Best Man's Wedding Speech Checklist

A (flexible) checklist of the 10 key points you should consider including in your stand-up slot.

1. Your first duty is to thank the groom for the kind things he has said about the bridesmaids or maid of honour, as you are responding on their behalf.
2. Thank him also for any gifts he may have given to the other helpers: bridesmaids, ushers, page boys, and anyone else.
3. Read the cards, telegrams, mobile phone text messages and smoke signals sent in by those who could not attend the wedding in person.
4. Reveal some of the heartstopping moments leading up to the big day, including misunderstandings, wrong deliveries, amusing moments and near misses.
5. Select a couple of revealing anecdotes from your early relationship with the groom.
6. Put in some mildly embarrassing revelations about the groom's younger life - at school, at work, when he joined the Young Conservatives, when he switched to the Lib Dems, when he disgraced himself at some formal function. that kind of thing. Just remember not to be hurtful. It's his day and he needs to be helped to feel good about it all. Pull his leg but don't tear it off.
7. Use props to highlight your main embarrassing revelation(s). This could be photographic evidence of his stag night, Blair in Flares, or a pic of him going purple in the face as he strained into his nappy at a tender age.
8. Say nice things about the bride. Tell her how lovely she looks. Speak to both of them directly, part of the time, but don't address the whole speech to them.
9. Add a touch of sincerity near the end. Talk about the good mate he has been, about how he behaved differently 'with this one', and how she came to replace his former bachelor pursuits.
10. Conclude with a toast. If the bride's father hasn't already done so, toast the bride and groom. Otherwise toast absent friends.