Wedding Toast
The big day is here. Your best friend, cousin, brother, sister, favourite aunt, grandmother, mother, or father is getting married. This person is someone close to you, and you can barely wait to be a part of the love and joy that promises to be on the cards for today. And to help join in the celebrations you have decided to give a wedding toast.
And this is where you start to panic. Just the thought of standing up in front of all those guests is enough to make you feel nauseous and already you can feel your knees start to wobble alarmingly, and you have yet to even get to the reception! There’s nothing to worry about really. A wedding toast is most definitely not of the same duration as a wedding speech and you will only have to say a few short words.
Actually, since this is wedding toast, a few short words is all you should say, anything longer will make it sound like a speech and that’s the very last thing that you want to do.
So when do you give a wedding toast? Well, the times vary according to different family traditions, the formality of the occasion and the level of inebriation of the guests.
In other words, if you are not of the official wedding party and you have no idea when to give your wedding toast, you can do one of two things. The first is to try and find out discreetly when the toasts are likely to be given, or wait and bide your time until someone else gives a toast.
One sure sign that toasts are on the way is when the bubbly is popped and all the guests have been served with the champagne. These toasts are generally known as champagne toasts, and the trick to survive the many different toasts given at this point and still remain reasonably sober, is to take only a sip or two of your champagne. Chugging it down like you were at a frat party is probably not the best way to go.
That said, if you want to give a wedding toast there are a few things that you might want to look into before you do so. For instance some weddings are formal and by their very nature preclude too many spontaneously given toasts at varying times. This doesn’t mean that no toasts are given after the first round of toasts, but it does not happen all that often.
So look into the etiquette of giving a wedding toast before you stand up with your champagne glass in hand, and decide when would be the best time to give a wedding toast. You will also want to be at least semi-prepared as to what you’re going to say when you stand up to give the toast, and although this should be short and simple, it should most definitely not come out as blabber! And lastly, don’t forget to drink to your toast!