Best Man Quotes – A Cheat’s Guide

Unlike googling tired old ‘wedding gags’, witty quotes are a legitimate way of a best man adding humour to his speech.

Whether it’s a wise philosopher, a witty writer or a contemporary comedian, quotes are a quick way of supercharging your speech with a bit of ready-made wit.

The Speechy team have written 100s of amazing speeches for best men around the world but as much as we love creating original humour for our clients, sometimes a great quote just nails it.

Whether you’re looking for quotes about marriage, friendship or just want to add a laugh, we have something for you.

*Of course, if you’re looking for more than ‘advice’, check out our best man speech template , speech edit service or our bespoke speech writing service. Our team of renegade wordsmiths are rated ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot for a reason. 

Before we begin, a word of warning…Great quotes shouldn’t make you lazy. Use the quotes as an addition to what you want to say, rather than a substitute for your own words.

Write your speech first, then see if a quote or two can make it better.

1 – Make the quotes meaningful

Think about the songs & the films that you’ve bonded over. Do any of these lend themselves to a great quote?

2 – Don’t overload your speech with quotes

Two maximum as a general rule. One at the top and one towards the end.

3 – Quote recognisable names (or at least provide some context)

It’s always good to quote people that you’ve actually have heard of (or at least respect after you’ve looked them up on Wikipedia). You’ll find there are loads of great quotes by people you’ve never heard of, but do you really want to qualify them by saying they were written by a ‘relationship consultant’?

4 – Add a back ref

Put the quote into a personal context, or make it even more humorous with a suitable ‘ad lib’.

5 – Get expert advice

Check out our Best Man Speech Advice for the full low down on how to package your quotes up in a great speech.

Or, if you’re looking for our quotes, check out some of the articles the Speechy team has featured in – including The New York Times and The Guardian.

Alternatively, just concentrate on the stag do and get our team of TV-trained scriptwriters to do it for you.

“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.” A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh.

This quote works best if the groom likes his Maris Pipers!

“Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet service to see who they really are.”  Will Ferrell 

You can always add some more ‘marriage advice’ quotes to your speech. Check out our father of the bride quotes for more inspo.

“I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” Rita Rudner

It’s a classic but it works. Clearly only if you’re married.

‘Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you haven’t learned anything’. Muhammad Ali 

Quoting this dude is always going to add a bit of cool to your speech.

“Who, being loved, is poor?” Oscar Wilde

For a moment people may suspect you’re being sincere. But obviously, you’ll back ref this with something related to the ridiculous cost of a wedding.

“There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends.” Sylvia Plath

Even literary titans understand the powerful bonding experience of a stag do.

”“We fall in love because we long to escape from ourselves with someone as beautiful, intelligent, and witty as we are ugly, stupid, and dull. But what if such a perfect being should one day turn around and decide they will love us back? We can only be somewhat shocked-how can they be as wonderful as we had hoped .’ Alain Du Botton

A bit of philosophy perhaps?

“Never go to bed on an argument. Stay up and fight.” Phyllis Diller

Still love this classic quote. And we follow her advice every night.

”When you find people who not only tolerate your quirks but celebrate them and say ‘me too!’ be sure to cherish them. These people are your tribe.’

Everyone likes to be part of a tribe. And a wedding is always better if everyone’s part of one.

”It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in life that matters.” Author Unknown

Just on the right side of sincere without verging into cheesy territory.

”Marriage is like a game of chess except the board is flowing water, the pieces are made of smoke and no move you make will have any effect on the outcome.” Jerry Seinfeld

So if you use this one, the speech has got to end up being slightly less cynical.

”You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.” Laurence J. Peter

Thank God this is true.

‘It’s the friends you can call up at 4am that matter.’ Marlene Dietrich 

An awesome German woman who clearly knew the rules of friendship. (Though didn’t live long enough to know friends don’t actually call each other these days).

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” C.S. Lewis

Give examples to make this quote funnier e.g. do you both order two Big Macs at a time, reckon Christopher Eccleston was the best Doc Who, remember the lyrics to The Shamen’s Ebeneezer track despite only being six when it was released.  You know the sort of thing…

“It doesn’t matter if the guy is perfect or the girl is perfect, as long as they are perfect for each other” Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting

And a sweet one to end on (without being overly mushy).

The Speechy team do more than hunt down cool quotes.

We’re a team of BBC trained TV scriptwriters by trade & have written for shows such Have I Got News For You & Dead Ringers as well as lots of well-known comedians.

These days we team up to help people around the world craft amazing wedding speeches. We’re rated ‘excellent’ on Trustpilot and here are some of the ways we can help you…

Give us a call if you want to find out more about how we work, the services we offer and our DELIGHT GUARANTEE.

We’re a global service and help best men all over the world.

WhatsApp us, call Heidi on 07971 224 245, email hello@speechy.co.uk or request a callback.