I have been fortunate to attend many weddings as a guest and as a videographer and I have seen so many lovely Maid of Honour speeches. I thought I’d create a blog post to help out those MOH-to-be’s with a few pointers for their speech.
Being asked to be MOH for your bestie for sure is an honour, no doubt with the excitement comes a little apprehension over the public speaking duties that naturally come with the role. Your friend is lucky to have you – obviously you’re not taking it lightly if you’ve come across this blog during your research, in this post I’ll try to help you get your speech started with a few pointers.
A great way to start your speech is to introduce yourself and how you know the bride. Maybe you went to kindergarten, school or university together.. or perhaps you worked together. If the MC hasn’t already done so, you could introduce the other bridesmaids here too. Also, now is a good time to comment on how well the groom scrubbed up, and thank the groomsmen for getting him there in one piece.
Next you could tell a story about you and the bride. It might be a fond memory from times spent together or what you thought of her before you met.. or when you first met (or all of the above). Be sure to keep it all positive, it’s her day and this is you’re opportunity to share why you both make the best of friends.
Then it’s time to bring the groom into the picture - tell a story or two about the groom. It might be something the bride has said to you about him – perhaps in the early days when she was crushing on him, or it might be a memory you’ve all shared together. A story that is fun and / or heartfelt that shows why they’re the perfect match will be ideal.
I have put together a list of funny one liners below for you to have a read of and choose a couple (or a few) to incorporate into your speech to give everyone a good laugh;
Marriage is a simple relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband.
May you both have the two essential things for a successful marriage; a sense of humour and selective hearing.
(Husband) here’s a bit of a math slash life lesson for you going forward, if you have $20, and (Bride) has $5, (Bride) has $25 (this is my personal fave!)
(Husband), the best way to remember your anniversary is to forget it once
(Bride) make sure you share everything with (Husband), including the housework.
Two things are necessary to keep your wife happy. First, let her think she's having her own way. And second, let her have it!
(Groom) never laugh at or criticize any of your wifes choices..because you are one of them!
There are 3 types of wedding rings – engagement rings, wedding rings and suffer-ring.
Please guys do me a favour, (Bride) please put your left hand on the table, (Groom) please put your right hand on top.... right (Groom), that’s the last time you’ll have the upper hand in the marriage.
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
A nice way to finish your speech is to say how much of an honour it was to be maid of honour today as you watched your bestie marry the man of her dreams with a bit of advice (maybe from the above, but also something a bit more serious/ nice), as well as wishing the bride and groom luck and commenting that you can’t wait to see what they achieve together in the future (or words to those effect).
What to do
Write your speech on cue cards and have them handy, practice reading your speech to someone else and get them to time it (anywhere from 3-5min is usually a good length to aim for), have them also give you feedback.
What not to do
Don’t mention ex’s, don’t tell stories which will embarrass and upset the bride, groom or their families, don’t tell stories for ‘had to be there moments’ or that are longwinded that might lose the audiences attention.
I’ll be creating a series of blog posts for ideas and inspiration so be sure to like my Facebook page to keep up to date! www.facebook.com/annacudbyvideography
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