Wedding Toast Speeches

The Order of Wedding Toast Speeches
at a Wedding Reception

Wedding toast speeches are the formal parts of the reception that give tribute to the bride and groom, their parents and the people closely involved in the wedding. They bring focus to the celebrations and offer the opportunity for thanks to be made publicly. These need not be long at all - a few words of thanks are sufficient.

These should be well prepared and rehearsed; they should include positive sentiments with a touch of humor.

Try to keep the speech and toast brief no more that five minutes long, this might not sound a long time, but by the time all the speakers have had their turn it could quite easily end up being half an hour of talking.

The following is a list of possible toasts and speeches.

The Loyal Toast

This is the first toast of a very formal reception, it can be proposed by the MC, chairman, celebrant, bride's father or groom's father. The toast is to the Queen and or country or several countries if the bride and groom are of different nationalities.

Toast to the Bride and Groom

This is usually given by a close relative or friend of the bride and groom. The person who proposed the toast also gives a short speech beforehand.

Response by the Groom (and bride)

The groom traditionally acknowledges the toast and thanks both sets of parents, members of the wedding party and the guests for attending and for their gifts.

He may like to talk about how the two of them met. The groom then thanks the bridesmaids/matron of honor and proposes a toast.

Response by the Best Man

The best man thanks the groom on behalf of the bridesmaids/matron of honor, congratulates the bride and groom and thanks anyone connected with the wedding who has given him help. He may also say something about the bride and groom.

Toasts to Parents

The parents will often choose a relative or close friend to propose this toast. The toast is first given to the bride's parents with the bride's father responding. The bride's father welcomes the guests and thanks them for attending.

He offers his congratulations to the bride and groom and welcomes the groom into the family. If he chooses he may also like to tell a short story about the bride.

He will then propose a toast to the groom's parents with the groom's father responding. If the father of the bride or groom is absent a close family member can say the toasts in his place.

Reading Messages

The MC or best man reads out the messages of congratulations for people who are not able to attend the wedding.

The messages should be sorted out before reading (removing any message that may be in bad taste). If there are a lot of messages you may like to read out the names of the senders only.