Best man toast tomorrow, any last minute advice?

[Yeti]

absolute gold in this thread

[FUJItheFISH]

idrink,

thank you. write a book. make millionz.

[FakeKramer]

Weddings are so lame. But in a roomfull of lameasses, usually the best man seems to be pretty cool for some reason. Good luck with the toast; I have no help to offer 'cause I'm a jackass like that.

[slickpoppa]

All,

Thanks for the support and suggestions. I stayed up pretty late working on this and basically have the entire thing written out. I think its got a good mixture of both humor and sappiness. I think my closer will be really good; it's both personalized and fitting.

I'm actually at the point where I'm somewhat looking forward to giving this toast, so hopefully I don't get too nervous. I've got a 4 hour car ride by myself ahead of me, so I should be able to memorize this thing. I'll post a report assuming I don't bomb too bad.

['Chair]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not good at much, but I've been told my 2 wedding toasts were pretty good. They were for large, formal weddings however, so I'm not sure if my hints translate to a small informal wedding gathering. FWIW.

Most definitely write your words down, because this will help you memorize it, which you really should do. You may think you know what you are going to say, but once you are up there in a tux, and it's hot, and everyone is looking at you, it helps to have a back up.

Anything under a 5 minute speech is fine. You have a captive audience waiting to hear you talk.

If you have to mention the part about being the first one on your mom's side to marry, make it very, very brief. Your dad's new family and the entire bride's family won't care at all about this, and you may lose them quickly if you dwell on it at the beginning. Instead:

-Start off: "First of all, I'd like to thank you all for being here, and helping to share in Tom and Mary's special day."

Then maybe lighten it up with a lame, but family friendly joke:

-"Between the two of them, Tom and Mary know a lot of people, which means that they couldn't invite everyone they knew, just the people who meant a lot to them. So if you are here today, it means that you are either very important to them, or they thought that you were going to give them an awesome wedding present."

or:

"I have some maritial advice for the new couple. As you begin this journey, please realize that no matter how much you love each other, you are always going to have some arguments, and you're always going to make some mistakes. So Tom, if you screw up, and you both know it, just admit it. And if your wife screws up, and you both know it....Just keep your damn mouth shut."

-Then a serious compliment the bride, somewhere along the lines of: "She's as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside." Cheesy? Yes. But you're not talking to your buddies, you're giving a toast. The bride will eat it up as will every female in the room.

-Rag on your brother for something. It helps furtherlighten the mood and is somewhat expected. Just make sure it's good natured, and doesn't involve a past girlfriend of his. Something along the lines of an embarrasing moment, or how he was really nervous before their first date, or how the bride is lowering her standards or something.

-Serious line to use that everyone melts over, but only should be used if there is a kernal of truth in it: "Today, I'm suppossed to be the best man, but Tom, in my book, you'll always be the best man."

Possible last line of toast:

Raise your glass, then say:

"So now if you will all join me in raising your glass in a toast to the newlywed couple. (Pause a second) To Tom, the luckiest guy in the world....And to Mary, the woman who made him that way."

[/ QUOTE ]

wow!

['Chair]

[ QUOTE ]
All,

Thanks for the support and suggestions. I stayed up pretty late working on this and basically have the entire thing written out. I think its got a good mixture of both humor and sappiness. I think my closer will be really good; it's both personalized and fitting.

I'm actually at the point where I'm somewhat looking forward to giving this toast, so hopefully I don't get too nervous. I've got a 4 hour car ride by myself ahead of me, so I should be able to memorize this thing. I'll post a report assuming I don't bomb too bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

practice memorizing it by typing it out to us.

[VoraciousReader]

[ QUOTE ]
Something about how you don't know her super well yet, but one thing you know is that she's awesome for him and you've never seen him be happier

[/ QUOTE ]

I would leave out the "don't know her super-well yet" part. I've heard this at many many weddings, and it's always kind of an awkward moment.

[Unoriginalname]

idrinkcoors,

I don't know if you made all of that up yourself but wow. Some great lines and advice in there.

VoraciousReader,

I agree, I've heard people say this before at toasts: "and while I don't know him/her very well yet..." .

Any kind of line like that is super awkward and really should be avoided.

[Yeti]

i'm now at the point where i would like my friend to get married tomorrow so i can bust out coors' lines and make every woman in the room wet. the last two especially are golden.

[idrinkcoors]

[ QUOTE ]
i'm now at the point where i would like my friend to get married tomorrow so i can bust out coors' lines and make every woman in the room wet. the last two especially are golden.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, most women seem to have romance on their mind at weddings, so even if you are an average goof like me, you throw on a tux, and combine that with champagne, and sentimental, hearfelt wishes to the new couple and it's a pretty good recipe for the ladies.