At some point during the wedding reception, toasts are going to happen. The greatest piece of advice I could offer is keep them short, sweet and do not open the floor up for all your guests to start extending their well-wishes. And this happens to be the perfect opportunity for the bride and groom to say a few words of thanks to family and friends for celebrating the day with them. But before the guests of honor take the mic, the Best Man and Maid/Matron of Honor should be the ones to welcome the guests and say a few sentimental words of remembrance, encouragement and love to the newlyweds.
I have witnessed on numerous occasions a Best Man or Maid of Honor unprepared to speak to the crowd and an awkward pause always occurs when they say "I thought I was going to have a little more time" or "I didn't write anything down" or "I'm unsure what to say". Have a skillfully planned wedding toast, in my opinion, is the only way to go when planning out your reception timeline. So below I've given a few suggestions on how to make this memorable moment happen as stress-free as possible:
- First, before you take the mic, always have your glass of champagne or wine in hand before speaking. It is a toast, remember. And end the toast with, "Please raise your glass..."
- The Best Man should lead the toasts with the Maid/Matron of Honor following.
- Have a toast prepared in advance. You have known for months that you were going to be asked to give a toast when you accepted the position.
- Speak from the heart and know that it's okay if your toast is written on paper or a note card so you don't forget.
- Remember, it's not a speech and please keep it tactful. Speaking about negative past events and ex's is a total no-no.
- Last, keep the toast less than 2 minutes. Toasts are typically going to happen after the bridal party has been announced in or before the entree, so keep it short and sweet so that guests can eat!
(photo credit - http://www.ksweddings.com/)
