wedding question
 

i've never really been to a wedding, so i've got a question.

my best friend is getting married the night before the BC, and I'm her "man of honor" -- so while the wedding is already unorthodox, I have to give a speech.

what do i talk about? do i talk more about US, or more about THEM?

anyone been a best man before or know how these things go? I'm supposed to talk for 2-3 minutes, and don't even know where to start.

Watch Wedding Crashers and go from there... Seriously. The speech she gives is pretty spot on... well the revised speech. LoL

Talk about what attributes they have as a couple that will make them successful. Its the safe route without favoring one partner or offending anyone in the wedding.

Talk about the three rings of marriage.
1- the engagement ring.
2- the wedding ring
3- the suffer ring

Tah dumm.

and here i thought i might get some serious help :)

i prefer cohabitation anyway

Just get really, really, really drunk and make sure everyone knows it (so they're not expecting much from you) and stand up and mutter incoherently about nothing imparticular and at the end say something like 'good luck guys'

I gave a 7 minute toast at my brothers wedding.I'm sure you have some good and funny stories(but not off color)of you and your friend.Use them and people will remember.My brother and sister in-law have been married almost 20 years and people still talk to them about the toast.Good luck.

Well Brian,
You could get really really drunk...then talk about all of her past boyfriends and then get to "how lucky the groom is that she hasn't been used up" and that the crabs are almost eliminated.
Does anyone know how to get an "Alphonse/heart/arrow tattoo" removed from a butt cheek?

In all seriousness, Brian, keep it to three minutes or less, include some funny anecdote about the groom (one that won't cause him and the bride to sleep apart on the wedding night) and finish up with how much you value his friendship and why the two of them were meant to be together.

When I got married the best man opened with how he and my husband met (standing in line on the first day of 9th grade), that my husband is a geek (which he is) and that he knew I was the right woman for him when hubby called to tell him I gave him a Superman bathrobe for our first Christmas together. (Which is not technically true; I gave him that for the second Christmas. The first Christmas I gave him the special edition boxed set of "Halloween," including the souvenir snow globe with a tiny Jamie Curtis stabbing a tiny Michael Myers with the knitting needle. But I understood changing the timeline for better comedic effect and so as not to horrify the guests). Short, sweet, funny and accurate.

You'll do great; don't worry.

talk about THEM.
only yourself as it might relate to them, but even that should be kept to a minimum.
I will say this, Ive never heard anyone at a wedding complain about a speech being too short, only too long.
so like the others said, keep it short.
why is the wedding unorthodox?
that might be relevant as to what you should say.
best of luck dude.
Ive only done it once, so I am far from an expert.

Repent

1. say something funny
2. say something nice
3. thank the out of town people
4. come up with an original "toast.
that "...and may you grow old on one pillow" and similar are out of style.

just unorthodox in the way that they're setting it up, and who's on whose side -- i'm a "man of honor" not a "best man" so that's backwards to begin with. it's just a strange wedding.

I have had to give two best man speechs in the last year.

You talk about something that is funny (example, my one friend tried to cook a grilled cheese in a sauce pan)...If you want, I'll send you my speechs that I wrote....they all went well with only one minor issue in the 2nd speech when I called the bride the wrong name once, and it was only becuase the brides names were similiar, Diana and Danielle

This toast works well because it makes people think while hammered.

"May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

That's amazing.:p

Yeah, it was a 'friends' wedding we knew alot of people and they knew right away what I did, I think even the bride understood

i appreciate all of your help on this one, here, in PMs, and in my email -- it went well.

i was hungover in the hotel the next day and still running into people at the hotel who wanted to shake my hand and tell me the toast was great.

the insights from those of you who reached out helped a ton in deciding what needed to stay and what needed to go.

Thanks!!!!