The other day my brother Nate asked me to post the full version of his best-man speech that he gave at our oldest brother Mike’s wedding reception. I’ve included it below. Sure, it’s long, about 10 minutes, and maybe his humour can be offensive, but there is no doubt that his speech stole the show that night. One of the employees at the banquet hall remarked that it was probably the most entertaining speech he’d heard that summer.
However, posting this got me thinking about a few speeches I missed the chance to catch on video. You see, last summer 2 of my 3 brothers were married (and the third, Nate, had a baby!). While I was able to get a little bit of video at Matt and Jackie’s wedding, I had decided, since I was in the wedding party, to put the camera away for the reception and just enjoy myself. Enjoy myself I did. There is no shortage of funny people in my family ready to share a few stories at Matt and Jackie’s (mostly Matt’s) expense. There was even once or twice I found myself getting choked up. My dad gave a particularly sincere, heartfelt speech. He can be a pretty quiet guy, so it almost caught me by surprise. It was a big reason why I do look up to my Dad so much.
When I built a slide-show video (below) with Matt and Jackie’s wedding photos and the little bit of video I had, I realized I really missed out on the chance to capture something that was really special for Matt and Jackie.
It’s moments like this that can really make weddings exceptional. Being able to share these moments with other people who weren’t there or to relive them yourself, now that’s something exceptional all on its own!
Oh, and today is Nathan’s birthday, Happy Birthday bro!!