Best Man Wedding Toast Tips

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Not everyone is a great speaker.  So the thought of giving a best man speech can be a daunting one.  If you find it difficult to express  yourself in your own words don’t be afraid to use someone elses.  Searching the internet you can find great stories or poems you can incorporate into your wedding toast.  Just be honest and don’t take credit for it.

Here is a good life story that always leaves a mark with a wedding crowd.

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2″ in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. This time the students were sure and they responded with a unanimous “YES!”

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar — effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children, things that, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car”.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you”.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. Do something for the community. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

“Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

The first time I was asked to be a best man was in my sisters wedding 9 years ago.  Since it was my first time I didn’t know that I would have to give a best man toast at the reception.  I’d be kidding if I told you I wasn’t nervous.  Getting up and speaking in front of all those people scared the hell out of me.  So I started asking every one I know what I should talk about, what should I say.

The best advice I got was from my dad.  He said that I first needed to decide what kind of best man speech I wanted to give.  Did I want it to be funny or sentimental? Or both?  He said I could be just like everyone else and get up there and tell some lame jokes about my sister and her new husband and that would do fine, but he thought that since this was her special day why not try do give a wedding toast that every one would remember for a long time to come.

So i started writing down some ideas and thoughts about marriage, my sister, her soon to be husband, our family and anything else I could think of.  I had a list of about 25 things I could talk about so I felt confident that I could get up there and give the best man toast of the century.

Man was I wrong.  Having all those items on my list only confused me and I could not remember for the life of me what I wanted to say about each.  I know it was just my sisters wedding, but I felt like I was in front of a whole stadium full of people and I lost what I wanted to say.  In the end it was probably not the most memorable wedding toast ever given but I think I was able to get some nice things out about the happy couple and I didn’t embarrass myself to much.

If there is anything that I hope you take from this site is that most of us need to prepare more then a few notes or try to come up with a wedding speech the night before.  Trust me I know…that happened to me at my best friends wedding a few years ago.  But I’ll save that story for another day.