5 Toast Ideas for the Best Man
Have you ever wondered if what you know about wedding toasts is
accurate? Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you
know to the latest info on wedding toasts.
The best man traditionally offers the first toast at a wedding.
His toast can offer a thought provoking look at married life,
honor his friendship with the groom or reveal intimate and often
embarrassing details of the couple's courtship. The traditional
toast is simply a short speech given verbally but best men are
free to try other approaches to the toast such as a slideshow or
a video presentation. The best man could also choose to give a
verbal toast with a few new twists.
The traditional best man's toast is a verbal speech that is
given early in the reception. Although it is unoriginal, this
type of toast is widely accepted and popular. If the best man is
married himself, he may want to take this opportunity to offer
the couple some sage advice for enjoying a happy and peaceful
marriage. He may also wish to simply state why he admires the
bride and the groom and offer his best wishes. Still another
popular option for this traditional version of a best man's
toast is to regale the guests with a slew of stories from the
groom's wilder days. This, however, is not recommended at a
wedding attended by mostly conservative guests as this can be
embarrassing to both the couple and the guests.
A slideshow is on increasingly popular way for the best man to
toast the new couple. You could take the opportunity to display
various pictures of the bride and groom separately and as a
couple. One option is to interview both parents prior to the
wedding and ask them to contribute pictures of their child from
when they were a baby until now. You would ask the parents a
series of questions about the bride or grooms childhood,
adolescence and adult life. Then you could take the pictures and
arrange them in a slideshow presentation that you could narrate
with information gleaned from your interviews. This type of
toast is especially popular with the older generation in
attendance at the wedding because many of them knew the bride or
groom as children and will enjoy reminiscing about those times
through the pictures and stories.
Those of you not familiar with the latest on wedding toasts now
have at least a basic understanding. But there's more to come.
If the best man is linguistically inclined he may also wish to
write a short poem or song about the couple. This poem or song
could either be sweet and sentimental or funny and potentially
embarrassing to the couple. Although the best man may be making
the same points that he would in giving a traditional speech,
the use of a poem or song to convey the sentiment makes it more
original and amusing for the guests.
A video presentation is another unique way to make the best
man's toast. One way to do this is to arrange meetings with
close friends and family members and ask them a series of
questions about love and relationships and videotape their
answers. You could then videotape yourself giving a short toast
and introducing the other members on the tape. This is an
excellent idea for the best man who is afraid that he will
forget what he wants to say on the wedding day. The video allows
him to practice his speech and record it over and over again
until it is perfect.
Another original toast idea is the idea of memory boxes. The
best man could talk to the parents of the bride and groom ahead
of time and obtain a few objects from their pasts such a photos,
childhood security blankets and special gifts from loved ones.
The bet man would put each of these items into one of the boxes
and leave the other one empty. When it comes time for the toast
the best man could present the couple with the filled box. He
would then open the box and explain the story behind each of the
memory items. When he is done with the first box, he could
present the couple with the second box and explain that this box
is for the couple to fill up with keepsakes of the memories that
they will share together.
There are a variety of toasting options available to the best
man. Whether he chooses to speak from the heart with an
unprepared speech or invest time prior to the wedding to put
together an elaborate presentation, the toast is sure to be
appreciated as long as the best man is speaking from his heart.
There's a lot to understand about wedding toasts. We were able
to provide you with some of the facts above, but there is still
plenty more to write about in subsequent articles.