Wedding party roles such as best man and maid of honor are popular and well-known but with weddings becoming less and less traditional, new roles are originating like the best woman.
As the best woman, you’ve likely been tasked with giving a speech at the wedding. Queue the overwhelm, anxiety, and panic.
Not to worry, as a professional wedding speech writer, I have created an easy-to-follow best woman speech outline for you to follow.
Step 1: Begin with an Introduction
Make it direct. Keep it simple. The introduction should include a greeting, your name, your title as best woman, and your relation to the couple.
Introduction Examples:
Hi, I’m Marrissa, I’m Luke’s sister and the best woman.
Good evening. My name is Lola and I’m the best woman.
Hello, I’m Dani, the bride’s best woman.
Step 2: Talk About the Person You’re Standing Up For
Next, tell a few short stories about the person who you’re standing up for.
If you’re having trouble coming up with stories, start with the theme first. What words would you use to describe this person? Are they the life of the party or the kindest soul you’ve ever known? These are examples of themes.
Let’s say they’re the kindest person. From there, choose two to three stories that show their kindness.
For example, here are three stories that would demonstrate their kindness:
When they gave you the bedroom and slept on the pullout at that scary hostel you stayed at during your European trip together in college.
The time they invited you to spend Christmas with their family when you couldn’t fly home to visit your own.
How they chose to dedicate their life to a career in social work.
You can then tie these three very different stories together with one theme: their kind heart.
Step 3: Talk About their New Spouse
Even if you are only close with one of the people in the couple, it’s important to highlight their partner in your best woman speech.
Here are a few questions that will help you to brainstorm information:
What was your initial impression of this person?
How do you feel they’ve made your friend a better version of themselves?
What traits do you admire about them?
How will be they be a supportive partner?
Step 4: Connect Stories to the Idea of Marriage
Once you’ve written stories about each person, it’s time to tie those stories together with the theme you’ve chosen.
Next, take that theme and apply it to the concept of marriage. Let’s say the theme of your speech is how your friend is the most supportive person you know.
You can transition from stories about how they have supported you to how you know their marriage will be strong and happy because of the support they show their partner and the support they receive from their new spouse.
Step 5: Close with a Callback
If you’ve ever been to a stand-up comedy show, you’ve likely witnessed a callback.
A callback occurs when something that was mentioned near the beginning of a show or speech is referenced again at some point.
Within wedding speeches, I recommend inserting the callback as the very last line for optimal impact.
Let’s look at an example.
Story Told at the Beginning of Your Best Woman Speech:
When Sheila and I were roommates, we somehow inherited a very expensive bottle of champagne from her dad. We put it on the top shelf in our fridge and promised to pop it open the next time we had something big to celebrate. But no matter how well we were doing at work or personally, no accomplishment every felt monumental enough to unwrap such a special bottle.
Then one Saturday night while we were lounging on our couch in our finest sweatpants, binge-watchign our favorite Netflx shows, Sheila just looked at me and said, “Let’s pop open the champagne!”
I was shocked. This was our big moment to crack the seal?
As she poured bubbly into wine glasses—because we of course didn’t own champagne flutes—she said she was tired of waiting for the perfect moment and that this moment was as good as any to celebrate. And so we did.
We clinked glasses and toasted to being happy. It turned out to be the most memorable night—not because there was a celebration to commemorate but because we created the reason to celebrate.
Last Section of Speech:
Everyone please raise a glass to the happy new married couple! May you always be well-stocked with bottles of champagne because I know that every night you’re together will give you enough of a reason to celebrate.
Step 6: Prepare to Go Public with Your Best Woman Speech
What sort of prep work can you do once the speech is written?
Print your speech on a piece of paper. Do not plan to read your speech from your phone or tablet. Even though you’re giving a speech and not scrolling Instagram, being on your phone still gives off the vibe that you’re distracted by a device. Plus, the backlight can discolor your face in photos and video.
Practice reading your speech several times before the wedding day. It’s ideal if you can read it out loud in front of a friend so you can receive feedback on your delivery. Pay attention to things like awkward pauses, speaking too quickly, or not making enough eye-contact.
Stay away from the bar. As tempting as it will be to order liquid courage during cocktail hour, refrain from consuming more than one drink. No one appreciates a tipsy delivered speech and you defiantly won’t want to rewatch that one on social media later.
Do you need help writing your best woman speech?
Are you still confused as to how you’re supposed to turn your ideas and thoughts into a fully-formed best woman speech?
I work with best woman to write custom and emotionally-driven speeches that will capture the attention of everyone in the room and leave a lasting impression. Get in touch to see how we can work together.