Some couples look forward to hearing what all their friends and family have to say in wedding toasts. However, there are many occasions when a toast can be long, drawn out and sap the energy from the room. It’s even worse when these rambles are inappropriate or awkward!
If you want to keep the pace touching and upbeat during your reception, here are our five tips for keeping wedding toasts short and sweet.
1. Pick the Line-Up of Wedding Toasts Beforehand
You may consider leaving the mic open for a few sweet words during dinner or another time not listed in the formal program. However, make sure you pick out who is giving a wedding toast during the formal program beforehand. These are often limited to the maid of honor, the best man, and parents.
2. Have Your Toasters Prep Beforehand
Encourage anyone giving a toast at your wedding to write or type out their speech beforehand, and maybe give it a few practice ones. There are a couple reasons for this. First and foremost, a practiced speech is less likely to be filled with awkward pauses and fumbling. It will sound more polished, smooth and flow faster with practice. Providing a toast on paper or hand-written also gives your speaker something to reference if they lose their place. Your wedding coordinator or MC can often place their speech on the podium before they come up if they have it beforehand.
3. Impose a Time Limit
Imposing a time limit of 3 minutes or less is a good idea with anyone giving a speech. This encourages speakers to keep it short and sweet. This is useful for keeping the mood of the room light and engaged, without your guests growing bored. It also prevents long, rambling stories that seem to have no end, and encourages speakers to really consider what content makes it into their speech.
4. Try to Find Out Who Has the Strongest Toast
Toasts can be given in any order, however, there is a traditional order to consider. Typically, the Best Man goes first, followed by either or both fathers. Then, the Maid of Honor will give her toast, followed by mothers. However, it can be a great idea to switch this up depending on who has a stronger or more impactful toast. If the father of the bride has a truly touching toast that stands out, have him go last.
5. Strike Out Any Introductory Dialogue
Your speakers do not need to identify themselves by name or title in their speech if you have an MC. The MC will introduce the speaker before calling them to the podium or dance floor. Having them go back over this information can make for an awkward moment. Saying something along the lines of “for those of you who don’t know me” is unnecessary! Don’t believe us? Watch this video to see what we mean.