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Delivering the perfect wedding toast is far from an easy task. But ruining it? That can be done in a heartbeat. The booze and fear of public speaking make sure of it.

But what takes the experience to the highest stress levels is the fact that nobody forgets a bad wedding speech. To prove you this universal truth, we at Bored Panda put together the cringiest and worst things people have told brides and grooms on their big day.

From a best man talking about losing his virginity to a priest who thinks he's at a funeral, here's a collection of stories you wouldn't like to see reenacted at your own ceremony.

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#1

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech Μy sister got married in a small Ϲanadian Mennonite community. The grooms bеst man, Josh, was black. Josh started оff his speech by saying "I'm Josh, thе one you have been staring at аll day". Everybody laughed so hard.

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Final score:
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Wedding planner Lisa Burton, who has about 15 years of experience throwing weddings abroad, said the best man and the father of the bride are the most traditional speech givers at a wedding. "The best man's speech is usually more comical, featuring stories about the groom, often rather embarrassing ones. The father’s speech is generally to thank guests for attending and sharing stories about the bride and of course to welcome the groom to the family," Burton told Bored Panda.

Burton has planned over 1,600 weddings and she said the speeches traditionally take place after dinner and is one of the last formalities before the party starts. "However, recently couples are choosing to have their speeches before dinner, allowing those involved to relax and enjoy themselves, rather than be nervous throughout the meal about their impending speech and how it may be received."

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"The less conventional couples we work with choose to leave out speeches altogether, opting for a more relaxed day overall with very little tradition or formality.," the wedding planner added.
#2

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech I work as a banqueting chef, and last year after the wedding had happened, vows said, rings exchanged, and bellies filled with food and wine, the groom stood to say the following: 'Today I married the woman of my dreams, and I'd like to thank her for everything she has done for me. I would also like to thank my best man, who has been f**king her since we got engaged...
...With that, he mumbled a 'cheers,' downed his champagne, and got a taxi to the airport to start his honeymoon alone. It turns out he found out four months before the wedding and had told the father of the bride everything was costing more, [the father] was writing cheques to cover his little girl's special day, and all the money went toward the groom's new life out of the country.

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Final score:
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Michelle Lew, the owner of Lavender Crown Events, a wedding planning company servicing San Jose, Silicon Valley, and the surrounding areas, explained to Bored Panda that one of the first things she tells people is, "Remember it is a toast, not a speech."

"Toasts are generally 2-4 minutes long whereas speeches are 5+ minutes (but usually 10+)," Lew said. "A lot of times, the speech may be great, but guests will easily get bored if it is too long, especially when there are 4 long speeches back to back."

"While couples may ask a certain person to give a toast, it's important that they also consider what is off-limits," Lew pointed out. "Often, I've seen embarrassing stories included in speeches that the couple doesn't want to be shared. In other cases, I've also heard bad speeches where the speaker would side with one person of the couple rather than consider them a pair. For example, there was one instance where the bride's sister (the maid of honor) gave a speech that outwardly disdained the groom rather than celebrating the couple's future together. I believe the main cause of a bad speech is when the speaker and the couple truly do not understand each other or do not have the best intentions."

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When a speaker is invited, they should know the limits of what to share and what to omit, Lew said.
#3

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech I've only been to one wedding, and it was my dad's cousin's wedding. My dad's uncle (the groom's father) did a toast when the groom and bride were at the altar (is this normal? Everyone around me seemed confused), and he said, 'I'm glad I made it out here today. I just want you guys to know that I have cancer and I'm going to die soon. Congrats to my son and his beautiful bride. Enjoy your time!' Everyone was in complete silence. It was the most awkward thing I've possibly ever witnessed. FWIW, this was in 2008, and the groom's father is still alive.

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Final score:
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However, the lines aren't always clear. "There’s a difficult balance when deciding what to include in a wedding speech," Lisa Burton said.

"I don’t think there's anything wrong with harmless innuendo, but I do think being too personal and too rude is bad taste. Remember that the speech is meant to entertain rather than an opportunity to embarrass or take the limelight away from the bride and groom."

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The wedding planner thinks speeches are a lovely way to celebrate the bride and groom’s love story and likes to encourage her less traditional couples to be creative in how they present their speeches.

But if a couple decides to, Burton said they can even leave out speeches altogether. "After all, rules were made to be broken weren’t they?" At least that way you know for sure that the only people attendants risk insulting are themselves.
#4

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech Father of the bride described her as the 'ugly duckling' of the family, got booed.

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Final score:
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#5

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At my parent's wedding the priest started with "We are gathered at this funeral today..." the worst part is he started going on with the typical funeral speech until he was stopped. To be fair he was well past retirement age.

McJennifer , www.pexels.com Report

Final score:
155points
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#6

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech One wedding I went to, the pastor started giving the typical 'marriage is hard work' speech. He talks about how many marriages fail and all the people he's counseled through divorce. He goes on about how on their wedding day, they're just like this couple who thinks they're going to make it but six months later they're getting a divorce...
...I'm trying hard to keep a straight face, the groom is starting to look like he wants to punch the guy, and I can hear people behind me disguising laughing as coughing. I keep expecting him to bring it around to something positive, but he doesn't. Fifteen minutes of 'marriage is hard and lots of them don't work.' Find out at the reception, he was a family friend. With a lifelong unrequited crush on the bride.

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#7

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At a wedding I went to recently, during his speech, the best man went off on a super-awkward tangent about how he lost his virginity to the bride and how he never would have guessed she'd end up with his best friend (the groom).

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Final score:
150points
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#8

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech 'I can't believe you got her pregnant and haven't told anyone yet.' —(very drunk best man). Whole crowd goes silent enough that you can hear crickets outside; father of the bride's face just goes bright red in rage.

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Final score:
138points
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#9

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech The best man: 'When you told me that someday I would be your best man, I never thought it would be a half a year later. I just hope you know what you are doing.' They got divorced four months later (they had only been dating a couple months).

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Final score:
131points
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#10

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech My wife's best friend/maid of honor called me the wrong name in her toast. The name she called out: my wife's ex boyfriend. I laughed it off at the time, but to be honest I was pretty humiliated.

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Final score:
128points
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#11

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech Was at a wedding where the father of the bride was giving his speech and talked about his daughter's butt and had her stand up and turn around so everyone could see it. He then proceeded to talk about the bride and groom getting it on.

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Final score:
122points
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#12

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At my brother-in-law's wedding the grandmother of the bride was asked to say grace before the meal. My father and I happened to be standing by the bar after getting one last drink before it closed during the meal. We figured we would stand there during the 30 seconds or so while she blessed the food. She pulls out three pieces of paper, completely full front and back, and starts in on the history of the bride's family. Here is what so-and-so is doing now. When and where everyone has moved into their current homes. Updates on nieces, nephews, cousins' parents, grandparents, everyone. No one knew she was going to get up there and talk for 15+ minutes about people nobody cared about. My dad and I actually finished our drinks and ordered two more by the time she was done. I refer to it as 'The 3 Drink Grace.'

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Final score:
113points
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#13

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech This was at my cousin's wedding. My cousin and his buddy had a pact if you will, they would be each other's best men. OK, all well and good, only catch is during their toast they had to MOON the RECEPTION at the end of the speech. So back to cousin's wedding: He is giving his speech, yada yada known this guy forever. Then at the very end he is about to pass the mic back. 'Oh wait, almost forgot.' Sets the mic down, turns around stands on a chair, and moons the wedding reception. Bride's family promptly left. I think my cousin forgot all about that because he looked blindsided. Luckily my side of the family found it hilarious.

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Final score:
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#14

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech "This (possibly apocryphal) story was told to me by my friend's wife at the dinner table, as I was very nervously preparing to make a speech at her wedding. I'm not sure how she thought it would help. I was planning to do some edgy enough jokes so, in retrospect, she may have intended it as a warning. Anyway. Some friend of a friend of hers was at a wedding of some people I'll call John and Kate. The best man told a joke:
'After John and Kate's first night together, John told Kate he'd make her breakfast in bed. He reappeared minutes later and presented her with a piece of lettuce on a plate. Kate asked 'Why are you giving me lettuce for breakfast?' To which John replied, 'I wanted to see if you ate like a rabbit too!' According to my friend, Kate took this joke very badly, and her family was extremely offended."

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Final score:
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#15

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech My brother's best friend (been friends since childhood) gave a speech at his wedding that lasted about five minutes. He said nothing about the bride at all, only mentioned that my brother was a 'good guy,' and then proceeded to talk about his failed marriage (his ex-wife was in attendance), his child custody battle, and how much it pained him to see how happy the newlyweds looked since it brought back memories of his own failed marriage. To top it all, he spoke in a really even, unemotional monotone.

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Final score:
99points
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#16

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At my cousin's wedding, one of the groom's best friends gave a short speech that was honestly quite touching, until he stumbled over his words, and said "Well, if these two can get married, uh, anyone can."

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Final score:
98points
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#17

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At a friend's wedding the bride's sister gave an excruciatingly awkward speech about how her sister was able to find love before her and she didn't feel complete. It went on for about 5 minutes and she was blubbering and sobbing up a storm. Then she topped it off by singing an off-key song.

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Final score:
97points
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#18

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech After stumbling his way through he awkwardly finishes with, 'Sorry man, I'll do better at your next one.' The bride's father pulled him aside and tore him a new one right afterward.

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Final score:
96points
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#19

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At my father's wedding to his new wife, he mistakenly called his bride by his ex-wife's (my mother's) name during his speech to her.

Tollundmanden , www.pexels.com Report

Final score:
96points
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#20

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech The bride made a speech to thank everyone for coming, but it turned out to be a speech about herself and how amazing she is, nothing about her new husband, she ended up explaining how she always licks her plate clean, then she licked her plate clean in front of 250 people. In her defense she was so drunk she could barely stand. Gotta love working weddings.

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Final score:
93points
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#21

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech Groom's father made a speech along the lines of 'we knew she was a keeper when he brought her home and we heard them f**king in the bathroom.' AWK-WARD. Well, everyone pretty much laughed, myself included. The bride on the other hand looked mortified. Like bright red. My table kind of all looked at each other like, this is hysterical, but omg, that's the father of the groom! He was pretty wasted from what I gather.

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Final score:
92points
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#22

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At my sisters wedding the grooms best man was basically airing out the grooms dirty laundry to everyone.

Pro tip: If your speech puts the groom/bride in a negative light, rewrite it. Don't ruin someones happy day.

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Final score:
88points
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#23

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech At my sisters wedding, my alcoholic uncle went up and said a couple words.

Them being: "I'm surprised you managed to have a successful wedding, how did this happen without your mom being the over controlling b***h that she is?"

A silence like no other.

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Final score:
84points
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#24

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech My brother was my best man and told a very touching story about when I was 16 and lied and cheated to skip baseball practice to instead hang out with my girlfriend on the bleachers. I met my wife when I was 18. Thanks, bro.

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Final score:
80points
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#25

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech The best man rifled through all the groom's failed past relationships, in some detail. Then he made fun of the bride and groom for meeting on Christian Mingle or some s**t like that.

It was pretty brutal. Really killed the mood.

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Final score:
80points
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#26

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech The best man's speech consisted of him saying "I hope your ups and downs are in bed."

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Final score:
76points
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#27

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech When my cousin got married, most of the close family knew that the groom had been caught cheating multiple times in the past, but the majority of the people attending did not. During a small speech discussing the marriage counseling he had done with the couple, the priest went on a long rant about the groom's past infidelity and how he was confident it would not happen again. Given how few people in the church knew about the issues, it became very tense.

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Final score:
74points
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#28

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech Best man's speech recounted the tale of when the bride urinated in someone else's shoes under a table.

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Final score:
73points
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#29

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech Went to my uncle's wedding a while back. His bride had been divorced and chose her family pastor to officiate. The pastor called my uncle her ex-husband's name during the vows multiple times... My family was not happy.

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Final score:
70points
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#30

30 People Who Did Not Have A Good Time At A Wedding Because Of A Horrible Speech I went to a wedding where neither family was happy about it. The groom's best man was his younger brother. The best man's toast to the bride was, 'We always thought groom would marry XX (points to woman at the back), but here we are, so bride, welcome to the family'...
...Both the groom and XX were former housemates of mine, and had been in a long relationship. I kinda thought they'd end up together too. Bride and groom moved in with her parents. Groom stopped talking to his friends. XX married someone else, left the country. I haven't heard from either of them even once this century.

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Final score:
65points
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