Maid of Honour Speech

We love a maid of honour speech. Boom! That’s the best man blown right out of the water.

Of course, being asked to give a maid of honour speech is a bit of a ‘responsibility’. An honour, hell yeah, but a shed load of pressure too.

Entertaining a room full of strangers, some elderly relatives and a load of drunken mates can be scary. But it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to tell a true friend, or maybe even your sister, how goddamn awesome they are.

Follow our advice and write a speech that will leave the best man weeping.*

*Or if you’re looking for more than ‘advice’, check out our maid of honour speech template, our speech edit service or our bespoke speech writing service.

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Maid of Honour Etiquette

1 – YOUR JOB – Is simply to drop a love-bomb on your friend. In our experience, a maid of honour speech can be just as touching as the groom’s but that’s not to say it shouldn’t be blooming funny too. In fact, it definitely should be funny.

2 – YOUR STYLE – Tailor your speech to suit the style of the wedding. Is it a rock n roll affair, a traditional do, or a child -friendly bash? Think of your audience and decide if ‘ladies and gentleman’ is necessary or overly formal (generally it’s the latter).

3 – YOUR FOCUS – The focus of the speech should be a witty description of the bride. This doesn’t mean you need to sing your mate’s praises for a solid eight minutes; it means having fun with her character and showing you really ‘get her’.

4 – THE GROOM – Remember to be nice about the groom. Say more than the usual platitudes and give a sense of his character too.

5 – THE TOAST – Other speakers get first dibs on the classic toasts but quite frankly, who wants them? Find a unique way to toast the newly-hitched- even if it’s just to ‘the coolest couple this side of The Tipsy Cow’.

Finding Your Funny

Granted, the bride (and her mum) will focus on the touching side of your speech – but everyone else, well, they want the laughs. Here’s how to achieve them…

1- AVOID WEDDING ‘JOKES’ – Being funny isn’t about finding good jokes on the internet. Humour comes from real life, so don’t look anywhere else for your inspiration. You’ve got a ready-made character that you can play with, and even if the bride’s on the straight side, we guarantee there will be fun to be had. Yes, it’s more effort to create original humour but it’s not that complicated. There’s never an excuse for jokes about the day being so emotional that ‘even the wedding cake’s in tiers’.

2 – IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S TRUE – Start by thinking about the things that make the bride unique. Ask yourself lots of questions – what’s her worst habit (cheating at the pub quiz), what’s her guilty pleasures (Justin Bieber), what might she love more than her groom (peri-peri sauce?) etc. Once you have a bit of content to play with, the comedy will be easier to find.

3 – CREATE A CHARACTER – Imagine the bride was a character in a sitcom. What type of person would she be? The health freak who transforms into a kebab-eating monster after a bottle of Pinot? The A&E doctor who can’t live without her straighteners? The intellectual who secretly loves The Kardashians? Once you find a basic premise, use anecdotes can help build on the character you’ve created.

4 – KEEP IT SIMPLE – Good writing is all you need for a great speech. Powerpoint and props can often get in the way. Keep your speech short and your jokes punchy.

Read our How To Be Funny Guide to get more inspo & advice.

Or check out our Sister of the Bride blog or Sister of the Groom blog if you have a special sibling relationship to ridicule.

5 Speech Rules

Rule 1: Dig up the Dirt

Before you start writing your speech, get gathering your material.

Imagine you’re that bloke off Time Team, get your waterproof on and get digging.

Email your mates and ask for their favourite bride stories. Invite them for a ‘wine-storm’ if you have time.

Of course, as well as the embarrassing stuff, make sure you gather the evidence that the bride’s a damn fine specimen of a human too. And feel free to name-check ‘contributors’ in the speech.

Rule 2: Prove, Don't Tell

Rather than telling everyone that your friend is caring and funny – prove to them she is!

Tell the stories that illustrate those points and your speech becomes much more interesting.

No one wants to hear your mate is the ‘most generous, thoughtful woman you know’, they want to hear about the time she had to pick you up at 3am after a taxi refused to drive you home!

Cut the cliches and tell good stories instead.

Rule 3: Tell a Story

Rather than just a collection of anecdotes and the usual stuff, creating a theme and building a narrative ensures your speech is crafted rather than just a cut and paste job.

The theme doesn’t need to be complicated.

If the bride’s a teacher you could talk about what they’ve taught you over the years (from how to down a jaggerbomb to how to hunt down a vaguely decent bloke).

Play with her character and see what theme you can create!

Rule 4: Less is More

You can keep your maid of honour speech as short as you like but don’t go over eight minutes.

If there’s a best man speech too you might want to keep it to six mins each (though never agree to less time than the bloke!)

Finally, when it comes to speeches, remember no one ever said ‘if only it were longer’.

Once you write your first draft, edit it down to half the length. We promise it will make it a hundred times stronger.

Lots of online sites can estimate your duration based on your wordcount.

Rule 5: Prepare to Deliver

A confident delivery is half the battle.

Make sure your friend has checked the acoustics of the venue and has hired a mic if necessary (you wouldn’t believe how many speeches are ruined simply because the guests can’t hear them).

Try to memorise the speech but don’t be afraid to use notes on the day (your brain will be scrambled).

Remember to smile. It’s scientifically proven to be infectious and scientists know stuff.

More advice on how to delivery your speech like a pro on our blog.

Speech Do's

Introduce yourself – Remember there will probably be people at the wedding you’ve never met. Explain how you know the bride.

Practise your speech and film it on your phone – Watch it back, ignore the unflattering lighting and spot where your speech can be improved.

Talk slower than feels natural – It’s what those authoritative people do to make themselves seem more intelligent.

Use witty quotes – It’s not plagiarism if you quote the source. Check out our Maid of Honour Quote inspo.

Do a bit of research – Get inspired by other Maid of Honour Speech Videos.

Speech Don'ts

Don’t thank anyone – It’s not your job.

Don’t pretend your friend is a princess – she might be in a big white frock but everyone loves her for who she is, whether that’s ditsy, gobby or an absolute loon.

Don’t ignore the feedback of friends – It’s always worth testing your speech out on a mate but this also means you have to listen to them. If they don’t get a joke, don’t waste your time explaining it as you won’t be able to do that on the day.

Don’t talk over laughter – You’ve worked hard for those laughs – don’t rush them. Always wait until your guests have settled down before continuing with your speech.

Don’t drink too much – Well, certainly not before delivering your speech. Contrary to popular opinion alcohol will make you more nervous, not less.

Your Maid of Honour Speech - How We Can Help You

If you want to deliver a legendary speech, work with us.

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Happy Customers

I would thoroughly recommend Speechy. They completely exceeded my expectations with a brilliantly funny speech, completely built around the bride and groom. I could not be happier, and am now really looking forward to presenting it!

Highly recommend speechy, very friendly and professional company. I didn’t know where to start or how to start my speech, Claire helped me with my speech by extracting everything I wanted to say and put it in to this amazing speech, Claire nailed my speech on the first go, really impressed and happy.

I knew what I wanted to say, but was having trouble with the structure and style. So, I went to Google and found Speechy. Was I impressed? YES!! My speech is now amazing, the perfect balance, and I feel so excited to give my speech, now Heidi and the team at Speechy made it PERFECT!

I can't thank Speechy enough! Reading my speech back and laughing and crying, I knew they perfected it! If you need a speech written, make sure you speak with Heidi and her team! Thanks, guys!

The team at speechy wrote me such a good speech.. I actually laughed reading through it! They are super talented and are constantly in touch with you throughout the process. It's so easy too. All I had to do was share some stories and personality traits and they turn it into a unique and personal speech.

I'm actually really looking forward to delivering my speech and seeing the reaction of friends and family! I'd highly recommend speechy to anyone who is thinking of doing a speech.. even if you think you've nailed it already- speechy will make it even better!

I would genuinely recommend Speechy highly. And if all the other writers are as talented as Heidi, and I’m sure they are, you will have an amazing speech, mine was. Thank you so much Heidi for the wonderful & priceless memory of having delivered my speech and nailed it ... and I got a standing ovation too.

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