I’m asking this as a Brit who has only ever been to English and Scottish weddings. Commonly, the grooms best man will give a speech which usually consists of “taking the piss” out of the groom. I’ve seen some particularly controversial speeches at weddings but they’re always fun.
Does this happen in the US?
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Yes, and there is typically an element of poking fun at the groom. I’ve also heard some pretty touching ones, though.
Yes
Yes. Also the maid of honor will give one for the bride.
Yes, and the maid of honor. Typically, the best man is supposed to be funny and the maid of honor is expected to have an emotional speech
Yup
My dad (my brother’s best man) gave a speech at my brother’s wedding. It was light hearted teasing and sentiment. Nothing embarrassing or bad.
Absolutely, our Best Man Speech tradition is inherited directly from you guys.
Something like this
https://youtu.be/htkyQi2EIYY?si=EalUl0kL5lvXLvNZ
That is the tradition.
Yes it does happen at a lot of weddings. Honestly wish it wouldn’t, it’s obnoxious.
Yes but not quite so much taking the piss. They tend to be nice speeches with maybe one or two fun anecdotes thrown in
I have British relatives who came over to the States to attend my wedding. There were the usual best man’s (and other) speeches. The Brits didn’t understand why they weren’t more cruel and insulting.
Yeah, it’s exactly as you’ve described. I gave a speech at a friend’s wedding and if I’m being honest I haven’t got a clue what I said. lol my friend who was getting married was handing me mixed drinks and I just smoked a joint with his dad. So I could have said anything. Haha! His wife doesn’t hate me, so I guess it wasn’t terrible
Yup.
Usually the maid of honor is really heartfelt, the best man does his best to be funny and lighten things back up for the party but still closes with well wishes.
Heh yeah. My best man gave me a bit of a shit talk. He waited for the reception. The actual wedding was serious and religious in a church.
The best man spouting some shit in a funny way is pretty standard.
You know, I *know* this happens, but I feel like I’ve never actually seen it in real life.
At the weddings I’ve been to or participated in, the best man has always given a speech, as well as the friends and some relatives. I gave speeches at both my daughters’ weddings which “took the piss” out of my sons in law. It was all good fun, though one was starting to get hot under the collar as I listed his all his flaws……up until the punch line, where I opined that my daughter was attracted to him because those flaws reminded her so much of her father.
Yes but when it’s time for him to finally give the speech he is always visibly drunk and barely makes it through 😂
Yes and the Maid of Honor
We do. I personally HATE long speeches at weddings from the best man and the maid of honor, so when I was a best man for my very close friends wedding I did not write my speech down. I planned out what I was gonna say, kept it short and personal, and closed with a joke.
A couple people told me it was the best best man speech they’d ever heard. I’m guessing they also appreciate a short speech like I do lol
Best man/maid of honor speeches are extremely standard, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding that didn’t do that. Less universal but still pretty common is for the parents of the couple to give speeches.
Yes. I’ve been best man twice. Speech both times.
It’s supposed to be a toast but over time, it’s turned into a speech in a lot of cases. Yes, the best man usually says a few words though. Honestly, the less the merrier
Both the Best Man and Maid of Honor generally give speeches but sometimes others do – like a parent or sibling of the bride or groom. There will usually be a few teasing comments or somewhat embarrassing stories told particularly by the Best Man but nothing like what I assume “taking the piss” out of the groom means. Anything too harsh is looked down on.
It’s often meant to be funny, but anything worse than light teasing or a slightly embarrassing anecdote is considered poor form, unless the crowd involved is nasty and rude in general. It’s supposed to be a happy occasion, not an excuse to make someone feel bad under the cloak of tradition and “humor”.
Wedding photographer of 20+ years here:
Yes, the best man and usually the maid/matron of honor will give a speech. Also sometimes the fathers of either the bride or the groom or both.
It’s not as much “taking the piss” as a fun, and often emotional speech about the bride/groom or the couple.
Americans as a whole tend to be less sarcastic than their British/UK counterparts. IME> 🙂
1. How I know the groom
2. Funny story about the groom with out insulting/embarrassing the groom
3. How I met the bride
4. How much I love the bride.
5. How much I love them together
Cheers.
It is similar to White House annual correspondence dinner.
I have actual clout here, I used to write best man speeches for coworkers.
So, a good speech pokes fun(takes a piss) at very common flaws (is always late, brags a lot, addicted to sports, etc) while also praising and commenting on the bride positively. You want everyone to walk away feeling good. So, in general it Includes:
1. Establishing your clout ( me and groom used to always ride bikes on homemade ramps and we went to college together)
2. Gentle ribbing “well, we can begin the speech when Groom arrives *look around ignoring groom who is always late*” “I remember a trip to Paris where groom spent 4 hours finding the perfect spot for a funny pic of them holding it like a microphone”
3. Praise the bride “but since Sheila entered his life he has worked harder and felt more motivated and rescued a bunny and donated a kidney, and doesn’t she look beautiful tonight.
4. Touching moment with a tear of what he has meant to you.
5. A toast.
The more personal the better. But you have to be VERY careful to make fun of something like lateness, and not alcoholism, womanizing, shitting their pants, VD, etc. it is honestly better to have people laugh at you on behalf of the groom if possible.