Wedding Toast Ideas & Tips

The wedding toast ideas, tips and advice that follow will guide you along the shaky ground of preparing an appropriate and well-received toast.

Wedding toasts are certainly much easier to prepare than a wedding speech is, however they can still be messed up in so many ways.

Normally, the person proposing the toast will have a short humorous story to tell about the bride and/or groom (or whomever they are toasting) and will then proceed with the actual toast. Follow these guidelines and keep them in mind as you prepare your wedding toast.

• Keep your toast short, no more than one to two minutes in length. Remember wedding toasts are not wedding speeches (which are several minutes longer).
• When you are ready to make your toast, be sure to stand up so people can see you.
• Before toasting, give the guests time to refill their glasses.
• If you are the one receiving the toast, stay seated.
• Hold your glass in your right hand and raise the glass toward the person you are toasting when you are finished.
• After you are finished, it is customary for everyone to clink glasses before sipping.
• Humor is good, humiliation is not. Do not bring up old romances or other extremely embarrassing subjects and keep the stories clean and appropriate for the audience. Keep in mind that there are usually older people (grandparent's) and children present.
• Speak slowly and clearly. Make sure you are loud enough so the people at the back of the room can hear you, without yelling.
• As you are making your toast look around the room at the guests. As you finish up, be sure to make eye contact with the bride and groom, or the person to whom you are presenting the toast to.
• Practice your toast before the wedding. Some people have a knack for winging it, but it's best to be prepared.

Wedding Toast Ideas & Tips by Rose Smith
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