An important thing when writing and considering what you are going to say in your best man speech is to think about how your speech fits in with all the other wedding speeches.
This is a big deal – otherwise you could all end up saying the exact same things and talking over each other.
That is not smooth or cool.
And if you want the whole day to go perfectly and without a hitch, you are going to need to include thinking about this in your best man speech preparation.
So to help you out we are going to show you how all the other speeches work and where yours fits in with the other traditional wedding speeches.
The Father Of The Bride Speech
The father of the bride’s job is to focus on the bride – his daughter. Tell some funny stories about her and jokes and anecdotes around this.
Whereas your focus is on roasting the groom, he gives a small but sincere roast of his daughter. He also formally welcomes the groom to their family in a sincere manner.
So consider all these topics ‘off limits’ in your speech so that there is no overlap.
The Groom’s Speech
The groom’s job is largely to praise his lovely new bride.
In addition to this, they will thank people in attendance who have come a long distance and name-check some of the people in the audience.
Finally, mentioning those who could not be with them on that day – for example, people who cannot make it or passed away – is another element of his speech.
The groom may also take the chance to thank you – the best man – and his groomsmen. He may take a couple of slight digs when doing so. One great idea is to note what he says and come up with a ‘rebuttal’ in your speech! Even something like ‘so GROOM said this before, now is the time where he will pay for those remarks!’
The Best Man Speech
Typically the last speech, yours is to be the most humorous – with a light-hearted roast of the groom through jokes and stories about his past.
Complimenting the bridesmaids is an important element. You will have noticed are one of the only major parties to the wedding not to have not been mentioned in all the previous speeches – this is why it is traditional for the best man to compliment them.
Also complimenting the bride is common too – essentially the bride should be complimented and praised in ALL the wedding speeches.
Overlap In The Wedding Speeches
Generally speaking, there isn’t much overlap between the speeches – other than the fact that everybody is complimentary and full of praise of the bride, as mentioned above.
In addition to this, all the speakers may finish their speech with a toast. Do not worry about this, it is fairly common.
Regardless of whether the previous speeches do or do not give a toast, you should always finish your speech with a toast anyway.
Speech Timing
Usually the speech order is Father Of Bride > Groom > Best Man.
The best man speech is almost always the longest speech at a wedding but all the speeches can sometimes be very similar in length – depending on how long the groom and father of the groom decide to talk for.
In Summary – The Other Wedding Speeches
Not thinking about the other wedding speeches could be a big mistake. Got any questions or concerns about the other wedding speeches? Leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you.