At the wedding we attended this weekend, each reception table had a Wedding Speech Sweepstakes Kit card. Hilarious, right?!
Our table chose to bet on the length of the best man’s speech (you could also choose to bet on the length of all the speeches together), and we took it quite seriously. We even nixed the form in favor of a secret ballot to keep everyone honest. And by everyone, I mean my husband. He takes these things extra seriously.
In the end, his serious-ness did him no good. We all picked times that were too short – turns out the best man was a talker! Even the winning bet was 10 minutes under!
Have you ever seen one of these at a wedding? Tacky? Clever? What do you think?
6 Comments
they’re gas.. I’ve seen and used them.. and been at weddings where we have done this anyway without being given the card..
I think they are fairly common in Ireland.
Was their cash money involved? Somebody pick up a pot of Euro?
I saw a pic with a happy man, a 50 euro note and the winning time in his hand!!
Depends on the size of the tables and how hardcore the guests are Gerry; I’ve seen the pot run to €160! Which my boyfriend won of course. Although the ‘done’ thing here is to immediately spend it on a load of alcohol for the table, so he blew it on a couple of bottles of champagne. If you simply pocket it as profit you’ll have a table full of cranky people staring at you!
Yes, apparently you’re to buy a round for the table! Aaron (lucky brother-in-law) won, bought a round of drinks and still walked away with €50!
This is HUGE here but it’s only recently that Paddy Power spotted the marketing opportunity and actually printed score cards, etc. Traditionally they’re scrawled on a napkin and the ‘kitty’ is stuffed into a pint glass. I only learned of this when I met Anthony, and he’s the actual King of wedding betting – he wins every single time! The trick is watch the priest. If he’s blathering to everybody in sight, he’ll probably not just settle for a blessing, he’ll want to give his own speech.
I never really thought about it before because I’ve seen it so often, but now, looking at it through somebody else’s eyes, I’m going to go with tacky!