Summer Weddings: How Couples Are Using Narrated Videos Instead of a Best Man's Speech

The best man's speech has been the most-disliked part of a wedding for at least a decade. The couple knows it. The best man knows it. The audience knows it. Yet the slot is preserved at every reception because nobody has offered a credible replacement—until now.

Couples are quietly replacing the toast with a narrated video: a PhotoCast essay of the couple's relationship, built from the photos the two of them have taken together over the years. The narration runs three to five minutes, the room is silent in the right way, and the best man is freed up to give the short, funny, actually-good toast he's always wanted to give.

Why this works:

• The narration can say things a person at the mic can't. It has no fear of mispronouncing a name and no urge to embarrass the groom. It describes what the photos show, in the voice you pick.
• The video doesn't compete with the speeches. It sits in the slot before them and sets the tone. By the time the best man stands up, the room is already in the right mood.
• Warm & personal works for the couple who is genuinely lovey-dovey. Documentary is the default. For the couple whose relationship is built on banter, Sarcastic matches them, and two hosts turn it into the two of them talking.