{"id":121,"date":"2009-03-09T17:23:52","date_gmt":"2009-03-10T00:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/?p=121"},"modified":"2009-03-09T17:23:52","modified_gmt":"2009-03-10T00:23:52","slug":"the-best-man-said-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/03\/the-best-man-said-what\/","title":{"rendered":"the best man said WHAT???"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CALGARY HERALD, APRIL 2005, IN LISA HANSLIP\u2019S COLUMN \u201cI DO, BUT DON\u2019T\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"bm-toast\"<\/p>\n

The long road from happy engagement to wedded bliss is paved with potential etiquette faux pas. Wedding planner Lisa Hanslip is here to help you resist your inner Bridezilla along the way. <\/p>\n

Q: I\u2019m starting to get a bit nervous about the toasts. We were at a wedding last weekend and the best man was a bit drunk. Not only did he talk too long, but he spent most of the time discussing the groom\u2019s ex-girlfriends. Is there any way to avoid this at our wedding?<\/p>\n

A: Absolutely. Feel free to give your family and bridal party some guidelines. Those that plan to give toasts should prepare in advance (written out completely or at least in the form of notes). You don’t want the most memorable thing at your wedding to be how long your uncle droned on about what a talented two-year-old you were, or that the best man rambled endlessly about the groom’s high school high jinks. <\/p>\n

There are a few etiquette points to be aware of:<\/p>\n

\u2022\tIf seated, stand when offering a toast.
\n\u2022\tKeep it simple, and keep it personal.
\n\u2022\tTo \u201cfinish\u201d a toast, raise your glass and say the couple\u2019s names (\u201cTo Sally & Ben\u201d), then take a sip. Everyone else will follow your lead.
\n\u2022\tWhen you are the one being toasted, stay seated, and don\u2019t raise your glass.<\/p>\n

It is absolutely appropriate to begin by saying you are honoured to share the wedding day with the couple. A good starting point is talking casually about your relationship with the couple and relating one or two quick anecdotes. A nice way to close is by pointing out what\u2019s special about their relationship and why you think they\u2019re perfect for each other.<\/p>\n

Dwelling on potentially touchy subjects, like a difference in religion or race, or an unhappy ex-spouse is decidedly NOT appropriate. Don\u2019t apologize for being a bad speaker, or announce you don\u2019t really want to speak. And most definitely don\u2019t talk too much about the bride or groom\u2019s past conquests or be cryptic by telling stories that only the bride & groom will understand (common fodder for the \u201ctipsy toast\u201d).<\/p>\n

The most important thing to remember for anyone giving a toast at a wedding is that brevity is the soul of wit. Even if you have a story to tell, don\u2019t use the long version – a wedding toast should never be more than 3-5 minutes long. Very often the errant toast is a result of too many nerves and too little preparation (that sixth glass of champagne probably won\u2019t help either!). So with some helpful hints – and a big deep breath – your fianc\u00e9\u2019s best man can deliver a memorable and meaningful toast – and you can relax and enjoy it\u2026.Cheers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CALGARY HERALD, APRIL 2005, IN LISA HANSLIP\u2019S COLUMN \u201cI DO, BUT DON\u2019T\u2026\u201d The long road from happy engagement to wedded bliss is paved with potential etiquette faux pas. Wedding planner Lisa Hanslip is here to help you resist your inner Bridezilla along the way. Q: I\u2019m starting to get a bit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10,7],"tags":[55,45,15,47,325],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-etiquette","category-media","category-qa","tag-best-man-toast","tag-calgary-herald","tag-lisa-hanslip","tag-wedding-etiquette","tag-weddings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125,"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askaweddingplanner.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}