Tips On Toasting

What better source for tips on toasting than an Irishman representing a whiskey company? We thought so, too, so here are the very words from Jameson Irish Whiskey's Toast Master, John Ryan:

"Make sure that not only your glass, but also all other glasses are filled before you propose a toast. If you are nervous, take three or four deep breaths very slowly, a minute before rising. Make sure that you know the first thing you are going to say, and the rest will usually follow comfortably.

It's your choice whether you say a traditional wedding toast or compose an original. Either way, raise your glass with your right hand. In addition, be sure that the glass is held straight from the shoulder. When toasting first began, it was not unusual to find a sword, dagger, or other weapon in the right hand, or concealed in the clothing, and the traditional toasting position proved that you had come in friendship.

It is traditional to clink glasses after the toast has been proposed, but before it is drunk. This tradition is rooted in earliest human history: people have always made a noise, like the ringing of a bell or the clinking of a glass, to frighten away evil spirits." Toasts can be sealed with a sip of champagne, wine, a mixed drink, or nonalcoholic punch, but never with tea, coffee, or water. Whatever the beverage chosen, it should be served to the bride first, then the groom, then the maid of honor, then parents, and lastly the best man.

Note that a toast should always end with a formal indication to the guests to alert them and tell them what to say; for example, "Please join in a toast to the happiness of Jack and Jill. Jack and Jill!" If you are the recipient of a toast, you do not stand, raise your glass, or take a sip of your drink, but you do thank the toasters, or at least smile and graciously nod. You are not obliged to propose a toast in return.

Prepackaged Toasts

When a joke just won't do, choose a classic salute that says it all. We offer here some tried-and-true options. Feel free to adapt them, especially if they are not direct quotes.

When a joke just won't do, choose a classic salute that says it all. We offer here some tried-and-true options. Feel free to adapt them, especially if they are not direct quotes.

TO THE BRIDE AND GROOM (before the wedding)

This toast is perfect for the rehearsal dinner or any special occasion before the wedding has taken place.

Here's to the bride that is to be,
Here's to the groom she'll wed,
May all their troubles be light as bubbles
Or the feathers that make up their bed!

TO THE BRIDE FROM HER GROOM

"Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss within the cup,
And I'll not look for wine."
- Ben Jonson -

"Grow old with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life,
For which, the first is made."
- Robert Browning -

I have known many,
Liked not a few,
Loved only one
I toast to you
- Irish toast -

"Wherever I roam, whatever realms I see,
My heart untravelled fondly turns to thee."
- Oliver Goldsmith -

Because I love you truly,
Because you love me, too,
My very greatest happiness
Is sharing life with you.
Every day you look lovelier and lovelier,
and today you look like tomorrow.

To my wife,
My bride and joy.

To quote John Keats's immortal line,
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."
Here's to you, my beautiful bride.

"Weren't the last drop in the well,
An I gasped upon the brink,
Ere my fainting spirit fell,
'Tis to thee that I would drink."
- Lord Byron -

The world is happy and colorful,
And life itself is new.
And I am very grateful for
The friend I found in you.

To quote Walter Winchell,
"Never above you. Never below you.
Always beside you."

Here's to the woman that's good and sweet,
Here's to the woman that's true,
Here's to the woman that rules my heart,
In other words, here's to you.

To my bride: she knows all about me and loves me just the same.

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.

Let's drink to love, which is nothing - unless it's divided by two.

I love you more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.

To the wings of love:
May they never lose a feather,
But soar up to the sky above,
And last and last forever.

Here's to my mother-in-law's daughter,
Here's to her father-in-law's son;
Here's to the vows we've just taken,
And the life we've just begun.

To the bride from someone other than the groom
To the groom from his bride
To the groom from someone other than the bride
To the bridesmaids
To the newlyweds
To the newlyweds from a parent
To parents
To grandparents
To the wedding guests

TO THE BRIDE FROM SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE GROOM

These are suitable for a toast to the bride from the best man,
the maid of honor, or anyone else who is given the privilege.

"Love, be true to her;
Life, be dear to her;
Health, stay close to her;
Joy, draw near to her;
Fortune, find what you can do for her,
Search your treasure-house through and through for her,
Follow her footsteps the wide world over -
And keep her husband always her lover."
- Anna Lewis, "To the bride"

Here's to the bride. May your hours of joy be as numerous as
the petals of your bridal bouquet.

TO THE GROOM FROM HIS BRIDE

It is not traditional, but entirely appropriate,
for the bride to toast her groom.

"Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss within the cup,
And I'll not look for wine."
- Ben Jonson

"Wherever I roam, whatever realms I see,
My heart untravelled fondly turns to thee."
- Oliver Goldsmith

Because I love you truly,
Because you love me, too,
My very greatest happiness
Is sharing life with you.

"Grow old with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life,
For which, the first is made."
- Robert Browning -

I have known many,
Liked not a few,
Loved only one
I toast to you
- Irish toast -

The world is happy and colorful,
And life itself is new.
And I am very grateful for
The friend I found in you.

To quote Walter Winchell, "Never above you.
Never below you. Always beside you."

Here's to the man that's good and sweet,
Here's to the man that's true,
Here's to the man that rules my heart,
In other words, here's to you.

To my groom: he knows all about me and loves me just the same.

Let's drink to love, which is nothing - unless it's divided by two.

I love you more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.

To the wings of love:
May they never lose a feather,
But soar up to the sky above,
And last and last forever.

TO THE GROOM FROM SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE BRIDE

In the immortal words of Ralph Waldo Emerson,
"Here's to the happy man: All the world loves a lover."

To the man who has conquered the bride's heart, and her mother's.

Here's to the groom, a man who keeps his head though he loses his heart.

A toast to the groom ­ and discretion to his bachelor friends.

Marriage has teeth, and him bit very hot.
- Jamaican proverb -

TO THE BRIDESMAIDS

The toast to the bridesmaids is traditionally given by the groom,
but may fall to the best man or the MC.

"To every lovely lady bright,
I wish a gallant faithful knight;
To every faithful lover, too,
I wish a trusting lady true."
­ Sir Walter Scott -

To quote John Keats's immortal line,
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."
Here's to these beautiful bridesmaids.

"I drink to the general joy of the whole table."
- Shakespeare, from Macbeth -

Here's to women: they're the loveliest flowers that bloom under heaven.

"I have a dozen healths to drink to these fair ladies."
- Shakespeare, from Henry VIII -

The ladies, God bless them,
May nothing distress them.

To the bridesmaids: we admire them for their beauty,
respect them for their intelligence, adore them for their virtues,
and love them because we can't help it.

"And nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O;
Her 'prentice hand she tried on man,
And then she made the lasses, O."
- Robert Burns -

TO THE NEWLYWEDS

A toast to the newlyweds may be proposed by the best man
or maid of honor, or anyone else wishing to do so
(as long as the MC has been advised beforehand).

A health to you,
A wealth to you,
And the best that life can give to you.
May fortune still be kind to you,
And happiness be true to you,
And life be long and good to you,
Is the toast of all your friends to you.

Down the hatch, to a striking match!

"Marriage: A community consisting of a master, a mistress,
and two slaves ­ making in all, two."
- Ambrose Bierce -

To the newlyweds: May "for better or worse" be far better than worse.

"There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people
who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding
their enemies and delighting their friends."
- Homer, Odyssey, ninth century B.C. -

"May you grow old on one pillow."
- Armenian toast -

"Two such as you with such a master speed
Cannot be parted nor be swept away
From one another once you are agreed
That life is only life forevermore
Together wing to wing and oar to oar"
- Robert Frost -

"It's still the same old story,
A fight for love and glory,
A case of do or die!
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by."
- From the song "As Time Goes By" by Herman Hupfeld. -

Here's to the bride and the bridegroom,
We'll ask their success in our prayers,
And through life's dark shadows and sunshine
That good luck may always be theirs.

"And to his eye
There was but one beloved face on earth
And that was shining on him."
- Lord Byron -

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of
two chemical substances; if there is any reaction,
both are transformed."
- Carl Jung -

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other,
but in looking outward in the same direction."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"Here's to marriage, that happy estate that resembles a pair of scissors:
'So joined that they cannot be separated,
often moving in opposite directions, yet punishing
anyone who comes between them.'"
- Sydney Smith -

Here's to the new husband
And here's to the new wife
May they remain lovers
For all of life.

May their joys be as deep as the ocean
And their misfortunes as light as the foam.

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.

May we all live to be present at their Golden Wedding.

May your love be as endless as your wedding rings.

May the saints protect you
And sorrow neglect you
And bad luck to the one
That doesn't respect you

"May you have many children
and may they grow mature in taste
and healthy in color
and as sought after
as the contents of the glass."
- Irish toast -

May your wedding days be few and your anniversaries many.

May your voyage through life be as happy and as free
As the dancing waves on the deep blue sea

Here's to the groom with bride so fair,
And here's to the bride with groom so rare!

Here's to marriage: one soul in two bodies.

May thy life be long and happy,
Thy cares and sorrows few;
And the many friends around thee
Prove faithful, fond and true.

"Lack nothing: be merry."
- Shakespeare, from Henry IV -

"Heaven give you many, many merry days!"
- Shakespeare, from The Merry Wives of Windsor -

May every day be happier than the last.

Let's drink to love, which is nothing - unless it's divided by two.

To the wings of love:
May they never lose a feather,
But soar up to the sky above,
And last and last forever.

As Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet,
may "a flock of blessings light upon thy back."

"Look down you gods, and on this couple drop a blessed crown."
- Shakespeare, from The Tempest -

Here's to this fine couple.
May their joys be as bright as the morning,
and their sorrows but shadows that fade in the sunlight of love.

TO THE NEWLYWEDS FROM A PARENT

"The man or woman you really love will never grow old to you.
Through the wrinkles of time, through the bowed frame of years,
you will always see the dear face and feel
the warm heart union of your eternal love."
- Alfred A. Montapert -

"Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
working together is success."
- Henry Ford -

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.
One of these is roots, the other wings."
- Hodding Carter -

It is written: when children find true love,
parents find true joy. Here's to your joy and ours,
from this day forward.

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other,
but in looking outward in the same direction."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

Here are some words to live by: Love to one,
friendship to many, and goodwill to all.

May you live to learn well, and learn to live well.

Remember that if you ever put your marital problems
on the back burner they are sure to boil over.

"Marriage is our last, best chance to grow up."
- Joseph Barth -

"A happy marriage is still the greatest treasure within the gift of fortune."
- Eden Phillpotts -

"Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love,
and they blossom when we love the one we married."
- Sam Levenson -

"Seek a happy marriage with wholeness of heart,
but do not expect to reach the promised land
without going through some wilderness together."
- Charlie W. Shedd -

Here's to matrimony, the high sea for which
no compass has yet been invented.

TO PARENTS

"A mother is a mother still,
The holiest thing alive."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge -

"For a wife take the daughter of a good mother."
- Thomas Fuller -

It is written: when children find true love, parents find true joy.
Here's to your joy and ours, from this day forward.

TO GRANDPARENTS

To the greatest grandparents.
May they live to be great-grandparents.

Let us raise our glasses
And then imbibe
To the splendid couple
Who founded this tribe

TO THE WEDDING GUESTS

"Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin,
Guesting awhile in the room of a beautiful inn.
Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry my friends."
- John Masefield, from Laugh and Be Merry -

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.

May we (you) all live to be present at their (our) Golden Wedding.

We would like to thank Weddingbells Inc for the use of their article.

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