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How to write a wedding speech or toast
If you’re the maid of honor, father or mother of the bride or groom, or the best man, you’re probably wondering how to write a wedding speech or toast. In this blog, we’ll talk about how to start off a wedding speech with the wedding speech template and things to consider when preparing for your wedding toast. We’ll also talk about “how long should a wedding speech be” and “what not to say in a wedding speech”. So let’s start here with five things to consider when preparing for your wedding toast.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
5 things to consider when preparing for your wedding speech or toast
Here’s how to write a wedding speech or toast:
- Keep it short
- Try to keep your toast around 2 minutes. Short and sweet and to the point always delivers better.
- Story Telling
- Everyone thinks that stories are crowd pleasers. However, avoid telling childhood and high school stories that don’t involve them both.
- Keep it about the couple
- Talk about what makes them great together. You can talk about when they first started coming around and talking about one another. And you can also talk about what you thought about them just starting out as a couple.
- Tell one joke
- Tell one joke, not 4 jokes, and keep it clean.
- Prepare ahead of time
- Jot down some quick thoughts so you’re not stuck up there rambling. It’s a good idea to email it to yourself just in case somehow it gets deleted from your phone. IT HAPPENS. If you’re not great at public speaking, read it out loud and practice in front of the mirror. Because you wanna make sure to keep it short and sweet, time yourself so you know you’re staying on track.
Now, how do you start off a wedding speech? – Wedding Toast Template
- Introduce yourself
- You still wanna keep it about the couple but also about your relationship with whoever it is that you’re closest to.
- See the video to the left for a good example of how to introduce yourself and start your toast. You don’t have to start with “for those of you who don’t know me…”.
2. Quick Story
- Remember, always keep it about the couple. Here are some ideas with how to come up with a story
- “when you first started bringing her around…”
- “When you first started talking about him”
- “I remember what you said after your first date”
- “My first impression of him was…”
- When we all started hanging out, I never could have imagined…
3. Sweet Sentiments
- This is where you want to compliment them as a couple.
- Talk about how it’s no surprise that we’re all here today
- Talk about why they make such a great couple
4. Well Wishes
- You wanna wish them well in their life, in their marriage, and in their future.
5. Raise Your Glass
- A lot of people forget to bring their glass up and then feel a little silly when it comes time to end their toast. If this happens, it’s all good! But try to remember.
How long should a wedding speech or toast be?
Now we’ve talked about this quite a bit already. Remember, approximately 2 minutes is considered the sweet spot. You don’t want it to be too short. So let them feel like you put in a good effort and you really thought about them when putting your toast together.
DEFINITELY don’t do it too long. Because not only do you gotta think about the guests feeling like you’re dragging on and on, but consider that the couple is paying for a timeline. If you take too much time, this pushes back the rest of their events. Don’t be the guy responsible for everything else running behind.
What NOT to do when planning your wedding toast
- Above all, the number one rule when giving your wedding toast, DON’T OVER DRINK! You can totally tell when someone speaking has had one too many and it’s not usually pleasant.
- Don’t talk about exes. It’s super inappropriate to bring up past relationships, now is not the time and this is not the place.
3. Nothing sexual. Despite what you may think, sexual jokes don’t always land right. Instead, you usually get awkward laughs. Read the room. The bride’s 80 year old grandpa may not think it’s funny.
4. Don’t talk about anything that will even remotely upset the couple. This is not a time to try and embarrass the groom with some naughty stories. This is not a time to embarrass the bride with how “free spirited” she was back in the day.
5. Don’t talk about anything that does not uplift the wedding night. You want people to be impressed with how great of a toast you gave and not not have them leave feeling like you wasted 5 minutes of their life on the most important day of the couple’s life.
In conclusion, we’ve shown you how to write your wedding speech or toast. We’ve talked about “how do you start off a wedding speech” and “things to consider when preparing for your wedding toast”. Remember, it’s okay to have emotions if you’re emotional and it’s okay to be funny! As long as you keep it all about the couple you can’t go wrong! A good idea would be to have another set of eyes look at it and ask a bridesmaid or groomsmen to proofread your speech and give you the go ahead.
To see how we fit your toasts in our couple’s wedding videos click here and watch some examples!
Watch the full toast scene from The Wedding Singer
Watch the full toast scene from Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1
