Everyone has their own favorite part of a wedding. For some, it’s the vows. For others, it’s the first dance. Heck, for some, it’s getting to sit down and eat a fancy meal. But our favorite thing? Is hearing all of the speeches.
Whether it’s the maid of honor, father of the bride, best man, or whoever else wants to say a few words, we can’t get enough of all the tear-jerking words (and of course, the roasts).
We recently came across a best man speech that brought us to tears—no, sobs. It was given by 23-year-old Sam Waldron for his brother, Jonah, and his new wife, Maddy.
At first, you can tell Sam is a bit nervous, as his hands are shaking, causing his speech to shake along with him. As he gets into it, he explains to the whole wedding that he has autism, and that can make him a bit more scared than others to interact with people.
“But there is one person in the world I would do this for,” he said, as the crowd cheered him on. “Jonah Waldron. Check that. There are two people in the world I would do this for: Maddy and Jonah Waldron.”
He went on first to talk about Maddy, and just how much she means to him—and how much of a good sister she really is to him. “You have all the makings of a great sister,” he said. “Just like my sister Clara, my whole family loves you. When you are around, they light up.”
He went on to talk about even though he gets nervous around a lot of people, he never got nervous around her, because she “give[s him] peace.” Cue the awwwws (and the tissues!).
Then, he went on to talk about Jonah. And man, if we weren’t crying yet, we are now.
“Jonah, growing up as your little brother, you never looked down on me,” he began. “You lifted me up and looked out for me. You always reminded me that being different is a real strength, not a weakness.
“You were, and are, patient and kind,” he went on to say. “You love me just as I am.”
He continued with more heartfelt notions, and of coruse some fun stories of he and his brother throughout the years. When Sam finally concluded the speech, he received a standing ovation.
The video received over three million views and more than 400,000 comments on his TikTok page.
Check out the entire speech below—and try not to cry!
What did you think of Sam’s speech?