Best Man

Last weekend, I had the honor of being the best man at my best friend’s wedding. The couple actually got officially married two years ago (such is pandemic life), but this was the real party.

The last of my best man duties was to give a speech at the reception and not going to lie, I was definitely a little anxious in the days leading up to it. I had known this day was coming for two years (hah), and every now and then I would jot down some notes. But I didn’t really piece stuff together until my long flight back home and then edited and rewrote a bunch of times in the few days leading up to the big day.

I had been to enough weddings to know what I needed to do, but it was surprisingly hard to write out. First, it was crazy to think that V and I have been friends for almost 15 years. So much has happened between us that it was hard to pick out which stories I wanted to tell. And for the most part, I retained the memorable feelings from all that time together rather than the specific details of those many moments.

But I eventually figured out a good flow for the speech and rehearsed 5-10 times and felt ready.

Come wedding day, I had a few drinks after the ceremony during cocktail hour to loosen up and the rest was kind of a blur. Before I knew it, I was up at the front with the mic and a glass of champagne.

Nerves aside, I took a risk and went without notes because when was I ever going to get to chance to do this again, talking about two of the best people I know in front of two hundred family and friends… probably never. And hey, if I lost my place, I wouldn’t have a problem ad libbing and just talking about my best friend. This was speech topic I knew really, really well.

I had intended to lean more humor in my speech, but I felt quite sentimental writing it and delivering it. Fortunately, I think most of my jokes landed and it went off without a hitch. Certainly helped that I had a lot of friends cheer me on all through out.

Walked back to my table to cheers of “Stan-ley! Stan-ley!” where a glass of Henessey awaited my arrival. Felt a weight off my shoulders and got to enjoy what was one of the greatest parties I’ve ever been a part of. There’s nothing quite like seeing your best friend get married and then being able to celebrate.

Looking back, I was honestly so happy to get the chance to give the best man speech and get to play a role in the festivities. V, hope you’re ready to give a speech in the future.