How to End a Best Man Speech: 19 Toasts That Actually Land

The toast is the bit you remember.

Genuinely. Ask anyone what they remember from a best man speech six months later, and they'll either remember the worst joke or the toast. Nothing in between. So get the toast right, and you're golden.

Here are nineteen toast endings I've actually watched land — sorted by tone.

If you've got the rest of the speech sorted but you're stuck on the closer, the generator will give you three suggested endings to pick from based on the tone of the rest of your draft.

The classic toasts (you can't go wrong with these)

1. "To [Groom] and [Bride] — to a long marriage, a short hangover, and a life as good as you both deserve. To the bride and groom."
2. "Please raise your glasses. To the new Mr and Mrs [Surname] — may every year together be better than the last. To the bride and groom."
3. "To the happy couple — health, wealth, and the patience of saints. To the bride and groom."
4. "Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for the bride and groom. To [Groom] and [Bride]."

The funny toasts (if your speech has been light)

1. "To [Groom] and [Bride] — may your love be deep, your arguments short, and your wifi strong. To the bride and groom."
2. "To [Bride], for taking him on. To [Groom], for finally growing up. And to the rest of us, for free wine. To the bride and groom."
3. "To the happy couple — to a long marriage, low-maintenance furniture, and a Netflix algorithm you can both agree on. To the bride and groom."
4. "To [Groom] and [Bride] — may you only ever lie to each other about whose turn it is to do the bins. To the bride and groom."

The heartfelt toasts (when the speech has been warm)

1. "To [Groom] and [Bride] — two people who, watching them today, you can tell were always going to find each other. We're so glad they did. To the bride and groom."
2. "Please raise your glasses. To [Groom], who's lucky beyond belief. To [Bride], who's marrying the best of us. And to a marriage as full of love as today has been. To the bride and groom."
3. "To [Groom] and [Bride] — to laughter, to patience, to first dances and last dances and all the dances in between. To the bride and groom."

The short and sharp toasts (under 10 seconds)

1. "To [Groom] and [Bride]. To the bride and groom."
2. "Please raise your glasses to the happy couple — [Groom] and [Bride]."
3. "To love, marriage, and the absolute miracle of these two finding each other. To the bride and groom."

The "callback" toasts (if a joke has run through your speech)

If you've made a running joke earlier — about his cooking, his fashion sense, his driving — call it back in the toast. The room loves it.

1. "To [Groom] and [Bride] — and to [Bride] never letting him near the kitchen unsupervised again. To the bride and groom."
2. "To [Groom], for giving up the fedoras. To [Bride], for being the reason. To the bride and groom."

The slightly poetic toasts (for the more formal weddings)

1. "Please raise your glasses. To the marriage of [Groom] and [Bride] — may it be filled with the love we've all witnessed today, and the kind of friendship that lasts a lifetime. To the bride and groom."
2. "May your love be modern enough to weather every change, and old-fashioned enough to last forever. To [Groom] and [Bride]. To the bride and groom."
3. "To the bride and groom — may every storm find you sheltered, every joy find you together, and every year be the best one yet. To [Groom] and [Bride]."

How to actually deliver the toast

This is the bit most people fluff. Here's the technique:

1. Finish your last joke / sentence. Pause for a full breath.
2. Look up at the room, not the paper.
3. Say the cue line: "Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses."
4. Wait for the room to actually lift their glasses. They will. Don't rush.
5. Say the toast line slowly. Don't gabble.
6. Land on the names — "to [Bride] and [Groom]" — clearly.
7. End on the call: "To the bride and groom."
8. Sit down. Don't add a P.S. Don't say "thanks for listening." Sit.

That whole sequence takes about 15 seconds and is the most-rewatched part of the speech afterwards.

Common toast mistakes

Mumbling the names. They're the most important words in the entire speech. Speak them like you mean them.

Adding a "thanks again everyone" after the toast. You've already done the toast. The room is sitting back down. You sitting back up to add a coda is awkward for everyone.

Forgetting to actually say "to the bride and groom" at the end. That's the cue for the room to drink and clap. Without it, there's an awkward pause where everyone's holding a glass wondering if you're done.

Toasting with an empty glass. Always keep a sip in there. There is nothing sadder than raising an empty glass.

Picking the right toast for your speech

Match it to the energy of your closer:

• Funny speech, light energy → toasts 5–8
• Emotional speech, heartfelt closer → toasts 9–11
• Short speech → toasts 12–14
• Formal wedding → toasts 17–19
• Speech with a running gag → toasts 15–16

A real-world example of a perfect toast

Here's the closer from one of the best speeches I've ever heard, by a guy called Andy at his brother's wedding in 2022:

"Tom, you're the best brother anyone could ask for. Hannah, you're the best thing that ever happened to him — including the time he got promoted, and including the time he found a fiver in his old jeans.

>

Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses. To Tom and Hannah — to a marriage as good as today has been.

>

To the bride and groom."

15 seconds. Two laughs in the setup. Lands the toast clean. Sits down.

That's the bar.

Now go draft your own speech and we'll get you to a closer this clean.