You can’t write a perfect and flawless maid of honor’s speech hastily on your phone or tablet at the venue. It takes time and practice to make the day for your best girl. Below, you’ll learn how to write a maid of honor speech that will call for a standing ovation.
You’ve been invited as the maid of honor to your best friend’s upcoming wedding, and you’re excited and nervous simultaneously. Let’s face it! Not all of us have a background in performing, acting, or speaking in front of a crowd.
The maid of honor comes with plenty of responsibilities, including drafting and delivering a unique and captivating maid of honor speech. Public speaking is a common fear, and it’s only natural you might feel anxious. In this guide, we’ll look at everything you need to know about how to write a maid of honor speech and make your BFF’s big day special.
Let’s dive in!
When to Start Writing a Maid Of Honor Speech
If you’re unlike most people who procrastinate for too long, give yourself as much time as possible to prepare your speech. It’s advisable to start at least a month before D-day, which may seem too long to draft the brief maid of honor speech. When you’re ready, select a time you feel free and inspired by your friendship with the bride or couple.
You could feel extra fantastic after the bachelorette party after an array of experiences you’d forgotten about, jot them down. Free writing unleashes all the anecdotes and thoughts about your best friend, and you’ll see all the memories and feelings at once.
In such instances, you’ll garner some inspiration from these reflections. Once you’ve outlined all your cherished memories, the next step is understanding the maid of honor speech outline to ensure it flows flawlessly.
Start By Introducing Yourself
The first step is to learn how to start your maid of honor speech. Start introducing yourself and briefly mentioning your relationship with the bride and groom. Next, ensure you thank all those you feel are essential in attendance, depending on the scenario and who contributed to or planned the wedding.
Include the parents, family members, wedding party members, etc. Pat yourself on the back as you already have ready the first two important lines of your maid of honor’s speech!
Talk About the Bride
It’s time to take things to a more personal level! How you met the bride is a familiar story that will tickle the audience. Ensure it’s enticing and appropriate. If not, change gears to a different story that exemplifies your relationship or an instance when your friendship sparked.
If you share a bond over music, dance, or food, you could bring in a time when you both tried and failed a karaoke night or a recipe and embarrassed yourselves. You could have met in a class project as partners, and from there, you became inseparable. Be creative and sentimental and keep the crowd engaged and, if possible, giggling.
Speak About Her Partner
After talking about your girl, it’s always a good idea to mention how you first met her to-be hubby in the maid of honor speech. Remember, you’re the bride’s wingman, but the occasion is about celebrating the two lovebirds. Get creative here and talk of an appealing or embarrassing moment when the two met while maintaining your support and solidarity for their relationship. Always keep a happy face despite how you frankly feel about her partner.
Talk About Them as a Couple
After speaking of how you met the partner, you can now transition to their first dating times as a couple. Remember to be creative, as this works wonders no matter how long you’ve known them. Maybe you were your friend’s roommate and witnessed her smitten and giddy nerves in person.
Explain how she behaved when she first heard the words “I Love You” from her spouse. Did you play a part in encouraging or discouraging her? Be creative and keep the audience engaged.
Keep it Short and Sweet
Always remember that a maid of honor speech should only be two to three minutes long. That’s ample time to tell several stories about the couple and toast to a prosperous future. It’s still a wedding, and some people, especially the little ones, will probably be anxious to start eating or dancing at this point. So, keep it short and sweet.
Practice
Ensure you practice your maid of honor speech in advance, and in front of a mirror works wonders. You can also practice in front of your friend, family member, or even your cat as you time yourself to ensure the speech is the correct length. Once you’re confident you’ll kill it, remember to end your speech with a toast. You can follow the old-fashioned and natural route of raising your glass to end your maid of honor speech.
Things to Avoid In a Maid of Honor Speech
There are several topics to elude in your maid of honor speech. You might be carried away and decide to include humor which can go wrong if you’re not careful. Ensure you don’t drink beforehand, even if you want to calm your nerves. Anything more than a drink during the cocktail hour could spell doom. All in all, steer clear of these taboo topics:
- Inappropriate anecdotes
- Past relationships or divorces
- Foul language/Adult humor
- Long-winded stories
- Gambling, drugs, and drinking
- Negativity about marriage
FAQs
- Is it a must for the maid of honor to give a speech?
In most instances, a maid of honor should be expected to give the speech, especially if other attendees are planning on giving one. However, this isn’t required as it’s not for everyone. For instance, if you’re anxious in front of a crowd, you could express yourself in other ways, like a dance, song, or a sweet love story presentation about the couple.
2. How long should a maid of honor speech be?
It should take a minimum of three and five minutes since there could be other speeches to give during the meal courses, games, dancing, and extra reception activities.
3. When does the maid of honor give her speech?
If the wedding is traditional and follows the traditional wedding speech honor, the maid of honor is expected to give her speech after the parents of the new couple have given theirs. Sometimes, the couple may have a different setting where the speeches are delivered during the rehearsal dinner. Therefore, checking in with the to-be-weds about the speech order is essential to ascertain your spot in the lineup.
4. How do I write a maid of honor speech?
Always avoid overcomplicating it and stay true to yourself. Please keep it simple by giving a story, sharing how you know the couple, and toasting the newlyweds.
Writing a maid of honor speech can be both an exciting and anxious experience! However, you’ll need plenty of time and practice to write a flawless speech. By following the above guide, you’ll be sure to deliver a winning maid of honor speech that will make your best friend’s big day fun and memorable.
