Maid of Honor Speech for your next wedding

Aug 14, 2009

Wow. What a time in life. If you’ve been selected to give the Maid of Honor Speech at your friend’s wedding, you’re likely trying to get some ideas. Allow me to attempt to provide you with the best of what I know from my years of experience as a professional speaking consultant.

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 say here is that it’s completely natural to feel anywhere from a bit jittery to completely terrified at the idea of having to give a maid of honor speech. It’s totally normal. I still get nervous every single time I prepare to speak, whether at a professional engagement, or even a casual dinner. Okay, now that 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, think about a story or two. Everyone on the planet likes to hear stories . The first might be something about what you thought of the groom when you met him. This always seems to be a great topic to use , because it’s perfectly acceptable for you to just slightly poke a little 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! In case I haven’t had the chance to meet you in person yet, my name is _________. I’m the maid of honor , and I’m so happy for _______ (the bride). First, I want to say congrats ________(bride & groom). Also, thanks to _______(the parents of the bride , who likely put on the wedding) and everyone who came from far and near to be here today with ________(bride and groom) on their very special day.

Keep any pokes you might consider aiming at the groom in your maid of honor speech to a very 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 experience feelings of love, joy and happiness. 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 slight , ever-so-slightly jabbing comment about the groom is usually 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 coming to the door [or hearing about him coming to her door if you didn’t live with the bride] one night at midnight asking 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 welcome _______(groom) to the family. We really hope you find us as open and outgoing as you have been to us.

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