The stakes at weddings are high. Months of planning, endless decisions, and a whole lot of cash all converge on one day that’s meant to be one of the best of your life. Of course, some things will always be unpredictable.
At a recent wedding, the best man and brother of the groom thought he’d try his hand at stand-up comedy, only to go down in flames with what was more of a roast than a toast. One of the wedding guests shared the story with an online community and netizens were horrified.
Weddings are a big deal, but one best man thought it was his big moment instead
Image credits: Eugenia Pankiv / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
What was meant to be a toast turned into a roast when he compared the bride to a damaged item from IKEA
Image credits: By Deniss / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The microphone was wrestled away from him before he could raise a glass, but guests’ jaws were already on the floor
Image credits: Alexander Isreb / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Members of the bridal party were enraged, with one having to be held back from bodily harming the now-worst best man
Image credits: anon
While the bride and groom did their best to shrug it off, one guest shared that the buffet line was super awkward
Weddings are meant to be magical. Love, laughter, a little dancing and hopefully a best man speech that toes the line. At one wedding, however things took a shocking turn when the groom’s brother decided to roast the happy couple with a cringe-worthy metaphor that left the entire room holding their breath. And their wine glasses.
The best man kicked off strong, poking fun at childhood memories and friendly rivalry, but then he compared the bride to a damaged IKEA return item. Yes, really. He said the groom picked her last-minute like something from the clearance bin. A stunned audience sat in silence, until one brave guest blurted out: “What the [heck]?!”
Things only got worse from there. A member of the bridal party nearly started a fight, and the tension in the buffet line could’ve been cut with a butter knife. As guests whispered, the wedding couple somehow stayed cool. No dramatic exits, no speeches in return, just smiles blended with the sounds of collective secondhand embarrassment.
Rather than calling it quits right there on the dance floor, the couple went on to laugh the whole thing off and kept the party going. Guests, however, are still recovering. As one distant relative summed it up: "I've been going to weddings my entire life, ain't nothing as bad as that [mess]."
Image credits: Onur Kaya / Pexels (not the actual photo)
From what OP tells us in their post, the best man thought this was his moment to be a comedian, but his sense of humor only made sense to him and very nearly wrecked the whole reception. So, what are the do’s and don'ts of best man speeches, and how do you avoid getting it wrong? We went looking for answers.
In her article for Brides, Corinne Pierre-Luis writes that, even if you’ve spoken to a sizable crowd many times, there's something about a best man speech that pulls at the heartstrings and, ultimately, has the ability to stir up your nonchalant vibe.
Pierre-Luis offers some practical tips for delivering a flawless, entertaining, and appropriate best man speech everyone will love. A few of these include thoroughly practicing the speech, having notes, making eye contact with your audience, watching your pace, cracking a few jokes, and reading the room.
In his post for Wedding Speech Masters, Ryan Conlon writes that composing a best man speech can be daunting, but with the right approach, it can also be an enjoyable and meaningful experience.
Conlon suggests starting with an attention-grabbing introduction, focusing on the couple and their relationship, incorporating tasteful jokes or lighthearted teasing, following a speech structure, and remembering to thank the couple and their families. It goes without saying that avoiding intoxication before grabbing the mic and keeping ex-girlfriends out of it is also a good idea.
The best man really should have known better or at least run his speech past the groomsmen before trying to grab his fifteen minutes of wedding fame. Perhaps he could’ve saved himself from going from best man to worst man in under a minute.
What do you think of the best man’s lame attempt at comedy? Have you got any wedding horror stories of your own? Let us know in the comments!
In the comments, some readers shared their own wedding horror stories while others slammed the best man for trying to make his speech a stand-up bit instead
