Planning is important, and you’ve done a great thing by looking for information ahead of time.  You’d be surprised how many people ignore the fear they have about public speaking and tell themselves “I’ll figure it out the couple of days before,” “the night before,” or God forbid “in the car on the way there.  ”By the way, if you’re not nervous, I’m worried.  What I’m trying to tell you here is that it’s completely natural to feel anything from a tad jittery to utterly panicked at the idea of having to give a maid of honor speech.  It’s completely normal.  I still get nervous every single time I prepare to speak, whether at a professional engagement, or even a casual dinner.  Okay, once you are assured your nerves are normal, let’s take a look at the maid of honor speech itself.

The technical aspects of the Maid of Honor Speech:

First, you might consider starting by telling the audience who you are, and thanking them for coming.  Then, consider a story or two.  Everyone on the planet likes to hear stories .  The first thing might be something relating to what you thought of the groom when you met him.  This always seems to be a good topic go with , because it’s totally acceptable for you to just slightly poke fun at him, as if to say “I wasn’t really sure about Jim when he first started dating Laura.  He drove this old beat up car and had a slightly strange craving for French fries after midnight.”

Hello!  Just in case I haven’t had the chance to meet you in person yet, I’m _________.  I’m the maid of honor today , and I’m so happy for _______ (the bride).  First, I want to say congrats ________(bride & groom).  Also, special to _______(the bride’s parents, who probably put on the wedding) and to everyone who came here from far and near to be here today with ________(bride and groom) on their very special day.

Keep any jabs you might be thinking would be funny for the groom in your maid of honor speech to a low level.  As you will probably be sensing just thinking about your past experience, at a wedding, people place the parts of themselves that might be frustrated about the “darker side” of humanity on the back burner.  They are there to feel feelings of happiness, joy and love .  They don’t want to be reminded about the bad things that can come out in people, like greed, lust, pain, etc.So keep from telling jokes that might hint at these things.  A tiny ever-so-slightly negative comment about the groom is okay, but only once, and try to make it very light.

When I first met ____ (groom), I remember wondering if things would work out. I recall him knocking on our door (or hearing about him knocking on her door if you weren’t living with the bride) one night at midnight calling for _____(bride).  He was wearing this old flannel shirt, and I think asked ____(bride) if she wanted to get some french fries.  I had my doubts, but as I got to know ______(groom), I started to see he was an easy person to talk to, he has a good sense of humor, and eventually I realized he was a perfect match for ______(bride).  I want to be the second to say welcome _______(groom) to the family. We hope we can show you the same outgoing and open spirit as you have shown us.

To continue with this exact speech example, see this site: with an example Maid of Honor Speech.

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