves he’s made. His friendships, the relationship he has with his family, his career, it’s all a reflection of the incredible man he’s become. But really, the smartest move he’s made is marrying you, [Bride]. Let’s toast to the best decision [Groom’s] ever made. I wish you a lifetime of love, happiness and success.”

The “She Was the One” Speech

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming out tonight to celebrate the wedding of two people we all love, [Bride] & [Groom]! When I first met [Bride], I knew that she was the woman [Groom] would end up marrying. Even if it hadn’t dawned on him quite yet, it was obvious to everyone around just how smitten he was with her. They talk about a bride’s glow, but this man was shining since the moment he met [Bride]. He changed for the better without realizing it. And we all could see it. He couldn’t stop talking about her. We’d go out with the boys and [Bride’s] name would be brought up every two minutes. So, when he came to me to tell me that he would be proposing my only response was, ‘Well, it’s about time!’ There’s something special about these two. They go together without forcing it. They love each other without fighting it. And they care about each other without thinking about it. She was the one from the very beginning [Groom], and we’re all so happy to be able to take part in your big day. Cheers!”

Best Man Speech Opening Lines

Your opening lines are your best-man speech icebreakers, so it’s important that they are good. Grab the attention of your guests with witty best man speech openers such as these.

• “I would like to begin by congratulating the groom on his excellent taste in best men. He has really outdone himself this time, and I’m pleased.”
• “I have been asked by the bride and groom not to share any embarrassing stories, crude jokes, or pranks during my best man’s speech… so I guess that’ll be it from me! Thank you all for listening.”
• “If you cannot hear me at the back, nothing to worry about. By the complete silence in the front row here, you can rest assured that you’re really not missing much.”
• “Is anyone here this afternoon feeling nervous and queasy at the thought of what lies ahead? If you are, it’s probably because you’ve just married (groom’s name).”
• “All of you here who really know the bride must know that she is a wonderful person who deserves a good husband. Thank goodness (groom’s name) married her before she found one.”

Best Man Speech One-Liners

I am about to make the groom cry. I just received the food bill.

He is smart, tall, kind, generous….. Who am I actually talking about?

Hi, the groom is a great friend. Our friendship is 2hours old. I was hired as he’s got no friends.

His colleagues describe him as a first-class banker – I may have misheard them.

I heard some time that marriage is a 50/50 affair. Believe that at your own peril. We have factors called women and improper fractions.

One-liners are sharp jokes delivered in one sentence. A good one-liner is concise and meaningful. It is instant but loaded with humor that can keep the guests laughing for a while. It is important that the best man speech jokes contain one-liners.

Best Man Toasts Examples

“It’s been an emotional day, even the cake is in tiers.”

“Folks, I have been told I am not allowed to have a drink until AFTER my speech. If I seem like I’m in a hurry to finish, it’s because I am.”

“I hope the two of you have the two essential things it takes to have a successful marriage 1) a sense of humor 2) selective hearing.”

“Psychiatrists say that girls tend to marry men like their fathers. That must be why mothers cry at weddings.”

“Love is not about how often you say I love you, but how often you show that it’s true.”

Best Man Speech Jokes

“They say marriage is a journey, and tonight we celebrate the beginning of an epic road trip for the bride and groom. Just remember, guys, never forget to ask for directions!”

“They say the key to a successful marriage is patience, understanding, and a remote control with fresh batteries. Groom, make sure you always keep that remote handy!”

“Let’s raise our glasses to the newlyweds: may their love be like Wi-Fi, strong and never disconnecting, even in the midst of Netflix binges!”

“As the best man, it’s my duty to share a piece of advice with the groom: in marriage, always remember that a happy wife means a happy life… and also remember to nod and agree, even when she’s wrong!”

“Marriage is a lifelong commitment, just like the gym membership the groom signed up for and rarely uses. But this time, there are no cancellation fees!”

Best Man Speech Delivery and Presentation Tips

When delivering your best man speech, it’s essential to captivate the audience with your words and presence. Here are some tips to ensure a memorable and engaging delivery:

• Maintain good eye contact with the audience: Look directly at the guests while speaking. Eye contact helps establish a connection and shows that you are genuinely engaged with them.
• Speak clearly and at a moderate pace: Enunciate your words clearly and avoid rushing through your speech. Speaking at a moderate pace allows the audience to understand and absorb your message effectively.
• Use appropriate gestures and body language to enhance your delivery: Use hand gestures and body movements to emphasize key points and add energy to your speech. However, be mindful of not going overboard and distracting from your message.
• Incorporate pauses for comedic timing and to allow the audience to react: Timing is crucial, especially when delivering humorous anecdotes or punchlines. Pause before and after delivering a joke to build anticipation and give the audience time to laugh and react.

By implementing these delivery and presentation tips, you’ll engage the audience, leave a lasting impression, and make your best man speech a memorable highlight of the wedding celebration.

Are there any common mistakes to avoid, and how to overcome nervousness or stage fright?

According to wedding planner Mindy Weiss, “speeches can help make or break a wedding” . And we agree with this opinion. Speeches have the power to elevate the celebration, bringing tears of joy and laughter to guests, while also creating cherished memories that last a lifetime. However, poorly delivered speeches can disrupt the flow and energy of the event, leaving guests feeling disconnected and the couple disappointed.

Steven Greitzer convinced that one of the biggest mistakes is when the person giving the wedding speech only talks about the partner they’re closest with, unintentionally making the other partner feel left out and unimportant: “To help remedy this, the Provenance Toast Builder gives you the option to either talk about each partner 50/50, or to talk 70% about your person and 30% about their partner (which is a good rule of thumb). The Toast Builder also has thoughtful prompts to encourage you to share why they’re both 1) good people and 2) a great match for each other.

What is the best man supposed to say in his speech?

The best man should share anecdotes about the groom, praise the couple, thank everyone, and propose a toast. Keep it lighthearted and sincere.

What do you say in a short speech for Bestman?

In a short best man speech, express gratitude, share a memorable moment about the groom, and toast to the couple’s happiness. Keep it concise and impactful.

How do I write a good man speech?

Write a good best man speech by including humor, expressing genuine sentiments, avoiding inappropriate content, and keeping it focused on the couple. Practice for smooth delivery and timing.

There is truly something for everyone today to create the perfect Best Man Speech for that very special couple and their after-wedding reception, dinner, and celebration. Fond remembrances, amusing stories and anecdotes, humorous quotes, and emotional phrases end with the joyful ring of a clever, yet heartfelt Best Man Toast to the Bride and Groom. The contemporary wedding is truly a work of love and art with all the trimmings and enticing treats for one and all to treasure and enjoy.

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How to Deliver a Great Best Man Speech, with Examples

November 6, 2020 - Dom Barnard

The best man speech is a huge part of the wedding so make sure yours is memorable. There are many areas to think about while preparing your speech; who is in the audience, how big is the audience, how long should the speech be, should I be telling jokes and so on.

Below we’ve listed essential best man speech tips on dealing with these questions and guidelines you can use to write your own speech.

Essential best man speaking tips

Tip #1: do your homework and plenty of practice.

Being prepared is the key to any successful speech. Write down bullet points of you key message, jokes, quotes etc. Spend time revising the content of your speech using different  tips from our blog , adding in  literary techniques , noting tactical pauses and best ways to end a speech.

Once the speech is written, spend hours practising it, the more you practise the less nervous you will be and the more natural you will sound. Don’t learn your speech off by heart, learn some key points and improvise around them. This will make you sound less wooden and monotonic.

For additional information, read this article on  best man tips  for before and after the speech.

Tip #2: Open by expressing gratitude

Thank the ones that made the day possible, the happy couple’s parents (single them out by name) and offer a toast to them for raising two fine people. Don’t forget to thank the audience as well. It’s a good idea to say something about how beautiful the bride looks and what a remarkable woman she is – this is guaranteed to go down well with everyone.

Tip #3: Introduce yourself to everyone

Many people at the wedding won’t know who you are. Briefly say who you are and why you’re such good friends with the groom.

Tip #4: Speak confidently and clearly

You know the groom better than most, so take the chance to introduce the real him to everyone. Talk slowly and clearly, taking time to pause and take deep breaths. Have a glass of water you can sip on during the speech, to help  calm the nerves  and break up the speech.

Tip #5: Get a joke in early

Getting a joke in early will help relax the mood. Spend time preparing the right joke – funny but not offensive, something that will appeal across all age groups, and make sure you learn it by heart.

Self-deprecation can go a long way, so it might be something told at your own expense. The audience will expect the speech to be somewhat funny so starting strongly will help engaging the audience.

Tip #6: Tell a story

Every great man speech includes a story, which could be how you met the bridegroom or a funny incident which you both went through. You can also tell a story about when you realised your friend had found his other half, or about when your friend would complain about being single for so long. Tread carefully when telling these and don’t cross the line with them!

Tip #7: Stay away from controversial topics

Anything embarrassing or offensive should be avoided by all means. Although this is common sense, once you get up there with a mic in front of you and a crowd waiting to see what you have to say, the situation might be so tense that cracking a crude joke or sharing an embarrassing story may seem perfect to lighten the mood. You’ll be left with a frozen audience that doesn’t want to laugh at the expense of the bridegroom.

Tip #8: Best to avoid past relationships

Try to avoid talking about the groom’s past relationships or reveal what you thought of the bride when you first laid eyes on her. Winking at the bride with comments such as “looking forward to the honeymoon” is absolutely out of the question when writing your best man speech!

Tip #9: Keep it short

Ideally, a best man’s speech should be no more than 1,000 words. The guests have already listened to the bride’s father and maid of honour speeches and are minutes away from eating the cake, so shoot for five minutes tops.

Tip #10: Summarise your friend’s good character

After the bulk of your speech, make sure you list the essential qualities of the groom which you have discovered over the years. You want the audience to think you’re a nice guy and convince the bride she picked the right man to marry!

Tip #11: End with a quote

Wrap everything you have said up nicely by  ending with a quote , such as: “Giving a best man speech is a choice. And, these two people have clearly chosen!”

Tip #12: Propose a toast

It’s time to raise your glass and toast for a lifetime of happiness and love for the couple… or something to this effect.

Use these best man speech tips to deliver a powerful speech people will remember for a very long time.

Best Man Speech – things to avoid

• Inside jokes  – you and a handful of people might find them funny, no one else will
• Getting drunk  – even though it may be tempting to calm the nerves beforehand
• Panic and get too nervous  – the key to avoiding this is to practice the speech until you really know it
• Waffling  – keep to 5 minutes of good quality content
• Reading straight from an A4 sheet  – take bullet points written on cue cards instead
• Speaking too quietly or loudly  – record your voice and play it back to yourself to hear what you sound like
• Discussing complex topics  – the audience will be left clueless if you talk about his latest PhD work

How to write a Best Man Speech – detailed guide

The opening.

Like any  form of public speaking , you need to have your audience on side right from the beginning. Be confident. After all, you know the groom better than most in the room and your best man speech is the perfect chance to introduce him to everybody else!

• Introduce yourself and say why you are best friends with the groom.
• Outline your speech (briefly).
• Feel free to improvise rather than sticking to the script you have prepared at home. Maybe something struck you as moving or funny during the ceremony. Mention it!
• Praise the bride early on (personality, looks, etc.) to buy good will right from the start and set everyone she knows at ease.
• Consider self-deprecation as it is something that will appeal across all age groups and it a great way to get a joke in early.

The main section of the speech

The important thing to remember is that the speech is not about you but the groom. Therefore, it’s okay if your best man speech paints a picture of your relationship with the groom but you need to concentrate on what a great guy he is, so everything you say has to revolve around that.

Be pleasant and nice and give your best man speech a flow. Every section and paragraph should run smoothly, jokes should be brief, and each story (you could also include other friends’ favourite memories, too) should reveal some more of the groom’s character and life.

The conclusion to the speech

So, by now you will have used all the funny stories and are ready to wow your audience with something emotional that will make their eyes water. You can say something about love and philosophise a little. It is also a good time to emphasise the love story of the bridegroom.

End your best man speech by saying how one completes the other and how happy you know one will make the other as they walk the paths of married life together. Your end to the best man speech should be as noteworthy as your opening comments so don’t fade away.

Best Man Speech examples

Here are some of our favourite best man speech examples:

• Greatest and funniest best man speech at a wedding
• Best brother wedding speech kills crowd
• Best man speech by Daniel Buccheri
• Best man speech – receives standing ovation

Final points to remember

There is no need to try too hard to be formal or present yourself as someone you are not. It’s important to just be yourself. This includes not necessarily following your prepared speech exactly. After all, these best man speech tips were written to provide you with a guide.

Your natural mannerisms and voice is what will make the difference so make it sincere, personal and if you talk from the heart, your best man speech will surely be golden!

For additional examples and best man speech tips, check out this website –  Best Man Example Wedding Speeches.

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Best Man , Speeches

How to write the best “best man speech” ever.

The role of the best man isn’t just about planning a killer bachelor party.

Not only are they there to back up the groom by remembering cumberbundts and cufflinks, running interference with troublesome relatives, and working with the maid of honor to ensure everything goes according to plan.

But to top it off, they are usually expected to offer a speech and a toast to the newly married couple.

Not everyone is an expert orator. After all, public speaking is the number one fear for nearly 75% of the population in the United States. If this is you, you have come to the right place.

The secret to writing a best man speech is to balance humor with sentimentality.

Read on to learn how to write the best “best man speech”.

What is Your Relationship with the Groom?

Have you been best friends since the sixth grade? Did you meet at work and click instantly? Are you a brother/son/father/cousin?

Breaking down what your relationship with the groom is will help you figure out what kind of speech suits you best. A best man speech for your brother is going to be very different than one for your father.

Here are some recommendations for the tone you should shoot for:

If the groom is your best friend , it’s alright to lean on humor and funny anecdotes to get the point across.

Avoid inappropriate jokes: anything having to do with sex, illegal activities (including drugs), and other embarrassing content.

Innuendo is alright as long as you can do it well.

Avoid inside jokes! The speech is for everyone present to engage with.

If the groom is your brother or a relative of the same age as you , a playful or humorous tone is appropriate, but don’t forget to add more sentimental moments.

If you’re the older brother , talk about how much the groom has grown up.

If you’re the younger brother , talk about how you always (or never, if you want some laughs) looked up to him.

Graciously welcome the bride to your family.

If the groom is an older relative, such as your father , temper your humor towards an older crowd.

For example, while you can roast your father about his ugly golf pants, don’t talk about why your mother divorced him

If the groom is your son , you may want to wax poetically about the man your boy has grown to be. That’s a good starting point. After all, you have a very unique perspective of your son and who he was and who he’s growing to be. Again, tread carefully with jokes. Joking about how he didn’t learn to wipe his butt until he was a teenager isn’t cool.

If you are the best woman to the groom , make sure the speech focuses on the groom’s relationship with the bride.

No matter who you are to either of these people, whether you’re married, straight, or just honest-to-goodness best friends, people who don’t know you well are going to speculate on your relationship with the groom.

By turning the focus back towards his beautiful bride, you can take the focus off of yourself and put it right back on the couple.

Best Man Speech Outline

You don’t want your speech to be long and rambling, so it’s a good idea to start with an outline and stick to that.

Here’s a good best man speech template to get you started:

• Great opening line
• Jokes (if you’re having them, otherwise keep this part lighter in tone)
• Sentimentality (no matter what kind of speech you’re writing, you need to inject some earnest feelings)
• Come back to the jokes/or back to a lighter tone
• Closing lines and the toast

Best Man Speech Opening Lines

Every good speech needs a good icebreaker, something that is going to grab everyone’s attention and keep it.

For that reason, we suggest writing your opening line last.

Instead, start with the first thing you can think of. When you’re starting to write your best man speech, brainstorm ideas by using the phrase, ‘I remember…’ as a leaping off point.

This is a good way to highlight those things about your relationship with the groom that are most important, the things that make up your relationship with the best man and set it apart, such as:

“I remember when Steve and I wound up getting kicked out of Macy’s for having a perfume fight.” “I remember when he came to my house when we found out about Mom’s car accident. He wanted to be the first person to make sure I was OK.” “I remember when we used to fight over who got to play StarFox in Super Smash Brothers!” “I remember when he went to Italy and we didn’t talk for a whole year but when he came home, he gave me the biggest hug.” “I remember the first time he called me from college and told me he was nervous and scared to be away from home. We made a pact to call one another every other day and we still do.”

Select the one that is the most prominent in your mind, or the one that really encompasses your relationship with the groom.

Rewrite it like you’re addressing the audience. Add humor if it’s appropriate, or sentimentality.

The rest of these memories can be scattered throughout the speech as you see fit.

Best Man Speech Tips

Start and finish strong Most people are going to remember your beginning and ending the best, so save these spaces for your best jokes, anecdotes, or mushy bits.

Don’t wait until the last minute to plan your speech! Start on it as early as possible, preferably when the groom asks you to be their best man.

You don’t have to finish it right away, but this way you can write notes and ideas down as they come to you, instead of planning last minute and being unable to think of anything because you’re too nervous.

Notecards My fiance was going to officiate a friend’s wedding, and he mentioned that he wanted to memorize it. “No!” I shouted. “There’s no reason to do this!”

This isn’t Speech and Debate Class.

If you try to memorize your best man speech, you’re just putting extra stress on yourself.

Good orators use notes, even if they’re talking off the top of their heads.

Have notes or even a written-out best man speech will make you more confident and make the speech seem more natural.

Remember: you aren’t getting graded.

Leave some stories out You may have a great story about how the groom got so wasted in college and woke up in bed with a stranger.

That’s a great story for the bachelor party.

While it’s fine to be a little blue or racy during your speech, follow best man speech etiquette: if you wouldn’t say it to grandma’s face, don’t say it here. And if you absolutely have to get blue, use innuendo.

Keep it snappy Think about it like this: the average time for a non-religious wedding ceremony is 15-20 minutes.

Your best man speech doesn’t need to be that long at all.

Three to five minutes is MORE than enough; you can even get away with shorter.

Avoid negativity This is supposed to be the best day of the groom’s life.

While there’s always the old stereotype that men hate marriage, don’t do that. It’s not classy, and most couples don’t find it funny.

With that, avoid negative topics, like previous marriages or divorces, illegal activity (like drugs, driving drunk, and more), and sex.

One quote max Some people like to quote or read things during their speeches. Like the Bible, or some love poetry.

That’s fine, but keep it short and limit to to only one quote.

It’s a good way to fill out space, but no one wants to sit through another 15 minutes speech.

Read the room During the cocktail hour before dinner and speeches, get a good survey of the room.

Are most of the people at this wedding older? Are there a lot of children? What are the general politics?

The best man’s speech is not a chance to spit out something pithy about the current president and risk offending half the room.

Get a feel for the room and do some last minute edits as needed

It ain’t all about you A big mistake some people make is highlighting their lives with the groom.

That’s alright to a certain extent.

If you’re going to talk about how the groom inspired you and helped you start your own business, it’s not a plug for your business. It’s about how great the groom is.

Use a fact, then pivot State something as a fact, then pivot to more, intimate information about it.

Such as, “Dan and I went to high school together at Ferris High School.” Fact.

“When Dan was in high school, he had no game with the ladies.” Pivot to a joke.

Make fun of his quirks, but not his lifestyle choices or his career You can joke about him eating bread with just mayonnaise on it, but don’t joke about his unconventional dream of running a clown school. As silly as it is, it’s still important to him.

Don’t add new players When you’re telling a story, the only people you should be referencing are the bride, the groom, and on a much smaller scale, yourself.

If you say, “Once in high school, me and Anthony were hanging out with… I think it was Bill, John, and Travis, right?

Well, Travis at the time was super into karate and he wanted to teach me and Anthony, but he didn’t know that Emily and Sally…” boring and confusing to read, right?

Don’t make 80-150 people be bored to death by it either.

Best Man Speech Ending

The ending should be the second-to-last thing that you write. You’ll be summing up the speech without repeating it exactly.

And then comes the most important part: the toast. Yes, even if there’s no alcohol at this event, you will be expected to do a toast to the bride and groom.

Here’s some examples of how to end a best man speech:

“So this is to Charlie and Jasmine, who have been there for each and every one of us. This is your day, the first day of your new life together.” “Please join me in raising a glass to Amanda and Tom. May you have a hundred years of happiness together.” “If you could all raise your glasses– no, Mr. Turnblat, the one with champagne, not the ones on your face– to the bride and the groom.” “And now for the toast. Everyone knows that the best toast out there is French toast. So, aux mariés, j’offre une vie d’amour à vous deux.

Best Man Speech Jokes & One-Liners

Sometimes it can be difficult to think of jokes if you aren’t a natural born comedian, so we have compiled a list of short one-liners and best man speech jokes that may help you.

If the groom is a bad singer:

“We all know that Tim is a great singer [pause for questionable laughter]. I love listening to him sing solo. [pause] So low, no one can hear him.”

Some light innuendo:

“It sure is a perfect day for a wedding. It’s nice out. So nice out, [bride] should leave it out until they get back to the hotel.

If the groom played football:

“Just some last messages here to read out: one from [groom’s] football team to [bride] – Apologies we couldn’t all be there today, good luck with [groom], we found him to be useless in most positions but wishing you all the best for tonight.”

If the groom has a lot of hobbies:

“Kayaking, tennis, 5k running, model airplane building, fixing sinks… is there anything you can do?”

If the groom is short:

“I’m going to keep this speech like [groom]– short and not very funny.”

A good, general roast:

“I’d also like to congratulate [groom] on a truly magnificent speech. I always knew it would be hard to follow and I was right, I could hardly follow a word of it.”

“You’ve got no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to today. After all the time I’ve been friends with [groom], he has at long last admitted that I am in fact the best man.”

If you’re super nervous:

“I have no problem admitting to you all that I’m extremely nervous right now. And those of you in the front should be warned– I tend to throw up when I’m nervous. You’re sitting in the splash zone.”

Best Man Speech Examples

Funny best man speech.

“Hello everyone, if you don’t know me, my name’s Sam and I’ve been Brendan’s best friend since the first grade, when we were both six years old. If you didn’t know Brendan when he was six, don’t worry; he had the same hair cut, the same mischevious smile, and he still dribbled food everywhere when he ate. Hey Brendan? You know you have to return that tux in good shape, right? Keep away from the minestone! Just kidding. Sorry, sorry. It’s been an emotional day. Even the cake is in tiers. Everyone can see that Mary makes the perfect bride. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s kind, caring, and supportive, and she deserves the best man. Unfortunately, we don’t always get what we deserve. So where do I start with Brendan? Well, for starters he’s handsome, witty, intelligent, he’s charm…sorry…Brendan, I’m having trouble reading your handwriting. You can tell me the rest later. Brendan has been there for me during the worst of times. Brendan has caused some of those bad times, like when he thought it would be a good idea to go off-roading in my mom’s mini-van. Yeah, I’m still grounded for that. But Danielle, you need not worry. I can say from experience than Brendan is the perfect partner in crime. And even more, he loves you beyond reason. Like, if you thought he was goofy before he met Danielle, you should have seen him the first night he met her! So, Danielle and Brendan, here’s to you on this special day.”

Religious Best Man Speech

“Hello everyone, and thank you all for being here today to celebrate with Jessica and Adam. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Don’t worry, we finished with the church stuff. But when Adam asked me to be his best man, I immediately thought of this verse in regards to him. Faith. Adam is faithful. Not just in the sense that he’s faithful to Jessica. That goes without saying. But he is faithful to his friends when he shows up to every single one of our acapella shows to support us. He is faithful to his church community because he not only attends church, he participates in church. You won’t come into our church and see Adam falling asleep in the pews. He is partaking. He is planning the canned food drive. He is helping fund the youth retreat. Adam is also a faithful son to his parents. He takes his mother to her tai chi classes every day. He spends half his weekend mowing his own lawn, and then the other half mowing his parents. He respects their wisdom. Hope. Adam is hopeful. Hopeful that his relationship with Jessica will be fruitful with children and love. Hopeful that people can treat one another better. Hopeful to be prosperous in his work. Love. Adam loves. Adam loves me, even though we sometimes disagree. And it’s not even that Adam loves– he shows his love. He shows his love for humanity by being the first person to help someone struggling with a door. Or by letting people into his lane when he’s driving. Or by giving to charity and volunteering his time. Love is the greatest of these, says Corinthians. Jessica, Adam, you have so much love ahead of you. God bless.”

Brother Best Man Speech

“When I was five, I asked my parents for a Nintendo 64. I got a baby brother instead. I think there’s probably a pawn shop I could still trade them in, somewhere? Matthew has been my built-in number one fan since the day he learned how to talk. Wherever I went, he was right behind. When I started high school, and he was still in elementary, he clung to my leg and cried for thirty minutes. So yes, Sarah, he is pretty clingy. So be careful. I’m pretty sure that Matthew has always been the favorite for our parents. He could get away with anything! One time, he brought this really ugly, smelly kid home from school with him. Mom was so angry, but it wasn’t like she could do anything. I lived there. Also, I don’t know how many people know this, but my brother is a total narc. He caught me making out with a girl at the lake and ran straight home to tell Mom an Dad. Another time, he caught me smoking cigarettes and when I didn’t give him one, who do you imagine he told? I used to call getting grounded, ‘Getting Matthewed.’ So, if anyone here wants to engage in illegal activity… don’t trust my brother. But let’s talk about Sarah. Sarah, you are too good for us. Seriously. Why didn’t you find some other family to move into? This one is way too rowdy and gross. I mean, you should have known the first time you saw Matthew. By the way, did anyone know that Sarah is a sculptor? She took this lump of mishapen, discarded, preschool Play-Doh that is somehow my brother and turned it into something vaguely resembling a man. It’s not a perfect job, but we shouldn’t hold Sarah responsible for that. She could only do so much. So, to my old brother and my new sister, I love you both so much! May you have many blessed years to come.”

Same-Sex Best Man Speech

“When David first came out to me in high school, I in no way imagined that this was where we’d wind up. We didn’t really know one another at the time, so I don’t know why he thought I was a safe person to come out to. But here we are. A few years ago, this wedding would have been impossible from a legal standpoint. David has been through so much to make this a reality. I won’t pretend I know what it’s like, but I have done my best to be there for him, just like how he was there for me throughout my dad’s cancer. He took a week off of work to sit with my at Dad’s hospice bed. He went on beer runs; he started card games; he told jokes and memories of my dad. This made Dad’s finally hours pleasant, but more than that, it helped me and my family transition back to normal life. That’s just the type of friend the David is. But we don’t need to talk about those sad things. We get to talk about how lovely a couple he and Terrance are. David and Terrance are here for only two reasons: one, that they fell in love. And two, they need new bathroom towels. And we’re here because we were a part of that love story, and because they trust us to have good taste. Any one of us can remember going to their cookouts in the summer, feasting with them on Thanksgiving, or even spending the holidays with them because we had nowhere else to go. David and Terrance have opened their homes and their hearts to each and every one of us and expected nothing in return. So, if you’re here because you know Terrance but you haven’t gotten to meet David quite yet– don’t worry. Your man is in the very best of hands. Let’s do something that was impossible five years ago and raise a glass to these two wonderful men.”

Questions Every Best Man Should Ask Themselves

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How to Write a Best Man Speech in 9 Simple Steps

Been tasked to write a best man speech and not sure where to start? Follow these easy rules for how to write a best man speech—and how to deliver it like a total pro.

Valorie Darling Photography

Being enlisted as someone's best man is a big deal, and there are plenty of  best man duties  involved—including figuring out how to write a best man speech. Yes, it’s tradition for the best man to give a wedding speech during the reception, so it’s time to prep for that responsibility. If you’re feeling a little nervous about giving a toast in front of a crowd, that’s totally normal, especially if public speaking isn’t your forte. But with a little forethought, planning, and a lot of practice, you’ll be wowing everyone with your best man speech in no time. Here are nine steps to writing a short best man speech that's sweet and to the point—and how you can ace the delivery. 

How to Write a Great Best Man Speech

Follow this best man speech template to easily get started when it's time to write your own wedding toast. 

1. Plan out your best man speech ahead of time.

Presuming you’re not reading this the night before the wedding, you should give yourself plenty of time—at least one month—to write your best man speech. The weeks leading up to the wedding day, especially participating as such a crucial part of the wedding party, can become hectic. With all of the events you’ll be encouraged or required to attend (on top of keeping up with your own personal life), you may very well lose sight of time. It’s better to plan ahead so you relieve some of the pressure when it's time to write an awesome best man speech.

2. Start your best man speech by expressing gratitude.

If you’re wondering how to write a best man speech, we recommend beginning the speech by stepping onto the dance floor and saying good evening to the crowd (you can write this as a note at the top of your speech as a reminder in case you get nervous). The opening line of your speech should introduce yourself as the best man and then express gratitude to those you think deserve a special shout out. Thank the couple’s parents for raising such great people, thank your friend for having you here, thank the guests for coming, and maybe throw in a one-liner thanking the bartender for a few laughs. It’s a low-key way to break the ice, ease yourself into the best man speech, and make sure those who deserve thanks feel appreciated.

3. Then, talk about your relationship with the groom.

Beyond introducing your name, a big part of how to write a best man speech is talking about your relationship with the groom. Talk about how you met him, how long you've known each other, and what kind of great friend he is. If you can think of an anecdote or funny story that really sums up the kind of person he is, whether that’s charming, warm-hearted, or thoughtful, use it. A funny best man speech is always memorable, but if you’re going to use an anecdote, linking that story to his partner when possible will make it even more meaningful. For example, maybe he’s incredibly outgoing but forgetful, while his new spouse is more thoughtful and organized. If you start with an anecdote of his forgetfulness and later follow up with a time you saw his partner’s organizational skills help him out big time—and that’s a moment you knew they were the real deal—that’s a perfect icebreaker.

4. Focus on the couple's relationship, and not just your own.

Presuming you’ve known the groom for longer than he’s know his partner, you can definitely start your best man toast by sharing an inside joke and recalling the earlier times in your friendship, but then you should skip ahead to when he met his partner. Think of a story that epitomizes their relationship. If you can talk about the exact moment when you realized his partner was “The One” for him, include that. Maybe your buddy told you one week after meeting his partner that they were going to get married, and you thought he was absolutely bonkers, but here you are. Maybe you’ve known the groom for a long, long time—for example, if you’re his brother or you've been best friends since elementary school. You’ve probably always had an idea of what his perfect partner would look like, but the one sitting in front of you exceeds all expectations. Emphasize that he's a great guy and how happy you are for your pal that he’s found someone so perfect for him.

Front Room Studios

5. Keep your best man speech short and sweet.

In terms of  wedding speech order , the best man speech is typically first, followed by the  maid of honor's toast  and parent speeches or  father-of-the-bride-speech . Even though you'll go first, a good best man speech is short and sweet, since you want to avoid people growing restless during the later speeches (guests are ready to eat, drink, and dance at this point of the wedding reception). Aim for a short best man speech between three and five minutes max. Keep in mind that it will feel much shorter to you when you’re actually giving the speech, and you will likely rush through it a little bit in the spotlight. That’s why you must…

7. Practice, practice, practice.

One of the most crucial best man speech tips is that you have to—and we mean  have to— practice your speech  before the wedding. You should read it to yourself out loud at least three or four times ahead of the actual reception. It might feel awkward at first, but would you rather fumble your words alone in private with the chance to make improvements, or give your speech for the first time while being watched by dozens of people with camera phones? Record yourself giving the speech, then replay it for mistakes and things to change. Not only is practice critical to giving the best performance, but it will give you a confidence boost when the big moment arrives. Consider sending the video to a friend, other groomsmen, or relative to give you honest feedback.

7. Write it down.

You should try to memorize your best man toast as best you can, but you’ll feel less anxious if you have it written down. Practice your speech enough so you won’t need to stare at the piece of paper the entire time, but jot down the main talking points to easily transition from one part to the next. Consider using notecards or a small notepad—remember that there's going to be professional photography and videography of your best man speech. Reading from a haphazardly torn piece of scrap paper or worse, your hand, will look sloppy and indicate that you didn’t prepare for the speech.

8. Don’t drink beforehand.

Keep your alcohol intake to a minimum until after you’re finished delivering the best man speech. It's normal to want to calm your nerves, but anything more than one drink during cocktail hour could backfire—alcohol paired with intense nerves and emotions will only amplify them (and you run the risk of slurring your speech!). The more you drink, the less likely you'll be able to remember what you've planned and form cohesive thoughts in the spotlight. Once your speech is over, you'll have time to celebrate all you want. 

9. Finish your best man speech with congratulations and a toast.

This is a foolproof way to end your best man speech. Conclude by congratulating the happy couple on their big day and offer a toast to their lifetime of happiness. The toast can be personal, witty, or a quote. Perhaps there’s a line about love and relationships from one of the groom’s favorite comedians or movies that you can share, or you can simply wish the newlyweds the best and ask your fellow guests to raise their glasses in celebration. 

Things to Avoid In a Best Man Speech

In order to write a good speech, you want to keep the focus off yourself and instead on the happy couple and their future. In general, it's best to steer clear of these things:

1. Inappropriate anecdotes. 

Your pal's grandmother definitely does not need to hear about that one infamous night in college, no matter how relevant or funny it might seem to your buddies. Leave those drunken tales and embarrassing stories for the bachelor party and keep your best man speech PG.

2. Any talk of exes.

Your friend's wedding is absolutely not the time to bring up ex-girlfriends or previous relationships. No matter a how good a story you think it is, or even if it leads directly to the moment you're all in now, just leave it out completely—trust us.

3. Foul language.

Sensing a theme here? You want to make sure your best man speech is well received by everyone, from the 80-year-old guests to the 8-year-old guests. Remember: A wedding is a family event, so it's best to leave out any profanity or other PG-13 talk. 

4. Long-winded stories.

As mentioned previously, you want to keep your best man speech short and sweet. As great as your speech is going to be, the last thing you want is for the wedding guests to tune out halfway through your time in the spotlight. If a story needs more than a few sentences to explain, either pare it down or consider a different approach for writing your best man speech.

Related WeddingWire Articles

Crafting Your Memorable Best Man Speech in 2024 [Ultimate Guide]

Unlock the secrets to nailing your best man speech with our guide. Get laughs & tears with ease.

By Juan C Olamendy · Updated: March 22, 2024

Introduction

Crafting the perfect best man speech is an art form that balances humor, sentimentality, and personality, all while honoring the newlyweds.

Whether you're a seasoned public speaker or new to the spotlight, the responsibility of delivering a speech that captures the essence of the groom and his journey can be daunting.

Yet, with the right approach, it becomes an incredible opportunity to celebrate love, friendship, and the future. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through every step of creating and delivering a best man speech that leaves a lasting impression.

As the best man, you've been entrusted with the honor of delivering a speech that will not only entertain but also touch the hearts of everyone present at the wedding.

A well-crafted best man speech can elevate the wedding celebration, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of the newlyweds and their guests.

This is your opportunity to reminisce, honor, and celebrate the union in a way that resonates deeply with all in attendance.

In this article, we'll delve into the art of crafting a memorable best man speech, exploring the key elements that make it a resounding success, so you can deliver a speech that will be remembered for years to come.

Useful Links

• Crafting Your Memorable Best Man Speech in 2024: The Ultimate Guide
• How do I write a wedding speech for the best man?
• How do I write the best man's speech?
• Wedding & Rehearsal Dinner Toasts: What are some great tips for preparing a best man speech?
• I'm doing the best man speech last minute and have no clue what I'm doing

Importance of a best man speech

The best man speech holds a unique and pivotal role in the wedding celebration.

It sets the tone for the evening, injecting humor, warmth, and personality into the festivities.

As the groom's closest confidant, you have the privilege of sharing insights and stories that no one else can, making your speech a cherished and anticipated highlight.

This unique blend ensures that the speech resonates with every guest, creating a moment of laughter, tears, and joy.

There are important elememnts to consider such as:

• Setting the Tone for the Celebration: The speech sets the celebratory mood, inviting guests to share in the joy and anticipation of the day.
• Honoring the Couple and Their Journey: It's a tribute to the love story that has culminated in this beautiful union.
• Highlighting the Groom's Character: Through anecdotes and personal insights, the speech paints a picture of the groom's qualities.
• Offering Warm Wishes for the Future: Concluding with heartfelt wishes, the speech looks forward to the couple's future together.

The Role of Humor, Sentimentality, and Personality

Humor is a powerful tool in a best man's arsenal. It breaks the ice, engages the audience, and makes the speech more memorable. However, it's crucial to balance humor with sentimentality. Share heartfelt stories and express your genuine feelings about the couple. Remember, the speech is a reflection of your personality, so let it shine through.

Setting the Tone for the Celebration

A well-crafted best man speech has the power to set the mood for the entire reception.

With the right blend of humor and heartfelt sentiments, you can create an atmosphere of joy and celebration that will resonate with all in attendance.

The best man's speech sets the tone for the wedding celebration. It's the perfect opportunity to share the couple's love story, acknowledge their journey, and express your well-wishes for their future. Remember that the best speeches are those that strike a balance between humor and heartfelt sentiment.

Honoring the Couple and Their Journey

This is your chance to pay tribute to the couple's love story, acknowledging the challenges they've overcome and the beautiful journey that has led them to this momentous occasion.

The best man speech is a tribute to the couple and their journey. It's a chance to acknowledge their love, celebrate their achievements, and express your admiration for their relationship.

Highlighting the Groom's Character

As the groom's closest friend, you have a unique perspective on his character and journey.

Sharing personal anecdotes and fond memories will not only delight the guests but also paint a vivid picture of the man the bride has chosen to spend her life with.

As the best man, you have a unique perspective on the groom's character. Use your speech to highlight his best qualities, share memorable stories, and express your appreciation for your friendship.

Offering Warm Wishes for the Future

Ultimately, your speech should be a heartfelt expression of your hopes and well-wishes for the couple's future together.

Your words have the power to inspire and uplift, setting the stage for a lifetime of love, happiness, and adventure.

End your speech on a positive note by offering warm wishes for the couple's future. Express your hope for their happiness, success, and lifelong love.

Conquering Speech Anxiety

For many, the thought of standing in front of a crowd and delivering a speech can be daunting.

However, with the right mindset and techniques, you can conquer your nerves and deliver a confident, engaging performance.

Check Dealing with Speech Anxiety - Tips for managing public speaking anxiety.

Recognizing Speech Nerves

It's completely normal to feel nervous before giving a speech. Understanding that these jitters are a common experience can help you manage them more effectively.

In fact, a touch of nervous energy can actually enhance your delivery, adding a sense of passion and excitement to your words.

It's Normal to Feel Nervous Feeling nervous before delivering a speech is completely normal. In fact, it's a sign that you care about doing a good job. According to Psychology Today, the adrenaline rush caused by nervousness can actually enhance your performance.

[Public speaking](( https://www.toastmasters.org ) is consistently ranked as one of the most common fears, so rest assured that you're not alone in feeling a little apprehensive.

Physiological Symptoms of Speech Anxiety Speech anxiety can manifest in various physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, or a racing heartbeat. Recognizing these symptoms can help you manage them effectively.

From a racing heart and sweaty palms to a dry mouth and shaky voice, the physical symptoms of speech anxiety can be unsettling.

It's important to recognize and accept these sensations as a natural response to a perceived stressful situation.

Techniques to Manage Pre-Speech Jitters There are several techniques to manage pre-speech jitters. These include deep breathing exercises, positive self-talk, and visualization.

Fortunately, there are effective techniques to help manage your nerves and stay focused on delivering a memorable speech.

Deep breathing exercises, positive self-talk, and visualization can all help you stay grounded and present in the moment.

Tips for Calming Your Nerves

While it's natural to feel some butterflies before taking the stage, there are practical strategies you can employ to calm your nerves and deliver your speech with confidence.

Preparation is Key One of the most effective ways to combat speech anxiety is through thorough preparation.

By practicing your speech out loud and timing yourself, you'll become more familiar and comfortable with the material, boosting your confidence on the big day.

Thorough preparation is the foundation of a confident delivery. Knowing your speech well allows you to focus on the delivery rather than remembering the next line.

Practice Out Loud: Rehearsing your speech out loud helps you become comfortable with the flow and wording. Time Yourself: Ensuring your speech fits within the ideal length keeps you concise and respectful of the audience's attention.

Relaxation Techniques Incorporating relaxation techniques into your pre-speech routine can help you manage any lingering nerves and stay centered.

Deep Breathing Exercises: Slowing your breath can calm your nervous system and reduce anxiety. Controlled deep breathing can help lower your heart rate, reduce muscle tension, and clear your mind, allowing you to approach the stage with a sense of calm and clarity.

Positive Self-Talk: Encourage yourself with affirmations that boost confidence and reduce self-doubt. Replacing negative self-talk with positive affirmations can be a powerful tool for boosting your confidence and quieting those inner critics.

Focus on the Couple's Happiness Remember, the focus of the speech is the couple's happiness. Keeping this in mind can help alleviate your nerves and shift your focus from your performance to the celebration of their love.

Remember, this speech is not about you; it's about celebrating the love and commitment of the newlyweds.

Shift your focus to the joy and significance of the occasion, and let your genuine happiness for the couple shine through.

Visualize Success Visualize yourself delivering a successful speech. This can help boost your confidence and reduce anxiety.

Engage in mental rehearsal by visualizing yourself delivering a flawless, engaging speech.

Imagine the audience's warm reception and the couple's smiles, and let that positive energy fuel your performance.

You can get inspirations by checking out these examples .

Use Humor Strategically Humor can help alleviate your nerves and engage the audience. However, use it strategically and ensure it's appropriate and respectful.

Well-timed humor can be an excellent way to break the ice and put both yourself and the audience at ease.

However, be mindful of your material and delivery, ensuring that your jokes are in good taste and land as intended.

The Anatomy of a Memorable Best Man Speech

Crafting a speech that will be remembered for years to come involves structuring your content for maximum impact. Here's how to build your speech from the ground up.

• Opening Remarks Your opening remarks set the tone for the entire speech, so it's crucial to grab the audience's attention right from the start.

Start with humor or sincere gratitude to break the ice and capture the audience's attention. A funny anecdote about how you met the groom or a simple thank you to the guests for attending sets a welcoming tone.

This sets the tone for the rest of your speech and captures the audience's attention.

• Personal Anecdotes As the groom's closest friend, you likely have a treasure trove of personal stories and memories to share.

Share stories that highlight the groom's character, your relationship, and memorable moments you've shared. These stories should be both entertaining and revealing, showing the depth of your friendship and the groom's qualities.

Remember to share memorable, funny, or touching stories about the groom. Personal anecdotes add depth to your speech and provide insight into your relationship with the groom.

• Compliments to the Bride and Couple While the speech revolves around the groom, it's essential to include heartfelt compliments for the bride and the couple. Highlight the qualities that make her the perfect partner for your friend, and express your genuine well-wishes for their future together.

Acknowledge the bride, focusing on her relationship with the groom and what makes them a perfect match. It's important to celebrate their journey together and the future they're building.

• Including the Audience A truly memorable speech engages the entire audience, not just the couple. Look for opportunities to incorporate references to shared experiences, inside jokes, or anecdotes that involve other guests, fostering a sense of camaraderie and inclusivity.

Make references that include the guests, perhaps mentioning family traditions or shared experiences. This not only personalizes the speech but also strengthens the communal feeling of the event.

Make your speech inclusive by referencing guests, family moments, or communal experiences. This engages the audience and makes them feel part of the celebration.

Integrating meaningful quotes or reading messages from those who couldn't attend adds a special touch to your speech. It shows thoughtfulness and consideration for others.

• Quotes, Poems, or Messages from Absent Guests Adding a touch of literary flair can elevate your speech and provide a meaningful conclusion. Consider incorporating a quote that resonates with the couple's journey or reading a special message from a loved one who couldn't be present.

If there are loved ones who couldn't make it, sharing their well-wishes or a meaningful quote can add a touching element, reminding the couple and the guests of the love surrounding them.

Check Quotes and Poems ** - For finding quotes and poems to include in your speech.

Crafting Your Speech

• Structure and Flow Like any great story, your speech should have a clear structure and flow, guiding the audience through a cohesive narrative.

Begin by outlining your main points and the order in which you'll present them.

This will ensure that your speech has a logical progression and that each element builds upon the last, culminating in a powerful conclusion.

When organizing your speech, consider the three-act structure: introduction, body, and conclusion.

In the introduction, set the tone and provide context for your role as the best man.

The body should contain the bulk of your personal anecdotes, compliments, and well-wishes, while the conclusion should leave a lasting impression and tie everything together neatly.

• Preparation Tips Crafting a memorable speech requires more than just putting words on paper; it also involves thorough preparation and attention to detail.

Research Take the time to gather information about the couple's love story, their shared interests, and any inside jokes or references that you can weave into your speech.

This added personalization will make your words resonate even deeper with the couple and their guests.

Rehearsal Once you've written your speech, practice it out loud, in front of a mirror or with trusted friends and family members.

This will help you identify any areas that need refinement, ensure proper pacing, and build your confidence for the big day.

Stay Sober While it may be tempting to indulge in a few pre-speech drinks to calm your nerves, it's best to stay sober for your speech.

Alcohol can impair your judgment, delivery, and overall performance, potentially turning a heartfelt moment into an embarrassing one.

Delivering a Powerful Speech

Mastering the Delivery

Project your voice, speak clearly, maintain eye contact with the audience, use natural body language, and embrace pauses for effect. These techniques enhance your delivery and engage the audience.

Project Your Voice and Speak Clearly: Projecting your voice and enunciating clearly will ensure that every word is heard and understood by all in attendance. Speak slowly and with confidence, allowing your words to carry weight and emotion. Ensure every guest can hear by speaking loudly and articulating your words.

Maintain Eye Contact with the Audience: Making eye contact with the audience, especially the couple and their immediate families, will create a sense of connection and engagement. Avoid staring at your notes or the floor, as this can come across as disengaged or unconfident. Connect with your audience by looking around the room, making everyone feel included.

Use Natural Body Language: Your body language can enhance or detract from your speech delivery. Stand tall, make natural gestures, and move around the stage (if possible) to add energy and emphasis to your words. Gesture naturally to emphasize points and convey your emotions, making your speech more engaging.

Embrace Pauses for Effect: Don't be afraid to pause for effect or to allow moments of laughter or emotion to sink in. These pauses can add depth and impact to your speech, making it more memorable and meaningful. Use pauses to let important points resonate and to give the audience time to react, especially after jokes or poignant moments.

Handling Unexpected Situations

No matter how well you prepare, unexpected situations can arise during your speech delivery.

Maintaining your composure and professionalism in the face of these challenges will showcase your resilience and commitment to honoring the couple.

Anticipate technical difficulties, respond to laughter or awkward silence, gracefully recover from mistakes, and maintain a positive and confident demeanor. Handling unexpected situations with grace shows your adaptability and resilience.

Anticipate Technical Difficulties: If you're using a microphone or other audio equipment, be prepared for potential technical difficulties. Have a backup plan in place, such as projecting your voice or relocating closer to the audience if necessary.

Respond to Laughter or Awkward Silence: If your joke falls flat or an awkward silence ensues, don't panic. Embrace the moment with grace and move on to the next part of your speech. Remember, not every attempt at humor will land, but your poise and positive attitude will shine through.

Gracefully Recover from Mistakes: If you stumble over a word or lose your place, take a deep breath and continue on. The audience will appreciate your ability to recover gracefully and maintain your composure.

Maintain a Positive and Confident Demeanor: Throughout any unexpected situations, maintain a positive and confident demeanor. Your attitude and energy will set the tone for the audience and can help diffuse any tension or awkwardness.

Sample Speeches and Templates

While your speech should be a unique reflection of your friendship and the couple's journey, it can be helpful to have a framework to guide your writing process.

Here are some frameworks to inspire and guide the creation of your speech:

The Classic Best Man Speech

• Open with a joke or a heartfelt thank you
• Share a personal story about the groom
• Compliment the bride and their relationship
• Offer advice or well-wishes for their future
• End with a toast to the couple

The Modern Best Man Speech

• Start with a unique or unexpected opening
• Incorporate multimedia elements (photos, videos, etc.)
• Share a personal story that reflects the couple's values or interests
• Include interactive elements (audience participation, games, etc.)
• End with a heartfelt toast

How long should a best man speech be? (50 words)

The ideal length for a best man speech is between 3 to 5 minutes. Keeping it concise ensures that you hold the audience's attention while delivering a heartfelt and humorous message. It's important to include all necessary acknowledgments and stories within this timeframe to maintain engagement

What are some good topics for a best man speech? (50 words)

Funny anecdotes about the groom, the couple's love story, and a toast to their future.

Can I tell embarrassing stories about the groom? (50 words)

Use humor lightly and avoid anything mean-spirited or hurtful.

Who should the best man thank in their speech?

In your speech, make sure to thank the groom for the honor of being chosen as the best man, and extend your gratitude to the couple for including you in their special day. It's also courteous to thank the couple's parents and anyone else who played a significant role in the wedding or the couple's life.

What if I'm not good at public speaking? (50 words)

Prepare thoroughly, practice, and focus on delivering well, not perfection.

Can you read your speech at a wedding?

Yes, it's perfectly acceptable to read your speech. Not everyone is comfortable with public speaking, and reading from notes can help deliver your message confidently and coherently. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the speech content but have notes handy as a backup

How can I incorporate the couple's personalities into the speech?

Share stories that reflect their personalities, use humor that aligns with their sense of humor, and express sentiments that resonate with their values and beliefs.

What are some good toast phrases to use?

"To a lifetime of love and laughter," "To the perfect pair," and "To love that grows stronger with each passing day" are some good toast phrases to use.

What should I wear for the wedding speech?

You should wear what the couple has requested for their wedding attire, typically a suit or tuxedo.

When does the best man give their speech?

Traditionally, the best man gives his speech at the wedding reception before dinner. While there might be a specific order for speeches suggested by wedding etiquette, the exact timing can vary based on the couple's preference. Ensure you know when you're expected to speak so you're prepared​

Tips for Crafting and Delivering the Speech

Outline Your Speech: Begin by crafting an outline to ensure you cover all essential elements without rambling. Consider the formality of the wedding when deciding on the tone of your speech.

Personal Stories: Share amusing or touching stories about the groom, but keep it appropriate for all audiences. Balance inside jokes with humor that everyone can appreciate.

Compliment the Bride: Remember to compliment the bride, focusing on her relationship with the groom and her qualities that make her a perfect match for him.

Practice, Practice, Practice: Rehearse your speech out loud, in front of a mirror or with trusted friends and family members. This will help you identify any areas that need refinement and build your confidence for the big day.

Speak Clearly and Confidently: Project your voice, maintain eye contact with the audience, and use natural body language to enhance your delivery.

Embrace Pauses and Reactions: Don't be afraid to pause for effect or to allow moments of laughter or emotion to sink in. These pauses can add depth and impact to

Write an compelling Maid of Honor Speech following this guide . You can get inspirations by checking out these examples .

Creating a memorable best man speech is a journey that combines deep reflection on your relationship with the groom, an understanding of the audience, and a commitment to celebrating love and friendship.

By following this guide, you're well on your way to delivering a speech that not only honors the groom and his partner but also resonates with every guest, leaving a lasting impression of joy and celebration.

So, take a deep breath, embrace your nerves, and remember - it's all about celebrating love.

You can get Memorable Wedding Speeches, Without Being an Expert using ScribaMax .

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20 best iron man quotes from the mcu.

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The MCU Has Officially Killed The Best Original Avengers Theory

Loki explains the real reason he invaded earth in the avengers, 10 saddest iron man moments to mourn his canon mcu death date passing in real life.

• Iron Man's quotes range from witty to emotional, with some even predicting the future of the MCU.
• Tony Stark's growth from egotistical industrialist to hero is highlighted in his iconic lines.
• Iron Man's impact on the MCU goes beyond his death, with his words continuing to resonate in the Multiverse Saga.

Throughout Infinity Saga, Iron Man delivered some of the best lines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Aside from being a genius, being sarcastic and witty are some of the hallmarks of Tony Stark, which makes him very entertaining to watch. Robert Downey Jr.'s penchant for words and improvisation only adds to the character's appeal. Given this, it shouldn't be surprising there isn't any scarcity of great quotes from Iron Man during his time in the MCU.

What makes Tony's quotes great is that they have a wide variation. Many of them highlight just how truly witty he is, but there are some that are surprisingly emotional, either they are earnest and enlightening or downright heartbreaking. Most impressively, Iron Man also has several quotes that predict the future in the MCU. In fact, a couple of his lines still ring very much true years after he died in Avengers: Endgame . So while Iron Man has already been dead for quite a while now, he remains relevant in the Multiverse Saga through his words.

20 "Is It Better To Be Feared Or Respected? I Say, Is It Too Much To Ask For Both?"

Iron man (2008).

The production of Iron Man is nothing short of legendary. Director Jon Favreau was able to craft an opening that effectively introduces the MCU's inaugural hero was impressive. Tony's whole interaction inside the Humvee with his military escort was great, but it was his introduction of the Stark Industries-newly-created Jericho Missiles that gives the public a great explanation of why he's so successful as an industrialist even though he can be egotistical.

The specific quote is also a great example of just how far Iron Man has come , by showcasing that he wasn't just in the weaponry business, but arguably understood it on a personal level, even if the line is meant to some degree in jest. While this makes Tony Stark's early characterization more complicated, it also serves to make his turn to heroism more noteworthy, by showing it wasn't something he was always inherently destined for but rather was a result of personal growth.

19 “I Shouldn’t Be Alive... Unless It Was For A Reason."

After Tony's captivity in Afghanistan, he returned a changed man in Iron Man . He spent his time perfecting the version of Mark I in his workshop, not having anyone distract him. When Pepper Potts finally confronts him about his dangerous activities, he delivers a surprisingly emotional confession on how he sees his second chance in life . This speech also gains more significance further down the line in the MCU, as it's clear this mentality is what leads Iron Man to eventually sacrifice himself in Avengers: Endgame .

18 "The Truth Is, I Am Iron Man"

At the end of Iron Man, MCU changed the superhero movie game forever with just one line from Tony — an admission that he is indeed Iron Man after much speculation. The line had a major impact both inside and outside of the universe itself , as the twist rocked audiences, made all the more impactful by the reveal that Robert Downey Jr. had indeed improved the line, and changed the future of the franchise immensely by doing so.

The moment effectively diminishes secret identities in the franchise, allowing the Avengers to have their true personas out in the open. For the longest time, this has remained to be the norm in the MCU, and remains an integral aspect of what sets the franchise apart from many other similar superhero series, even within Marvel's own umbrella.

17 "You Want My Property, You Can't Have It. But I Did You A Big Favor, I've Successfully Privatized World Peace. What More Do You Want?"

Iron man 2 (2010).

At the start of Iron Man 2 , Tony is put on trial for his creation of the Iron Man suit and his independent operation. Despite the efforts of Justin Hammer and some politicians, Tony sassily and cleverly showed why it's best for Stark Industries to keep his inventions, showing that his tech in other hands would be immensely more dangerous. It's a reminder that despite his renewed sense of responsibility, Tony remains cocky, and isn't afraid to cause a scene either.

More importantly, this whole interaction is poised to play a role in Armor Wars , which is set to see others actively steal Stark tech and use it for their own purposes. While the scene in Iron Man 2 is played for laughs, it's an early look at how concerning it should be that others are using this technology seemingly without the combination of morals and tech know how of that the likes of Tony Stark or Riri Williams demonstrate, setting up for future catastrophe.

16 “I Told You I Don’t Want To Join Your Super-Secret Boy Band.”

After Nick Fury's Iron Man post-credits scene cameo, he spends Iron Man 2 trying to recruit Tony into the initiative. While also secretly trying to deal with his arc reactor poisoning, he repeatedly turns down the offer, but this is arguably his best put-down to the invitation, playfully addressing the idea that the superhero team would be controlled by external forces and would require him to be part of a group instead of working on his own.

This put down becomes fairly ironic as the Avengers movies go on, as it's clear that not only is Iron Man a key member of the team, he's arguably often even their leader, showing his initial complaints may have been more about the concept of having to work with others to some degree. However, this contempt for the team does tease the Avengers not being a permanent fixture from the MCU's offset as well, making their disillusion, while certainly a big event, something that had been hinted as a possibility from the start.

15 "Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist"

The avengers (2012).

Iron Man and Captain America have always had a complicated dynamic. While the team discusses what to do with Loki, the pair gets into a heated contest in terms of who has most say. Steve Rogers mistakenly asks Tony who he thinks he is, prompting arguably the sassiest reply the genius billionaire could have given. This sets up the duo as opposing forces of sorts in the MCU , and also shows that Iron Man's ego is alive and well, even if it also risks his alliances at points.

After the events of Loki season 2, episode 2, "Breaking Brad," Marvel Studios has officially debunked the best theory about the Avengers' assembly.

14 “If We Can’t Protect The Earth, You Can Be Damned Well Sure We’ll Avenge it!”

The intense one-on-one conversation between Iron Man and Loki in Stark Tower is one of the best verbal tennis in The Avengers . Both characters are known for their incredible way with words. However, what makes Tony's line really special is how it incorporates the newly-created team name into his threat to the God of Mischief, in many ways marking the official inauguration of the group in the MCU.

Iron Man's threat to Loki also belies his confidence in the group , as the line reveals he believes the Avengers can find ways to deal with threats in some capacity even if they're too strong for them to fully protect the Earth from. However, the moment also foreshadows his decision to create Ultron - as this is a move made to try and protect the Earth in a way the Avengers themselves cannot - and the start of his paranoia surrounding whether a villain will eventually destroy his home planet and all those he cares for on it, which increases through the franchise.

13 "Threat Is Imminent, And I Have To Protect The One Thing I Can't Live Without."

Iron man 3 (2013).

Tony's near-death experience in the fight against Loki in the Battle of New York leaves him shaken. This is the central story of Iron Man 3 , which sees the hero experiencing PTSD. In his most vulnerable and even romantic confession, he admits to Pepper that he is so afraid that he won't be able to protect her from the imminent threat that is coming.

This marks the start of the real impact of Iron Man's hero career becoming clear, and humanizes Tony Stark once more despite the larger the life stories he take part in. Showing how raw and scared even the MCU's greatest hero is at points grounds the franchise by extension too, showing that Tony's hero arc is born out of his compassion for others rather than just a desire to be adored.

12 "You Can Take Away My House, All My Tricks And Toys. One Thing You Can't Take Away... I Am Iron Man."

Iron Man 3 ends with Tony undergoing surgery to get the shrapnel out of his body. This frees him from needing to use an arc reactor to stay alive. Despite this, he laments in his ending voice-over that despite no longer having it or any of his high-tech gadgets, he is and will always be Iron Man. This escapsulates Tony's growth throughout the trilogy, showing that he's gone from focusing on the suits and what they can do to understanding he is a hero with or without his high tech tools.

11 "Isn't That Why We Fight, So That We Can End The Fight So We Can Go Home?"

Avengers: age of ultron (2015).

Iron Man and Captain America may have found a way to work together in The Avengers , but they are still significantly different. Their conversation at the Barton farm in Avengers: Age of Ultron showcases that, with Tony emphasizing the goal of being able to retire from being a hero. The moment serves to set up their biggest conflict in Captain America: Civil War , but also manages to be a useful spot of foreshadowing for Endgame, wherein it's revealed Tony has gone to live with his family out in the countryside during his temporary retirement.

After a little bit more than a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally resolves one massive character insult in 2012's The Avengers.

10 "If We Can't Accept Limitations, We're No Better Than The Bad Guys."

Captain america: civil war (2017).

Marvel leans into the difference between Tony and Steve in Captain America: Civil War when the film introduces the Sokovia Accords . Motivated by his personal experience, Iron Man makes a compelling case for why they need to adhere to the UN's mandate . Unfortunately, that isn't enough to convince Captain America to oppose it.

In effect, the argument between the two heroes not only shows the differences in their ideologies, but also in their personal experiences throughout their own trilogies. Iron Man faced a series of antagonists directly or indirectly created by his hand, and this combined with his role in creating Ultron naturally encourages him to look at ways to accept some external controls and oversight in the future of his career. For Captain America - who has had a different arc - the opposite is true, drawing the pair into an inevitable and intense conflict.

9 “I’m Doing What Has To Be Done, To Save Us From Something Worse.”

As the Sokovia Accords divide the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War , Iron Man makes one final plea to Captain America about finding a compromise. While it isn't clear yet back then, Tony's insistence on keeping the team together is rooted in his perceived threat of coming to Earth.

Two years after that, his words are proven right with the arrival of Thanos. Not only does this drastically change how Civil War and this line particular can be read, it also shows that Iron Man's ardent passion wasn't misplaced, underlining just how legitimate his concerns were and how understandable it was that he'd go against even some of his biggest allies in order to do what he felt was best for everyone.

8 "If You're Nothing Without The Suit, Then You Shouldn't Have It."

Spider-man: homecoming (2017).

While the Avengers are on a break, Tony spends his time mentoring Spider-Man. However, after Peter Parker messed up in Spider-Man: Homecoming , he gives him a stern lecture about his responsibilities as a superhero. This prompts him to deliver this line that teaches Spider-Man where his power truly comes from.

Though this line may initially seem somewhat ironic coming from a hero who needs suits more than most others, it actually carries more impact based on Tony's personal experiences being close to Peter's. Where Iron Man's protege thinks his mentor is admonishing him, he's often just trying to teach Spider-Man what he learned the hard way, and this is never clearer than in Homecoming , where it becomes increasingly clear that Tony worries about Peter as much as he downplays how much he cares about his pupil.

7 “I’m Sorry, Earth Is Closed Today. You Better Pack It Up And Get Outta Here.”

Avengers: infinity war (2018).

The arrival of Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian in New York at the start of Avengers: Infinity War re-confirms Iron Man's suspicion of an alien invasion coming to Earth. Despite his worst nightmare coming to life, he still manages to come up with some witty lines while dealing with Thanos' minions.

In light of Tony Stark's real-time canon death in Avengers: Endgame, here are the top 10 saddest moments in Iron Man's brilliant MCU arc.

6 "I Love You 3,000"

Avengers: endgame (2019).

Arguably one of the most quotable lines from Avengers: Endgame is Tony and his daughter Morgan's adorable send-off. The line itself doesn't really make sense, but the fact that it is inspired by Downey's own relationship with his real-life kids makes it so much more special. Now, the quote is largely associated with Iron Man and the love he has for his family.

5 “I Just Want Peace. Turns Out Resentment Is Corrosive, And I Hate It.”

Initially against the proposed time heist in Avengers: Endgame , Tony eventually comes to the rescue of the Avengers after he is able to crack the code for time travel. He is first greeted by Captain America, who is frustrated after their failed attempt to send Ant-Man back in time. While the film never brings up what happened to them in Captain America: Civil War , this line essentially puts that water under the bridge for Tony .

4 “It’s Not About How Much We Lost. It’s About How Much We Have Left. We’re The Avengers. We Gotta Finish This.”

As with every plan, things don't go exactly how the Avengers expect during the Battle of New York's leg of the time heist in Avengers: Endgame . Motivated to ensure that they win the war, Iron Man gives a rare but rousing speech about taking a leap of faith with Captain America. Luckily for him, Steve is also fully committed to the cause.

3 "You Mess With Time, It Tends To Mess Back."

Iron Man correctly predicted the arrival of Thanos in the Infinity Saga, and while he is dead, he may have also prophetized the threat that Kang the Conqueror brings to the Multiverse Saga. During an almost missable scene in Avengers: Endgame , Tony remarks how time tends to mess back if one messes with it. With his death, his contemporaries are left to deal with the ramifications of that.

2 "And I Am Iron Man."

Avengers: Endgame is praised for a lot of things, including the way it poignantly wraps up Iron Man's story in the MCU. Bringing back the character's signature line from the first Iron Man film in 2008 is genius. Interestingly, however, it almost didn't happen, as the scene was reworked long after the movie was done filming. However, Marvel Studios knew it was the best way to send off Tony, so they went to do the additional work just to add it to the epic blockbuster - which has certainly paid off, since it created the movie's most iconic scene.

1 “Everybody wants a happy ending. Right? But it doesn’t always roll that way.”

Iron Man ends his MCU journey with a retrospective message that serves his story, as well as a meta-commentary on the evolution of the franchise. In the video message, he frames his death in a way that is supposed to be comforting to everyone who is grieving his death.

The moment is a perfect encapsulation of the comedic, pathos, and heart that made Iron Man the center of the MCU for many years, and that sustains his legacy long after his movie passing. It also serves to give MCU's in-universe cast and audiences alike one final send off for Iron Man , proving both thoughtful and memorable — exactly the best way to send off the universe's best hero.

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Iron Man is the first film in the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, who becomes Iron Man after he is kidnapped and discovers terrorists are using weapons developed by Stark Industries. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Tony's love interest Pepper Potts alongside Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan and Jeff Bridges as the villainous Obadiah Stane.

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Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand

The porn star testified for eight hours at donald trump’s hush-money trial. this is how it went..

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Featuring Jonah E. Bromwich

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Edited by Lexie Diao

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Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

This episode contains descriptions of an alleged sexual liaison.

What happened when Stormy Daniels took the stand for eight hours in the first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump?

Jonah Bromwich, one of the lead reporters covering the trial for The Times, was in the room.

On today’s episode

Jonah E. Bromwich , who covers criminal justice in New York for The New York Times.

Background reading

In a second day of cross-examination, Stormy Daniels resisted the implication she had tried to shake down Donald J. Trump by selling her story of a sexual liaison.

Here are six takeaways from Ms. Daniels’s earlier testimony.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

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Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

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The 7 Best Free Anime To Watch on Crunchyroll in May 2024

Anime's best shows are now available for free.

Crunchyroll has a truly ani-mazing selection for its Ani-May celebration. You probably already know that Crunchyroll is the streaming service to get for practically all of your anime needs. Subscribers have access to some of the best-animated stories from Japan ever created, including One Piece , My Hero Academia , and hundreds more.

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'Cowboy Bebop'

(1998-1999).

When you think of science fiction in anime, Cowboy Bebop is probably the very first thing that comes to mind. Along with Ghost in the Shell and Akira , the hit series helped lay the groundwork for the cyberpunk sub-genre, with its dark and twisted sci-fi universe feeling grounded and relatable. The show primarily follows the various missions and exploits of Spike Spiegel ( Kôichi Yamadera ) and his crew of bounty hunters as they bring in some of this sci-fi dystopia's deadliest criminals. It's a dangerous if not lucrative lifestyle, but one job the team takes on may be too much for them to handle. Cowboy Bebop is now available to stream on Crunchyroll .

Cowboy Bebop (1998)

The futuristic misadventures and tragedies of an easygoing bounty hunter and his partners.

'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'

Most fantasy adventure stories follow a band of heroes as they go on an epic quest to vanquish an evil foe. That's more or less how the story of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End begins , but where the acclaimed series sets itself apart from other fantasy tales by taking place after that epic quest has already taken place. The titular elvish protagonist Frieren ( Atsumi Tanezaki ) and her band of companions successfully defeated the most dangerous force in the land, but now they have to adapt to everyday life following their daring journey. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is now available to stream on Crunchyroll .

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

An elf and her friends defeat a demon king in a great war. But the war is over, and the elf must search for a new way of life.

'Vinland Saga'

(2019-2023).

Vinland Saga could almost be called an anime version of The Northman . Vikings aren't a concept that is often adapted for the anime genre, but the violent and unforgiving world of Nordic society is a perfect fit for an anime revenge series. Starting from when he was only a boy, Thorfinn's ( Yûto Uemura ) life has been filled to the brim with death and tragedy. Now a grown man, he seeks to find the source of this tragedy and probe himself as a true warrior. Vinland Saga is available to stream on Crunchyroll .

Vinland Saga

Following a tragedy, Thorfinn embarks on a journey with the man responsible for it to take his life in a duel as a true and honorable warrior to pay homage.

'Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files'

(1992-1995).

Have you ever watched R.I.P.D. and wished it was...you know...good? Well then Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files is the show for you, and it's also one of the few anime shows that has a pretty good live-action iteration . Yûsuke Urameshi ( Nozomu Sasaki ) was a young, troubled teen who proved himself as something more when he saved a kid from a rapidly approaching car. Yûsuke did not survive, and as such, is sent to the underworld. Instead of enjoying his time in the afterlife, the underworld's leaders see something within Yûsuke and grant him the title of an Underworld Detective, being tasked with tracking down renegade demons that are still wreaking havoc in the mortal world. Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files is now available to stream on Crunchyroll .

Yu Yu Hakusho

The story revolves around Yusuke Urameshi, a delinquent junior high school student who spends his days getting into fights. He dies after saving a child in a car accident, and gets resurrected to serve as an investigator of the supernatural.

'Dr. Stone'

Dr. Stone perhaps has one of the most unique concepts and worlds of any anime series on this list, which is an achievement in it of itself. The world in question one where almost the entirety of the world's population has been petrified, with nearly every living being on Earth being encased in rock and stone. It's a grim reality for this so-called "Stone World", but luckily, there is a young genius named Senku Ishigami ( Yûsuke Kobayashi ) who seems to have found a way to reverse these unusual petrification effects. Dr. Stone is now available to stream on Crunchyroll .

'Solo Leveling'

Last but not least, Solo Leveling is the most recent show on this list , and is already making waves as an exciting new anime series. In a world where monsters run rampant, Sung Jinwoo ( Taito Ban ) hopes to prove themselves as a worthy hunter. Doing so will take our hero on an exciting journey and evolution where they may become one of the most respected warriors in all the land. Solo Leveling is now available to stream on Crunchyroll .

Solo Leveling

In a world of gifted hunters and monsters, a weak hunter Sung Jinwoo gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program, leading him to become one of the strongest hunters and conquering even the strongest dungeons.