My lens is all about wedding toasts, and how to give them the right way!

As I've mentioned on this lens, I've been best man 9 times, and man of honor once. I wanted to tell you the story of the first time I was ever best man.

It was back in 1987, and I was 20 years old. My older brother was getting married in a very fancy ceremony at The Pierre Hotel in New York city. It was one of those Saturday night Black-tie affairs....which can be very daunting if you have to give a toast!

My sister-in-law's family has a tradition in their family that they sing a song parody at every major family event, and this was no different. The bride's 2 sisters and brother dressed up as Carmen Miranda and sang a parody of "Day-O", by Harry Belafonte. They brought the house down, and all 400 (!) people at the wedding gave them a standing ovation!

I had to follow this perfomance; not an eviable position, to say the least! I hadn't prepared, was a little tipsy, and nervous. I had to think of something funny. I started by saying that I hoped that my sister-in-law was going to be as great an addition to the family as the last person before her to join the family....which was me! I made some funny comparisons between us, said a few nice things, and I was done.

A legendary creator of TV sitcoms was there, and came up to me and said that I had great comic timing! Pretty amazing.

I guess the moral is: Try to tie something together between you and the couple, and always stay at ease, and let your natural personality shine through!

About 10 years ago, my friend Devon got married in St. Johns, on the Virgin Islands. A whole bunch of guys and gals from college were supposed to go to the wedding, but everybody cancelled, except me! I was her only friend who showed up.

When I got there, Devon wanted me to be the "man-of-honor." How could I say no? So, on a beautiful beach, I stood next to the bride, holding the flowers.

I had to give a speech, of course, and I was at my wits' end. I had to come up with something. Then, I remembered that my parents' had their honeymoon on St. Thomas, which is right next to St. Johns, and that they spent their first Friday night as husband-and-wife at the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, in St. Thomas. I went over to St. Thomas, sat in the temple, and wrote the toast I gave, which I hoped for my friends that my parents had...who are about to celebrate their 50th anniversary this December! Everybody got misty...and it must have worked! Devon and Sean are still together 10 years later!

About 7 years ago, my friends Elisa and Ben got married in Seattle. I got on a plane from New York on a Friday, went around Seattle during the day on Saturday, and showed up to the wedding on Saturday night.

As soon as I got to the church, Ben came running over to me, gave me a hug, and told me how happy he was that I was giving the toast at his wedding. He walked away, and I grabbed my friend, Steve, and asked him how I was giving the toast. He said that everybody loves my toasts, so I was nominated to give the toast.

Now, it would have been nice if somebody told me this BEFORE I got on the plane, as I has 6 hours to write the toast! So, I had to think of something....Elisa's last name was a long, funny name...so, I came up with all sorts of jokes about the name!

It could have been scary, but everybody loved it! Sometimes, you have to think quickly on your feet!