A labelled sample. Dave, Anna and the best man are made up, and so are the stories; a real speech is written only from the stories you send. About 440 words, 3 minutes read out loud.
Sample best man speech: Dave and Anna
Good evening, everyone. For those who don't know me, I'm Tom, Dave's best man, and I have been his best friend since we were twelve. I'd like to say he chose me for my speaking skills. He chose me because I know where the bodies are buried, and this was the cheapest way to keep me quiet.
I met Dave on the first day of secondary school. He traded me his whole packed lunch for one pencil. Not a good pencil. A chewed one. I thought I'd won. It took me about ten years to work out that Dave had just done what Dave always does: he gave someone more than they asked for and never mentioned it again.
That is the thing about him. When my dad was in hospital, Dave drove forty minutes every evening for three weeks to sit in the car park with me, because I didn't want to go in alone and I didn't want to talk about it either. He never once asked how I was. He just brought chips.
So when he rang me four years ago and said, "I've met someone, and I think I've made a fool of myself," I knew it was serious. Dave does not make a fool of himself. He makes other people make fools of themselves, usually at karaoke.
What he had actually done was turn up to a first date with Anna an hour early, panic, and then walk around the block eleven times so he wouldn't look keen. Anna, it turns out, watched him do it from the café window. She waited until lap eleven. Then she went out and said, "You can come in now." He's been coming in ever since.
Anna, I have known Dave for nineteen years and I have never seen him like this. He is calmer. He is kinder, and he was already kind. He has started eating vegetables that aren't chips. He talks about the future, which he used to treat as something that happened to other people. You did that. All of us who love him have been waiting a long time for someone who gives back as much as he gives, and here you are.
And Dave: you've spent your whole life giving people more than they asked for. Today you finally got more than you asked for yourself. Don't trade it for a pencil.
So if you would all stand and raise your glasses. To Dave and Anna. To the lap-eleven lesson: the right person will wait for you, and then tell you to come in.
To the bride and groom.