Amazing Book Quotes For Your Maid Of Honor Speech

Being the maid of honor for a best friend, sister, or a combination of the two is a big responsibility — and that's not even thinking about the maid of honor speech you'll be giving. Helping the bride pick out her dress, flowers, invitations, menu, venue, and the tiniest of details on the cake are some of your many tasks. And although wedding planning can be overwhelming, the most important thing for a maid of honor to do is to simply be there for the bride, especially when the going gets tough.

After the initial question is popped and you say yes to being her maid of honor, one of the biggest tasks at hand (aside from planning the bridal shower and the bachelorette party), is having to write that amazing maid of honor speech. This speech is meant to show your undying love for her, reveal embarrassing but not too embarrassing anecdotes of your first attempts at adulthood, and how incredibly happy you are that she's found love.

As a former maid of honor, I can easily say that writing a speech is no simple task. One thing that helped me out most were some amazing book quotes that filled me with inspiration. So, if you're in the midst of writing your maid of honor speech and aren't quite sure how to open or close it (or haven't even begun writing it yet), consider using one of these touching book quotes by your favorite authors on friendship and love. You'll be sure to get a few tears out of the crowd and an emotional reaction from the bride with these:

"How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em."

— Shel Silverstein

Odds are, you probably both read Shel Silverstein's poetry as kids, and her lovely words have just as much impact on you today as they did then. Show your best friend and newlywed just how much love you give them everyday by including this quote in your speech.

"There are no faster or firmer friendships than those formed between people who love the same books."

— Irving Stone, Clarence Darrow for the Defense

If your friendship was founded on similar taste in books, I can't think of a better quote than this to start off your heartfelt speech.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

—Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin

This could possibly be the best quote to end a speech on and will get you a round of applause, plus a ton of tears. The moment your best friend came into your life was the day your world together began, and there's no better time to remind her of that than on her big day.

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

— Dr. Seuss

If you were there the moment the bride and groom first met or were her go-to guide for every text she first sent her now life-long partner, this Dr. Seuss quote will show them just how much you admire their love. On the outside, you were able to tell from the very beginning how serious this relationship would become, so bringing that into your speech will be a perfect focus point.

"There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends"

— Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

If you want to highlight some of the funnier parts of your friendship, you can always go with with telling a story about a classic drunk, but appropriate, night out that became important to your friendship. Sylvia Plath knew how to describe old friendships, and any best friends who enjoy going out will be able to relate to this.

"There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment."

— Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

Whether you're talking about the love between you and your best friend or the main couple of the night, this quote will give everyone a reason to smile.

"The ones that love us never really leave us. You can always find them... In here."

— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

As you point to your heart and hold back tears to tell the bride just how happy you are for her and how you'll still always be here for her, including a Harry Potter quote will definitely make your speech one to remember.

"It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close."

— Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

This is probably my favorite quote on friendship and love, and it will wrap up your feelings on the fact that even though your best friend is getting married that doesn't mean your love for each other is lost in any way. You'll always love each other too much, and at this point, her husband or wife better understand that by now.

"Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another" 'What! You too? I thought that no one but myself...'"

— C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

This is a great quote to use to segue into the story of when you and your BFF first met, or maybe a funny moment when you both realized you have the strangest things in common.

"Books! And Cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery."

— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

You two might be identical Hermione Grangers or the perfect friends like Harry and Ron, but either way, this quote mirrors how you feel about each other.

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over."

— Ray Bradbury

Your overwhelming love for the bride is just like this Ray Bradbury quote — she's that special person that you'd do just about anything for. And through all the craziness of wedding planning, you both made it through, so cheers to the two of you (and the couple of the night, of course) because you just earned yourself a big round of applause!

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