Was best man at my mates wedding a few years ago started the speech with:-
"Well this isn't the first time I risen from a warm seat with a bit of paper in my hand............................I did try this speech out at the old peoples home, it seemed to go down quite well as they all pissed themselves."
The first got a few laughs, the second got a lot of laughs and few sharp intakes of breath, but it broke the ice, settled me down and kind of set the tone for the rest of the speech, two or three personal stories and then finally the thank you to the wedding party, you can also throw in a thankyou to the venue, caterers, waiters and waitresses.
