The Perfect Wedding Toast
By this point in your life, you have probably been lucky or scared out of your mind enough to give a speech/toast at a wedding. In a traditional wedding, speeches are usually given towards the beginning of the reception once guests are seated and perhaps before or during dinner service. And, of course, we can all recall some of the best and some of the most cringe-worthy speeches we’ve witnessed. The sentimental and funny ones, the creative and clever toasts or comical props that have been utilized, or ones where the speaker was, unfortunately, “over-served” during a cocktail hour and spoke for so long we don’t even remember what or who they spoke of. Rest assured you are in good hands. We have handed the microphone or willfully wished it back at literally hundreds of weddings. We know what works and doesn’t and we sincerely hope these quick tips and straightforward directions help you undertake this venture! While giving a wedding toast or marriage speech quotes, Best of luck!!
- Let’s start with you, bride and groom. Although you may be the last ones to speak, Please it is so important to take a moment to keep it short and genuine to stand up in front of all of your guests and sincerely thank them. These people have loved and supported you, some throughout your whole life. People have traveled and spent money and time and effort to be there on your day. Your guests will truly appreciate your efforts, plus they all love a good excuse to tap their glasses, so you have to kiss publicly.
- For the rest of you- parents of bride and groom, bridal party toasts, etc. plan. Before the wedding, put pen to paper and write out what you want to say. It is quite obvious when someone didn’t prep for the speech, and there are very few people who can get away with this and make it look good, although many think they can. Plus the bride/groom bestowed this great honor on you. Show them you care and respect them enough to take the time to plan out what you want to say, and it will show.
- Keep it SHORT! Stay off Google and trust us, a good speech should be less than 5 minutes long (ideally 3-4 minutes). Think of your guests as having the attention span of a preschooler. Everyone has an agenda for the wedding. As much as they want to listen to you, guests are also thinking about: food, dancing, alcohol, catching up with friends/family, enjoying a night out without kids, etc. The more you keep them from this the less likely they enjoy it. Quality is way more important than quantity. You can’t tell every funny story so pick one or two and paint a hilarious picture of them with your words and wit.
- Lastly, stay away from the following topics and you should not offend anyone!
- Jokes about marriage yes 50% of marriages end; we don’t want to hear about it tonight.
- Raunchy stories Spring Break 2006? Please keep it to yourself.
- Ex’s boyfriends and girlfriends enough said.
- Bragging (most likely everyone knows the jobs, colleges, and how great or hard-working your friend/daughter/son/yourself is. No need to point it out as it doesn’t really evoke any feeling in most people
- Embarrassing makes everyone uncomfortable, this is not a roast, and we guarantee it will negatively impact the relationship with the person you are speaking of forever.
- No tangents the 10-15 minute speech Stick to what you wrote on pen and paper when you weren’t nervous, in front of a crowd, or had a drink- if you haven’t thought of it before now, it’s probably not that noteworthy.
- We hope this goes without saying, but if you weren’t asked to give a speech, do not under any circumstance, grab the microphone. If you work with us we guarantee we would not let someone who wasn’t on our agreed-upon itinerary do this at your wedding, and it will be handled with grace before you even know about it!