The Bridal Couple should decide who is likely to want to toast at their wedding. This varies depending on the formality of the wedding and how the rest of the family feel. It is common for the best man to toast the bride and the bridesmaids, the maid of honour to toast the groom and the father of the bride to toast the couple. The Bride and Groom have also been known to toast their parents.

When asked to do a toast, plan to speak from 1 to 4 minutes. No one wants to be bored with an extraordinarily long toast covering the entirety of your friendship. Before making your toast, ensure that all other glasses are full. Stand when giving your toast and hold your glass with your right hand as you toast. After the toast, it is tradition to then clink the glasses together before sipping.

Start with something personal. How the bride and groom met is always a favourite. You can also use humour or quotes to get started. Practice your toast. Finish your toast with a wish, blessing, congratulations, or cheers.

Don’t have more than one drink to calm your nerves beforehand. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but besides calming your nerves, it will also keep you from giving the sincere toast that you have planned.

Don’t mention previous girlfriends, past marriages, or past relationships. Not only could it be potentially embarrassing, but it’s inappropriate at a wedding. Leave this for the stag party.

Below are a few ideas  to use when giving a toast:
Wedding Toast, From the Bride to the Groom or From the Groom to the Bride

• Here’s to the prettiest, here’s to the wittiest, Here’s to the truest of all who are true, Here’s to the neatest one, here’s to the sweetest one, Here’s to them, all in one – here’s to you.

To the Bride

• May she share everything with her husband, including the housework.

Wedding Toast, From the Groom to the Bride

• She knows all about me and loves me just the same.

To the Guests

• Let us toast the health of the bride; Let us toast the health of the groom, Let us toast the person that tied; Let us toast every guest in the room.

To the Bride and Groom

• Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love, and they blossom when we love the one we married.
• My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each other will so deepen and grow, that years from now you will look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least.
• It doesn’t matter where you get your appetite, as long as you eat at home!
• May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.
• To the lamp of love – may it burn brightest in the darkest hours and never flicker in the winds of trial.