Almost everyone can speak at a wedding on the bridal table. This ranges from the groom, best man, bride, parents and so on… heck even the bridesmaids can host a speech as well. This then leaves one question… Do the groomsmen speak? Sure the best man speaks but what about the rest of this manly entourage for a groomsmen speech.
We recently had a client who spoke to us that one of the groomsmen felt a little left out and wanted to give back to the wedding but doing a short speech or act. While there is nothing wrong with this, the groomsmen are never considered. In fact, you are more likely to hear every single traditional and optional speech than ever hearing a groomsmen speech. As a result, Pink Caviar decided to sit down and give a helpful guide for a groomsmen’s speech guide as well as other options.
Groomsmen Speech Guide
Like all other speeches listed on this site, please review down below for handy hints and tips for speaking at a wedding. If you are to take away one thing is to make it between 4-6 minutes in total. This rule applies to a solo speaker so if it is a group then a couple of minutes at best. You are given a little bit of liberty for extra time to speak collectively. Below are a couple of ideas and options:
Going Solo
Think of the groomsman speech as a lighter version of the best man speech. The advantage here is you can tell more humorous jokes about the groom without the added responsibility of having to give respect and thanks to anyone at the wedding meaning you can throw friendly jokes about the groom (tastefully) and all can have a great time. As a groomsman, you should focus on how you know the groom and any personal stories not already mentioned.
Group Effort
Just like the bridesmaid’s who choose to work together on a joint speech or act, so can the groomsmen. It can be anything for each of the groomsmen to speak for a brief moment each or join together to do an act singing, playing an instrument (could be culturally specific or something you are all passionate about).
Get the Bridesmaids Involved
It may also be possible (depending on the group) to get the bridesmaids involved. You can work together to have a joint speech or act. The great thing about involving the bridesmaids is that there are more people to work together and can create something unique. For example, if you decided to sing together, then it would look amazing on someone’s wedding day where the entire bridal party worked together to create something special for the bride and groom.
Just like the best man speech, the same helpful hints apply to the groomsmen speech as well. These are to not drink too much because if you are going to speak or perform. The last thing you want to do is leave a negative impression when you intended to do something awesome.
Get the Groom Involved
In some cases, the groom will want to be involved and even be his idea. This is to perform to his now bride something collectively with his friends. As a friend growing up, you may have had long nights singing karaoke or dancing in the playground at school. You will be surprised what collective talents you have. It could be a collective speech, singing, dancing or an act. A great example is the one in the YouTube clip below where the groom performed with his groomsmen for the bride on his wedding day.
Practice Practice Practice… Did I say Practice?!?!
Lastly, the key is to practice and be accommodating if others are joining you on this. It does not matter if it’s a speech, musical instrument or singing. You all need to make time to harmonise, get those jokes timed and iron out the kinks. The one crucial piece of advice I give to people who are doing a wedding speech is to never “wing-it”. As mentioned in the handy hints guide below, when someone says that it generally means it’s going to sound raw, unfunny and be remembered as a bad speech.
Plan weeks or months in advance and make time to meet up. Practice together at least a few times and on your own as well to remember your part. The last thing you want to be is the odd one out who did not remember their line, could not remember the steps and so on. If it’s recorded on video then everyone will see that you did not take the time to practice for years to come.
Pro Tips Specifically For The Groomsmen Speech
Below are a collection of tips specifically for the groomsmen speech. These pro tips have been hand-picked from years of watching many speeches at weddings.
- While I have mentioned it above, you need to practice especially if it is a group effort. Make sure you make time to meet up and rehearse your performance. If one of the groomsmen do not rehearse and the others do, then they will all nod their head saying “come on man you knew we were doing this together” and it brings down the group.
- You might be single or in a relationship, and while you can comment on the bridesmaids during the speech/presentation, the wedding is about the bride and groom. No overly flirty/sexual nature should be in the speech. She may not welcome the attention, and also all the wedding guests will know your private business. The only exception to this is if you are in a relationship with one of the bridesmaids, you can make a cheeky comment about your specific girlfriend as everyone knows you are both together.
- The groomsmen should look out for each other during the night. Of course look after the groom but if one of the groomsmen is having too much to drink make sure you curb his intake till AFTER the performance. This is to prevent any dramas while performing.
Check out Our Other Speech Examples
While we do not have a specific groomsmen speech on file, we do have a collection of other wedding speeches on our YouTube channel. Feel free to check them and take inspiration from them down below. See if you can use them in conjunction with the speech guide in creating an awesome groomsmen wedding speech/performance.
Groomsmen Speech Guide In Conclusion
If all goes to plan the groomsmen speech is something you can give back to the happy couple as a gift/performance. It is something unique and unexpected. With or without the bridal party or groom I sure it will be a hit. While we do not have any groomsmen speeches recorded, feel free to check out the Pink Caviar YouTube Channel for other wedding speeches for inspiration.
Feel free to check out our other wedding speech guides (with video examples) down below. Here we give you guides for the perfect speech on your wedding day (or anyone else speaking).
- Wedding Speech Handy Hints – A great straightforward guide for all wedding speeches
- Groom’s Speech
- Best Man Speech
- Father Of The Bride Speech
- Father Of The Groom Speech
- Bride Speech
- Maid Of Honour Speech
- Bridesmaid Speech
- Groomsmen Speech – You Are Here
- Wedding Guest Speech
- Cringy And Worst Wedding Speech Guide – A basic guide of what NOT to do
Let us know if this groomsmen speech guide helped you with writing you speech. Have you been to a wedding and heard a great or horrible groomsmen speech? Did they do anything mentioned above or something different? Join the discussion below and let us know 🙂
Dimitri Cassimatis is the Marketing Manager at Pink Caviar Events, a corporate event management and styling company based in Sydney, Australia. With a background in marketing and communications, Dimitri brings a wealth of expertise to his role, including strategic planning, branding, and digital marketing. He is passionate about creating engaging content that resonates with Pink Caviar’s target audience and helps to drive the company’s growth. Dimitri is also committed to staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in marketing, and regularly attends industry events and conferences.
