Best Man Tips

The Speeches

The father of the bride

The father of the bride, and as such the host at the wedding reception, should begin his speech by welcoming his guests and thanking them for coming. His speech should probably include the following:

how proud he and his wife are of their daughter, and congratulations to the groom on his choice of wife
an amusing or interesting anecdote or two about events in his daughter's life
a few complimentary words about the groom, and how happy he and his wife are that their daughter has chosen such a fine husband
his and his family's pleasure at meeting and getting to know the groom's family
an amusing anecodote about something that happened during the wedding preparations, and/or a joke or two, or an amusing story

Finally he will bring his speech to a close by inviting everyone present to join him in his toast to the bride and groom.

The bridegroom

The bridegroom speaks mostly on behalf of his wife and himself, but of course, if talking to or about his bride, he is speaking for himself alone. The easiest way for the groom to begin his speech is by thanking his father-in-law for his kind words and the toast. This both links his speech to what has gone before and also provides a lead-in to what he should say next. But of course he may want to begin his speech in some other way and bring in the thanks later on. The bridegroom's speech could include the following:

thanks to the bride's parents for welcoming him into the family and allowing him to marry their daughter
thanks to the bride's father for the wedding and the reception (perhaps also adding his thanks to the caterers, if they deserve it)
thanks to his new wife for agreeing to marry him, and how fortunate he is to have such a beautiful/intelligent/successful/understanding/ loving bride
thanks to his own parents for how they have brought him up, and for their support and guidance through the years
thanks to the guests for attending the wedding, for their good wishes, and for their gifts
thanks to the best man and the ushers for their help and support
thanks on his wife's behalf to the bridesmaid for her help and support

As you will have seen, a large part of the bridegroom's speech involves saying thank you, but just as with the father of the bride's speech, there should be some lighter moments. The bridegroom should probably include some information about how he and his wife met, perhaps with an amusing anecdote about how their relationship developed (or didn't at first!). There could also be an amusing story about something that happened during the wedding preparations.

Lastly, the bridegroom's speech should return to the bridesmaid. He has already thanked her for her help on behalf of his wife; now it is his turn to make some complimentary remarks about her, before inviting everyone to join him in a toast to her.