Taylor Swift was more than just a pretty face (or a pretty bridesmaid dress) at her childhood friend Britany Mack’s wedding. She also gave a really lovely maid-of-honor speech. Not surprising, given that she’s an award-winning lyricist, but you don’t have to have a shelf full of Grammy awards to give a heartfelt toast to the bride and groom. Here are three snippets from Taylor’s speech (along with more highlights from Ben and Britany's big day) and how you can copycat her the next time you’re giving the maid-of-honor speech.
“He would chase her and pursue her through middle school and junior high and high school, and their paths would diverge and come back together, and it would be so magically unpredictable, but at the same time so incredibly fated, just like the best love stories are.”
Talk about the couple. It’s their day, so don’t make your speech a never-ending ode to your relationship with the bride.
“My favorite accomplishments of my entire life is that everything in my life has changed except for me and Britany. She was my partner in crime at Brownies sleep-away camp, and she was my date to the Grammys. And little either of know, that Prince Charming, for Britany, would be the kid that set next to me in class with the bowl cut and the Lego lunch box.”
Don’t talk about to the bride in a language just the two of you speak. Nothing’s more boring for the crowd than listening to the maid-of-honor recap 42 insider jokes with the bride: “And remember what we said when we pledged a sorority together—light switches are for suckers.”
That's the future bride and her MOH at the aforementioned Grammys.
“Tonight we’ve got mothers crying, we’ve got fathers that are filled with pride, and I—and all of the rest of your friends—are overjoyed for you, because we know that the best parts of your love story are yet to come. Congratulations.”
Repeat yourself. Taylor mentioned “love stories” in both the first and third snippet, and we bet the words were sprinkled throughout her speech. Having a theme or words that you repeat throughout your speech can help tie it together. (Think: The intro to Love Actually (“Love is everywhere”/“love actually is all around.”); Jack’s “Promise me, Rose” speech from Titanic.)
Watch the whole thing here:
Britany LaManna Wedding from Britany LaManna Wedding on Vimeo.
You can also see around the 10-minute mark that Taylor took the stage with the band. Totally OK if you’re Taylor Swift (assuming she had the bride’s OK) but not something most maids-of-honor should do. Especially if the wedding has an open bar.