My friend, Melanie, and I have been best friends for well over ten years. When we met in Junior High, we were gangly girls going through puberty who got all giddy if a boy smiled at us. Sigh, those were the days.

Over the years, we’ve shared many fun times together and even planned out our weddings years in advance. That’s why I was so thrilled when Melanie beamed as she showed me her engagement ring, which meant that Jason was the one. I was ecstatic when she asked me to be her Maid of Honour. Of course, I would do it – who else could it ever be?

My joy quickly faded, however, when she followed up by asking me to make a speech at her wedding. How could she do this to me? Doesn’t she know that I’m terrified of speaking in public? What would I say? How would I say it?

I had to think fast, so I went online and searched for maid of honour speech examples. Luckily, I came across an online resource guide that provided me with some really great examples. Using these examples, I decided to put together a speech that combined some wonderful memories of our friendship, my impressions about the time she and Jason met, a few words of advice for the groom and my best wishes for a long and happy marriage. To get the guests laughing, I sprinkled in a little humor.

Okay, ladies. I admit that my knees were knocking a little bit as I stood up and took my place between the happy couple. However, once I began talking, my fear simply melted away! It was great. I simply spoke from my heart and the audience was laughing and clapping at the funny stories.

You know, I could do this again. It’s not that hard when you have maid of honour speech examples to help you plan out what to say. It saved me a lot of time and headaches, and stopped me from embarrassing myself at the most important event in my best friend’s life.

14 October Update:

I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking me which guide I used, so here goes: the speech guide that I used was Belinda Hamilton’s Maid of Honor Speech Pack. Not only does it have 25 sample speeches, but also a step by step guide on writing and presenting your own unique speech, plenty of hilarious one-liners and funny quotations – you’ll love these -, a guide on maid of honor duties and a checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything on the wedding day – this is a lifesaver -, and lots of other cool stuff. I’ve recently got my hands on two other maid of honor speech guides and while they are pretty good too, I still think Linda’s is the best.

Not every bride would like to have funny maid of honour speeches but it does lend a touch of light-heartedness and hilarity to a wedding reception. If you, as the maid of honour are able to “pull it off” perfectly – even better.

Why not? Who says the wedding reception has to be serious?

A wedding day is an emotional day for everyone, there are many happy tears – wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to mix those happy tears with lots of laughter?

How to Write Funny Maid of Honour Speeches

There are many ways you can go about writing funny maid of honour speeches. The possibilities are endless – depending on the circumstances, you could craft a funny speech from:

• How they met
• How they fell in love
• First impressions
• An experience from the brides past
• An embarrassing situation that the bride experienced, keeping in mind the brides sense of humor – would she mind you bringing up an embarrassing moment from her past?
• Mention future possibilities.

It is important that the speech or story comes straight from the heart. This will make it all the more entertaining.

If you and the bride have a long history together, it’ll make writing the speech easier. All you need to do is think back on all the good times you have had together and pick one that you think will translate into a great piece of entertainment for everyone.

If you don’t have a long history, there are many great ideas to be found online.

Keep it short, keep it simple – a play on words is always a hit.

Make sure to make a toast to the bride and groom at the end of speech. Have everyone raise their glass to the happy couple and wish them a long and happy future.

Writing funny maid of honour speeches isn’t a chore – consider it to be a pleasure and an honor.

If you have been asked to give a maid of honour speech, then you know how important it is to make sure it is perfect. You wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself or the bride or groom. If you are prepared, everything should go smoothly.

Do

• Prepare ahead of time – know what you want to say.
• Put lots of thought into writing the speech. It is their special day and you have been honored by this request.
• Decide what type of maid of honour speech you want to have – emotional, funny, serious, or something in the middle.
• Write the speech out – put it on a paper or notecards that you can refer to if necessary.
• Maid of honour speeches should have an introduction, middle, and an ending.
• Rehearse the speech until you know it off by heart. This will improve your timing and the way that you give the speech. It will also help with your confidence.
• Keep it short.
• Keep it simple.
• Keep it positive.
• Make sure it is about the bride and groom only.
• Make eye contact while giving the speech.
• Stand up to deliver your wedding speech.
• Understand that it is normal to be nervous. Even seasoned speech givers can get nervous when it’s time to deliver wedding speeches.

Don’t

• Say anything negative. Leave out all negativity whether it is about anyone or anything involving the happy couple.
• Make sure that you have not had too much alcohol before giving the speech. If you do, your maid of honour speech may not come across as intended.
• Do not include any story, mistakes, bad decisions, or embarrassing moments.
• Never include anything that was told to you in confidence.
• Don’t make any off-color comments or comments that may insult anyone in attendance.
• Do not add any colorful language – keep the speech clean. Remember, there are older people and children present too.
• Try not to make it longer than four minutes. No one wants to sit through a bunch of long-winded wedding speeches.
• Don’t embarrass anyone.
• Don’t ramble.

Remember, it is an honor to be asked to give a maid of honour speech. The bride and groom trust that you will give them the respect and love that they deserve on their happy day.

Check out these great and funny maid of honour speeches that I found on Youtube