Is this the best best man speech ever?
WHEN Darren Byrne decided to deliver the greatest best man speech of all time, he enlisted the help of a few well-known faces.
Take That front man Gary Barlow was first on the list for best man Darren Byrne
I was most excited to get Gary Barlow – he was top of my list and I’m sure I gave him a few grey hairs with all the tweets I posted to him
He spent 10 months appealing via social media for a host of celebrities to take part in a video tribute
And he persuaded stars such as Gary Barlow, Gary Lineker and James Corden to say a few words for newlyweds Darren Farrell, 35, and Anna Carey, 32.
In fact Darren, a 35-year-old software developer from Ireland, managed to get over 30 celebrities to appear in his video for the wedding last month in Quinta Da Lago Vilamoura, Portugal.
Among those who agreed to take part were Holly Willoughby, Leigh Francis, Dermot O’Leary, Jeff Stelling and Eamonn Holmes.
He said: “From the moment Darren asked me to be his best man I knew that I wanted to do something special for him and Anna.
I would not be one for standing up in front of people so something visual would have been needed.”
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes also agreed to take part in the video
Darren started work on the video last November and finished it just before the big day after making a list of the couple’s favourite sports stars, broadcasters and radio presenters.
He contacted celebrities through social media as well as going to RTE Studios in Dublin with his camcorder in search of stars to record a message.
TV presenter Holly Willoughby appeared in the video with Keith Lemon
Darren added: “I was most excited to get Gary Barlow – he was top of my list and I’m sure I gave him a few grey hairs with all the tweets I posted to him but when I received his reply I was over the moon.
“I was astonished by the reaction on the day. Once it started I could see the smiles on their faces straight away. That was enough for me. The amount of praise I got after the speech by the guests will never be forgotten.”
James Corden was among over 30 celebrities who took part