Best Man Speech
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:24 pm
This shit is hard. not sure where to even start. Have any of you guys had to do this?
That's a good place to start. You could also say something, carefully, about how life is just like that... it doesn't intentionally discriminate against the virtuous, but we aren't agents with an infinite capacity to determine our future, sometimes it's just in the cards that we get a shorter time than we expect, and the trick is to leave the world better than it was when you started... I'm sure your friend did that, even if in a small but significant way...SR wrote:Not to hi jack this thread, but I have to speak at a funeral this Saturday. Consistent with the thread author, I have no idea where to begin. My friend died at the gym..... . He never had even a drop of alcohol, no drugs, no cigs.....Very bright guy.....it's an inexplicable loss.
Sound stuff, really. I had intended to concentrate on his more abstract qualitites as they might persevere through his children. I'm really not looking forward to it.Adurentibus Spina wrote:That's a good place to start. You could also say something, carefully, about how life is just like that... it doesn't intentionally discriminate against the virtuous, but we aren't agents with an infinite capacity to determine our future, sometimes it's just in the cards that we get a shorter time than we expect, and the trick is to leave the world better than it was when you started... I'm sure your friend did that, even if in a small but significant way...SR wrote:Not to hi jack this thread, but I have to speak at a funeral this Saturday. Consistent with the thread author, I have no idea where to begin. My friend died at the gym..... . He never had even a drop of alcohol, no drugs, no cigs.....Very bright guy.....it's an inexplicable loss.
As for best man speech, the best ones I've seen are the ones where you get a sense of the kind of person the groom is from the best man's personality (people resemble their family because they have to, they resemble their friends because they choose to...), and if you're not a naturally funny person, don't try too hard.
I like that, too. His causal role in the formation of his children's identity, and in edifying those around him, can never be destroyed, but will reverberate eternally.SR wrote:Sound stuff, really. I had intended to concentrate on his more abstract qualitites as they might persevere through his children. I'm really not looking forward to it.Adurentibus Spina wrote:That's a good place to start. You could also say something, carefully, about how life is just like that... it doesn't intentionally discriminate against the virtuous, but we aren't agents with an infinite capacity to determine our future, sometimes it's just in the cards that we get a shorter time than we expect, and the trick is to leave the world better than it was when you started... I'm sure your friend did that, even if in a small but significant way...SR wrote:Not to hi jack this thread, but I have to speak at a funeral this Saturday. Consistent with the thread author, I have no idea where to begin. My friend died at the gym..... . He never had even a drop of alcohol, no drugs, no cigs.....Very bright guy.....it's an inexplicable loss.
As for best man speech, the best ones I've seen are the ones where you get a sense of the kind of person the groom is from the best man's personality (people resemble their family because they have to, they resemble their friends because they choose to...), and if you're not a naturally funny person, don't try too hard.
Hmm, this little back and forth has helped to narrow my thinking on this. It will only serve to make it better, clearer. Thanks.Adurentibus Spina wrote:I like that, too. His causal role in the formation of his children's identity, and in edifying those around him, can never be destroyed, but will reverberate eternally.SR wrote:Sound stuff, really. I had intended to concentrate on his more abstract qualitites as they might persevere through his children. I'm really not looking forward to it.Adurentibus Spina wrote:That's a good place to start. You could also say something, carefully, about how life is just like that... it doesn't intentionally discriminate against the virtuous, but we aren't agents with an infinite capacity to determine our future, sometimes it's just in the cards that we get a shorter time than we expect, and the trick is to leave the world better than it was when you started... I'm sure your friend did that, even if in a small but significant way...SR wrote:Not to hi jack this thread, but I have to speak at a funeral this Saturday. Consistent with the thread author, I have no idea where to begin. My friend died at the gym..... . He never had even a drop of alcohol, no drugs, no cigs.....Very bright guy.....it's an inexplicable loss.
As for best man speech, the best ones I've seen are the ones where you get a sense of the kind of person the groom is from the best man's personality (people resemble their family because they have to, they resemble their friends because they choose to...), and if you're not a naturally funny person, don't try too hard.
"A free man thinks least of all of death. His wisdom is a meditation on life." (Spinoza... who else?)
sorry for you loss and thats something i have never and prob never will do...when my dad died people wanted me to talk..not a chance i was gonna try and lose it....but i did have friends of mine come up and tell stories about us as kids with my dad and a person that worked with my dad that both made me laugh my ass off...and were the best parts of the day...so while i know it's not in me to do such a thing, it's a great thing you are gonna do itSR wrote:Not to hi jack this thread, but I have to speak at a funeral this Saturday. Consistent with the thread author, I have no idea where to begin. My friend died at the gym..... . He never had even a drop of alcohol, no drugs, no cigs.....Very bright guy.....it's an inexplicable loss.
Glad to hear it.SR wrote:Thanks Hype. I claimed a couple of your sentences almost word for word. They framed things well.
It went well. Thank you friend.
I thought I was going to lose it too. I didn't thankfully. I was listed in the memorial card as the last speaker of 5. That made me more nervous, but once I got up there I was fine. I spent almost a decade teaching so speaking publically is not foreign to me. Where I run into problems is when I'm not a content expert in something or feel less than qualified to speak on something. No one is "qualified" on matters such as these, but I remain very comfortable that I paid adequate triibute to my friend.kv wrote:sorry for you loss and thats something i have never and prob never will do...when my dad died people wanted me to talk..not a chance i was gonna try and lose it....but i did have friends of mine come up and tell stories about us as kids with my dad and a person that worked with my dad that both made me laugh my ass off...and were the best parts of the day...so while i know it's not in me to do such a thing, it's a great thing you are gonna do itSR wrote:Not to hi jack this thread, but I have to speak at a funeral this Saturday. Consistent with the thread author, I have no idea where to begin. My friend died at the gym..... . He never had even a drop of alcohol, no drugs, no cigs.....Very bright guy.....it's an inexplicable loss.
I almost took a valium and had intended to, but finally decided not to. Lawrence wouldn't have approved.hokahey wrote:I gave the best man speech at my brother's wedding 13-14 years ago when I was 18-19. I had taken some valium because I was nervous (of course I used to always find an excuse to take valium back then), and then in the limo van between the wedding and the reception I drank two bottles of champagne at the urging of my brother and the rest of the wedding party (they did too).
Needless to say, no one knew about the valium and mixing pills and alcohol is a potentially lethal combo. God I was an idiot. (was? )
I had nothing planned for the speech even before the valium and champagne. So I gave an incredibly drunken speech about how sweet my new sister in law was (or how "shweeet she was") to much applaus and cheering.
I dropped the microphone, walked straight to the bathroom and passed out face first on the tile.
I still have pictures of me with tiles marks on my face, holding myself up with a tree outside throwing up.
Real effing classy.
and I quoted Baruch.Adurentibus Spina wrote:Glad to hear it.SR wrote:Thanks Hype. I claimed a couple of your sentences almost word for word. They framed things well.
It went well. Thank you friend.
Sub specie aeternitatis.SR wrote:and I quoted Baruch.Adurentibus Spina wrote:Glad to hear it.SR wrote:Thanks Hype. I claimed a couple of your sentences almost word for word. They framed things well.
It went well. Thank you friend.