Now it is time for food and wine. The excitement and anticipation of what is ahead can only mean it is time for the reception!
After a beautiful wedding and fantastic introduction to the reception, you can bet your guests are expecting the emotional roller coaster to continue. Their expectations for the speeches and toasts are going to be high.
The wedding party will want to drink to the bride and groom, here are a few tips to ensure they are successful toasts: (A gentle nudge - nudge, wink - wink for your Maid of Honour or Best Man to read this blog is a must. )
If you have been asked to give a toast or make a speech at a wedding and are looking for a little bit of guidance - here you go.
Remember this is a wedding toast, not a 'roast'. This is the most important day in the lives of two people who love you enough to ask you to play an important role. So it goes without saying, the hidden request within the request is for you to be gentle. Please tell a personal story, or two, but approach them with grace and do not forget who you are speaking to. Parents, grandparents, children (such as the couple's children or nieces and nephews), as well as coworkers, and maybe their boss were on the guest list.
First: don't brag about being unprepared. your toast should never start with something along the lines of "I haven't prepared anything so please bear with me." Too often this opener is used to get sympathy from the guests - it doesn't work. I think it is a bit insulting to the bride and groom, that your time was too valuable to invest into preparing a simple toast or speech for them on such an important day. For their sake prepare and do not wing it. Write it out and have notes in hand.
Relax, and bring notes. Unless you are Steve Jobs or you are a professional TED Talker - there is no shame in bring note cards or having your speech written out. Even at TEDx and every Apple announcement prompt screens were constantly used - so write it down!
Remember this is not about you. Do not speak exclusively about your relationship with the bride or the groom, do not make it about you. Name dropping is cheesy, the guests already know you are someone important to the couple, no need to rub it in.
If you are super nervous and have nothing but dating stories about the couple before they were a couple or embarrassing stories that could get them fired, I suggest you keep it super simple. Do not give a speech, just a simple toast will do the trick.
For a simple toast, adorable one liner's or poems are always a hit.
"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Snore and you sleep alone."
"Take each other for better or worse, but not for granted." - Arlene Dahl
Marriage Glow - By Joanna Fuchs
Your wedding day is just the start
Of a lifetime full of love and fun.
It just begins as you take your vows,
When the two of you are joined as one;
We wish for you sweet happiness;
Through the years, may your love grow,
To warm you both from day to day,
In your marriage’s satisfying glow.
All I am saying is: whichever way you look at it - your speech, or toast, to the bride and groom on their wedding day should be nothing short of amazing. You are to make them and their guests laugh and maybe even cry, for all the right reasons.