How to give a GREAT maid of honor speech!

How to give a GREAT maid of honor speech!

Now, a maid of honor speech can go in basically one of two ways. You can take the funny route, like the best man, and crack your audience up with stories of the bride and your adventures over the years. Or, you can take the sentimental route, and your guests will love that, too.

For starters, make sure to choose a tone for your speech that you are comfortable with, so you don’t come off like you’re trying too hard. You want your speech to feel genuine, whether it is funny or not. I’d suggest trying to create a balance between the two, transitioning from a funny opening to a sweet, sappy ending and a big hug for the bride.

Here are some other guidelines to making your maid of honor speech a huge success.

The Beginning – Start by introducing yourself and telling everyone how you met the bride. While this sounds boring, its important to let everyone at the wedding know who you are and what your relationship to the bride is. If the number is impressive, mention how long you’ve known the bride. You can also share a story of your experience being the maid of honor or how excited you are to share this day with her.



The Middle – Be advised: it’s okay for a speech to be short and sweet. Try to max out at around 5-7 minutes so you don’t lose your audience’s attention. One idea for an entertaining but sweet speech is telling the story of how the bride and groom met or how he proposed. Not everyone at the wedding may know these stories, and it’s a great way to focus on the couple. Using stories from the couples’ relationship to show how they will have a great marriage is a perfect way to toast them on their special day. Another approach you could take is “Three reasons why Jessica is right for Paul” (or the other way around). Think of some characteristics and use them as starting points for stories about the bride. Feel free to be silly with this, too!

If you’re worried about fidgeting during your speech, try bringing a bag of things the groom will need to live with the bride (this works especially well if you yourself have lived with the bride at some point). End your speech by passing the bag to the groom and saying, “I’m counting on you to take care of her now!”



The End – Finish by wishing the couple all the best. It might also be a nice touch to include a thank you to the parents, or whoever is paying for the wedding. It’s not required, but you could say something like “I want to extend a big thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Jones for hosting this amazing celebration!” Make sure to raise your glass and toast the bride and groom. Then you’re done!


xoxo,

Carina Koerfer