Of course, you want your best friend’s wedding day to be special so when it comes to writing your wedding speech, the pressure is on!
Not to worry, as an expert wedding speech writer, I’ve got you covered.
Follow these five tips and your bestie will be forever grateful.
Tip #1: Determine the Vibe, Length, and Goal of Your Speech
When writing a wedding speech, most people sit down and attempt to start this daunting task by tackling the hardest part first … the writing!
To make things easier on yourself, take a step back and gather some high-level points before trying to draft your wedding speech for your best friend.
Vibe
Begin by asking yourself what vibe or tone you want your speech to have.
Should it be a mix of funny and serious? Mostly heartfelt? Or 100% humorous? Determine the tone before you attempt to write. This way, you’ll have a style to focus on as you write.
Length
How long should your speech be?
A best friend's wedding speech should range between two to five minutes in speaking length. Depending on your speaking pattern, this will likely be between 250 - 750 words.
Be sure to also ask your BFF what length they have in mind.
Since they’ll likely be organizing a wedding day timeline, you’ll want to make sure the length of your speech falls within the itinerary they have planned for the wedding day.
Goal
How can you write a speech without knowing the goal of that speech?
That would be like jumping in your car to drive somewhere but not knowing the destination. Determine your goal first and then start writing.
Sounds simple enough but what’s harder is coming up with that goal.
First, what does it mean to have a goal in a wedding speech? This is the main point you want to make in your speech.
Examples of best friend wedding speech goals:
Show how funny, kind, or outgoing your friend is
Convey how important your friendship is to you
Communicate how you feel that your friend and her new spouse are a perfect match
Entertain guests with funny stories about the bride
Make your best friend feel loved and celebrated
Once you determine your goal, you now have a clearer direction that you can write toward.
Tip #2: Focus on Your Best Friend
Start your wedding speech by sharing stories about your best friend.
Here are some writing prompts to help you come up with stories that could be worth including in your wedding speech.
Describe a time that something didn’t go as planned. How did your BFF react? (This type of story works well for the friend who tends to be a positive person as this is a way to exemplify their character)
What memories do you two frequently revisit together?
When did she make you laugh the hardest?
How has she been there to support you?
Describe how you two first met.
How do they make you feel loved or special?
When have you traveled together?
Tip #3: Include Your Best Friend’s New Spouse in the Speech
Even though you’re giving this speech because of your relationship with your best friend, it’s important to also mention her new spouse in your speech.
This section does not need to be as long as the one dedicated to your friend. Include one to two short stories. Each story can be as short as 10 - 30 seconds.
These stories can either be about memories shared between you and them, situations you observed between them and your friend, or even experiences with all three of you.
What if you don’t know your friend’s new spouse very well?
If you haven’t spent much time with them or if you don’t have any stories to share, you can still mention them in your speech.
In this case, focus on why you’re happy your friend chose to marry this person.
Example:
Bea has always had the best and biggest laugh in the room. Her giggles are infectious and it’s one of the many reasons why we all have so much fun whenever she’s around.
But I noticed a shift in her when she started dating Dave. Somehow, and I didn’t even know this was possible, her laugh got even brighter.
Anyone who can bring even more joy to my best friend’s life is someone who I’m happy to see become her husband. I know with Dave, she’ll experience a lifetime of endless laughter.
Tip #4: Keep the Tone of Your Speech Reflective of Your Voice
When it comes to best friend relationships, what makes two people really sync is the unique rhythm they share together.
Whether that be playfully roasting each other, providing sweet sympathy, or sharing that sisterly-like bond, play up your connection in your wedding toast.
The best way to do this is by writing your speech to mirror the same tone of your friendship and your personality.
For example, if your friendship is full of witty banter then be sure to include quick one-liners in your funny wedding speech.
Adversely, if your relationship is all about motivating each other to achieve your goals, create a supportive tone throughout the speech.
You want your bestie to walk away feeling like your speech really captured the vibe of your friendship and writing your toast to reflect your personality is the best way to achieve that.
Tip #5: Phone Another Friend
If you need help writing the speech for your best friend’s wedding or practicing reciting your speech so you can nail your public speaking skills, feel free to rely on another friend or even a professional.
As a wedding vow and speech writer, I work with maids of honor, best men, best women, and men of honor to write wedding speeches that the couple can cherish well beyond the wedding reception.
Get in touch to see how we can work together to write your wedding speech.