How to Make a Wedding Toast

Engagement Parties, Rehearsal Dinners, and Weddings are often occasions when a toast is made to celebrate, congratulate, and offer warm wishes to a couple. If someone close to you is getting married, you’re probably going to want to make a toast to express how happy you are for them. But if you’ve never made a toast before, and your tongue gets tied and palms get sweaty just thinking about it, you might be looking for some guidance. While what you say on their special day is up to you, there are some common conventions as to how it’s said.

A toast should always be 3 things: Warm, Brief and Personal. Here are a few tips on making a toast just that!

• Introduce yourself and explain your relationship to the Couple/ Bride & Groom. Not everyone will know who you are, so explaining how you know the couple and how long you have known them is important. If you are a parent, then obviously you do not have to go into much explanation, but still go ahead and introduce yourself!
• Just like a speech, a toast has a beginning, a middle and an end. Make sure it flows.
• Unless you are VERY good at impromptu speeches in public, make sure you gather your thoughts of what you would like to say in advance. Write down what you want to say, and even if you have to use it at the time of the toast, that’s okay! Better to have something in front of you then to lose your thoughts in front of a crowd and find yourself in an uncomfortable, embarrassing position. (I have seen this happen!)
• Make it personal! Talk about the couple, when you first met the other half, what they bring to each others life, interests they share, ect.
• If you want to briefly walk down memory lane, do it in a positive light and in a way that involves the couple.
• Keep in mind that the words you say will be remembered FOREVER and possibly caught on video – so if you want to be entertaining or make a joke, be tasteful!
• If you are drunk, don’t do it. Better to not embarrass yourself or the couple – and again, be caught on video!
• Be sure to end the toast and end it on a joyous, hopeful note. You can do this by saying “To (brides name and grooms name)” Offer well wishes, tell guests to raise their glasses or simply say “Cheers!”

By: Lindsey Conrad Nabors