The maid of honor is a close friend of the bride who gives a brief speech at the wedding. She may recount her friendship with the bride and wish her well on her new path of married life. The speech may be touching or amusing, short or long, as the maid of honor speech examples show.
When your best friend gets married, you may find yourself with the privilege of being the maid of honor, the lead bridesmaid who stands closest to her on the big day. In addition to many fun responsibilities such as helping with wedding planning, planning a bridal shower, and throwing a bachelorette party, the maid or matron of honor gives a speech and wedding toast.
Here are some maid of honor speech examples to get you started with your speech.
What Is A Maid Of Honor Speech?
A maid of honor speech has a few essential components. If you are looking for a maid of honor speech template, we have a basic guide for you to follow. Like any form of writing or public speaking, there is typically an introduction, the body filled with main points, and a conclusion.
- Introduction: First, you must introduce yourself and discuss your relationship with the bride. This helps everyone to warm up to you as a speaker. Interesting writing and speeches include cute, funny, or touching anecdotes to immediately hook the listener or reader. Keep that in mind.
- Stories: Most MOH speeches include stories. They can be funny stories or amusing anecdotes from throughout your friendship. The perfect maid of honor speech establishes a life timeline before the bride met the love of her life and after they were a couple. Be sure to acknowledge the groom as her true love. You may include some tidbits about their love story. Pulling the stories together is vital so they don’t sound like isolated stories.
- Wedding Toast: Although you do need to wrap up the speech, the actual ending is usually a wedding toast. Be sure to wish the happy couple the best of luck on their special day as you encourage wedding guests to raise their glasses to the bride and groom.
What Should You Include In A Maid Of Honor Speech?
As you begin to prepare your maid of honor speech, there are some things you should include. Remembering the template, you may start with how your friendship started. While introducing yourself tells them who you are, it is also essential to establish why you and the bride are BFFs.
Talking about the first time the bride told you about the groom (or your first impressions of him) is another fun approach for your speech. You can always talk about what an amazing person the bride is. Say some nice things about the groom and the relationship of the newlyweds.
Lastly, you will want to prepare your toast. The wedding toast might include wishing the couple a “lifetime of love,” “best of luck in their new life together,” or using a beautiful quote about love. However you choose to wrap it up, remember to use both the bride and groom’s names as it personalizes the speech.
What Is The Best Intro For Maid Of Honor Speech?
There are many ways to start your MOH speech. You can start with a simple “Good evening” or “Hello, everyone!” Once you are past the niceties of greeting people, try to find a cute story or quote that sums up your relationship with the bride.
“Good evening, friends and loved ones. I am Pam, (bride’s name) ‘s little sister. As the younger sister, I always ended up doing things after her, and since she found her soul mate and managed to get herself to a wedding day while I was still single, she beat me again! Seriously, though. As a sister, she has been the best, and I am honored she invited me to stand by her side on the most important day of her life.”
What Is The Difference Between A Maid Of Honor Speech And A Maid Of Honor Toast?
A maid of honor speech is a wedding speech given by the maid or matron of honor at the wedding reception. The bride’s best friend or sister talks about her relationship with the bride and then extends best wishes to the happy couple.
A toast is an invitation to all guests to raise a glass and drink in honor of the bride and groom. One can present a toast and well wishes without giving a speech.
It is worth mentioning that a toast is usually at the end of a wedding speech.
Are you looking for an example of a maid of honor toast?
- “Can everyone please raise a glass to the bride and groom? Here is to a lifetime of happiness.”
- “Please raise a glass to my sister (bride’s name) and her new husband (groom’s name). Dr. Seuss said, ‘You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.’ That is how (bride’s name) has been since meeting (groom). Like all of her dreams have come true. To the happy couple.”
What Not To Write In A Maid Of Honor Speech?
There are a few basic rules, whether you are writing a best man speech or a maid of honor speech.
- Stick to a reasonable amount of time. These speeches should be 2-5 minutes long, enough time to tell cute stories.
- Refrain from discussing exes.
- Know your audience. It is rarely okay to swear in a speech.
- Avoid telling inside jokes.
- Don’t embarrass the bride or groom.
- Never say anything bad about the bride or her new husband.
- Unless you are certain the story will be appreciated, keep the tone light and not sad.
Maid Of Honor Speech Examples To Inspire You
Funny Speech:
“Good evening! My name is (name), and I have known (bride) for over 20 years. We met in high school when we were both avoiding running the mile, which is hard to believe since we both have half a dozen marathons under our belt. What if we had actually applied ourselves back then? We might not have become best friends if we had been working hard on the track in freshman gym class.
When I think about friendship (bride) is the first name I think of. She is the most genuine and loyal person I know. Let’s face it, I may not know your best friend, but I am sure mine is better. We have had fun getting into trouble together through college and beyond, and even after the love of her life came along, the fun didn’t stop!
[Groom], I knew you were good for [Bride’s Name] since I met you. How you love and respect her makes it apparent to anyone watching that you truly love her. You two are a perfect match. Now if we could just get you running with us!
Friends and loved ones, join me as I raise my glass to the happy couple.”
Touching
“Hello, everyone. I am (name), and I am very touched to have been asked to be part of this wedding party. My dear friend (bride) is a fantastic person, and I was thrilled when she introduced me to (groom). What a beautiful couple they make!
Everyone hopes for a fairytale romance, but let’s be honest; real relationships take work. As Mignon McLaughlin said, ‘A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.’ To the happy couple, may you fall in love with one another over and over.
Raise a glass to the bride and groom: to a lifetime of happiness.”