If you have the pleasure of acting as the maid-of-honor at your best friend or sister’s wedding, chances are you will have to come up with a toast (or two) at some point during the wedding. We feel you if public speaking isn’t your thing, but there are ways to make your speech short and sweet, but still meaningful. We’ve rounded up some of our favorites we’ve heard along the way, but feel free to come up with your own as well using the guidelines we’ve laid out below:

Write your speech down.

Rehearse your speech.

We thought this quote was hilarious:

If you’re going with your own speech, here is our five-minute formula: 

one. Introduce yourself

two. Give a short story about the bride – how you met, a special trip you took together, your favorite thing about her, etc…

three. Give a quick anecdote about the groom – maybe the story your friend told about meeting him for the first time or her description of their first date or a funny time you shared together.

four. Explain (briefly) your favorite thing about the two of them as couple.

five. Have everyone raise their glasses

six. Toast them to a lifetime of happiness.

photo courtesy Lifescript.com

Use props to distract attention away from you:

We think this is a brilliant idea that we’ve seen done several times. Why don’t you bring a prop with you – so all eyes aren’t on you? We like the idea of sharing some photos as you describe your friend and the couple and their relationship. You can use the same formula above, but supplement with pictures. The audience will be staring at the pictures instead of directly at you. Hint: my husband’s best man actually put together a slideshow of images for our wedding. Since we had a projector set up in the room, it worked perfectly.

For the Bold Maid-of-Honor

One of the most memorable speeches was delivered via song. The maid-of-honor, which happened to be the bride’s sister, re-wrote the lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. The lyrics told the story about the bride and groom. It was hysterical. If you are bold enough to go that route – cheers to you!

We also like the idea of starting your speech off with a bit of humor like this quote below OR turning the attention back to the bride/groom: “Can we all give a round of applause for the gorgeous wedding BRIDE NAME and GROOM NAME put together.” That helps lighten the mood and sets the stage for your speech!

Enjoy,