Marriage is a beautiful bond between two people and Wedding Toasts are the best way to express fond memories and the finest wishes you have for the newly wed couple. Whether your toast is humorous, endearing, or a combination of the two - all eyes will be on you during your wedding speech so you need to make it as effective as possible. If the lot should fall upon you to give a wedding toast speech, you need to be prepared.

Your toast is meant to convey a message of hope. It’s a kind of send-off. You’re encouraging the bride and group to start their lives together as one. You can use your toast to tell a story, or bring the guests on a trip down memory lane. If you’re the best man of the wedding party, you may wish to pick up a book on wedding toast etiquette. It’s always nice to state how long you have known and loved the couple. Your toast does not have to be very long , but it should express genuine warmth from your heart.

While wedding toast speeches are very common, it can be difficult to give a great toast if you’ve never done it before. Sure, you see the movies where wedding toasts are spoken as if they are poetry, seemingly with no forethought or effort. But this is not reality.

Search your library or even the Internet for some great quotes about weddings to incorporate into your speech. You also need to know something about the newly weds. If you know that the couple really likes a certain poet, or a particular movie, or have a favourite book or other interest, see if you can capture some of the memorable lines or concepts from the above and somehow incorporate these ideas into your speech. Remember that even the most practiced celebrity plans for any and all public appearances and speaking, so plan for yours to make sure that your thoughts come out as well thought out as they should be!

There are several important moments during a wedding celebration when wedding toast speeches are made. Generally, this is the usual order in which toasts are made:

The Best Man

The Groom To His Wife

Father of the Bride

Father of the Groom

Normally, the best man gives the first wedding toast speech at a wedding reception. For most, it is probably the hardest and scariest wedding duty, but probably the most important as well. He is the friend of the groom and welcomes the bride. Use it as a special moment to wish them every happiness but with the reminder that it takes effort to succeed. But try not to be too serious here - use picturesque language or lines from well known songs to illustrate the point in an inspirational way.

There are some things you should never do for a wedding toast speech. Don't get intoxicated - it won't give you courage, only ruin something that should be memorable. Don't use foul language, especially if children are present. Never mention former lovers or spouses of the newly weds. Don't intentionally embarrass the bride or groom - it is their day, not yours.

Follow these steps and you'll find that you can make it through those few moments of pressure to say something that the bride and groom will thank you for.