A toast speech is given on many occasions, including weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and retirements. Most are brief – less than 5 minutes – and often accompanied by raising glasses to honor the celebrating person or couple. Here are some toast speech examples.
At almost any celebration, someone will offer a toast to an honored guest or special occasion. A toast speech is common at a wedding reception but occurs at many other events. Whatever big day someone you love is celebrating, you may want to raise a glass, say a few words. and encourage glass clinking of those assembled.
Here are some toast speech examples if you need to give one.
What Do People Usually Say During A Toast Speech?
The most simple formula for giving a toast, whether it is a wedding toast or another kind, is this:
- Introduce yourself.
- Connect the story to the event.
- Tell a story.
- Bring it home!
In the introduction or attention-getter, the speaker quickly tells who they are and their relationship with the loved one they are toasting. A good toast sets the stage so everyone assembled feels part of things.
The next portion will include either a touching or funny story or anecdote about the honored person. The story can be cute and maybe even a bit embarrassing but remember the crowd. For example, a wedding speech should not say anything too embarrassing or reference private jokes the audience isn’t in on.
If you are honoring an accomplishment of someone, such as winning a citizenship award or 50 years of marriage, it is appropriate to point that out to the guests.
Lastly, you invite everyone to raise their glasses and encourage them to drink to those you honor, whether one person or a couple.
“I’m Joan, the bride’s mother. I owned the first high heels she wore and still seem to have some Annable “borrows” when she drops over. I am so happy to be toasting her and her fiance Byron, who has his own shoes. Wishing you both lifetime of happiness.”
What Should You End A Toast Speech With?
Coming up with a good ending for a toast can be tricky. You don’t want to end too abruptly. However, you also don’t want to drone on and on. Once you have told the little anecdotes, you can use a cue to tell others you are almost done.
“So let’s raise our glasses” is a good cue that you are finishing. “A toast to the bride and groom” or “Raise up your glasses to my best friend and his bride on their wedding day” are both excellent ways to end the best man toast.
How Long Should A Toast Speech Be?
The best special occasion toast speeches are roughly 3-4 minutes long. If you talk for much longer than that, you risk losing your audience no matter what kind of toast you are making.
What Are Some Tips For Making A Toast Speech?
- Relate to the audience. Whatever the common ground is, state that in some way. Whether it is a work party, a retirement celebration, or a wedding party, you are all there for the same reason.
- Introduce and share something about yourself. Those listening want to know who you are and why you are speaking. Your wording might go, “As John’s best friend, older sister, coworker, neighbor, etc., I have seen John climb many mountains….”
- Be sentimental. Especially if you are giving a wedding toast or speaking at a celebration of life, saying a few sentimental and heartfelt words because they will resonate with the person you are honoring.
- Use shorter sentences as they are easier to listen to. Avoid speaking in long sentences. Keep it simple.
- Don’t embarrass anyone. It would be unusual for a best man not to tell a single embarrassing story about the groom… but nothing too risqué. Never bring up someone’s exes. Be aware of the audience. Ask yourself this question: does my friend want his or her mother/grandmother/father/ grandfather/great-aunt Matilda to hear this story? If the answer is no, don’t tell it.
- Make notes and practice. You should not trust your memory with something this important. Jot down some notes on notecards and practice what you want to say.
Who Should Give a Toast?
Some affairs designate who will give a toast, while others are less formal. Some occasions entertain multiple toasts.
At a wedding, the bride’s father might offer the first toast. The maid of honor might give a toast, and sometimes other bridesmaids join in. You can expect a best man speech, but other groomsmen may also offer a toast. The bride and groom might toast each other or their parents.
A close coworker might offer a toast to the retiree at a retirement party. Family members might offer a toast for a couple hosting an anniversary party. When a group gathers at a bar or restaurant, someone at the table might congratulate another person on a birthday, new job, new house, engagement, wedding, or pregnancy.
People love celebrating and raising their glasses, which may contain alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, or even water.
The occasion and audience may dictate what type of toast you can give. A funny maid of honor speech might be well received at a women-only engagement party or bachelorette dinner but not at the wedding reception.
Ensure your words will not offend anyone as you plan the perfect toast for your friend or loved one’s special day. Commemorative milestones in a positive way!
What Is A Typical Toast Speech For:
As you prepare to offer toasts on special occasions, consider if you want to say something unique or if a famous quote is the way you want to go. Here are some examples of each.
An Engagement Party
- “May God shower you with blessings. “
- “Nothing else matters when two people fall in love.”
- “May you have a long and happy life together. “
- “To love and to be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” — David Viscott
- “Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” — Franklin P. Jones
- “Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
A Wedding
Wedding toasts can be sentimental, like these.
- “For the bride and groom, a toast.”
- “Lift your glasses to the happy couple.”
- “May you live long and live even longer.”
- “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” — Audrey Hepburn
- “You don’t marry the person you can live with—you marry the person you can’t live without.” — Unknown
- “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” — Mignon McLaughlin
Funny Wedding Toasts
Of course, there are also funny wedding toasts.
- “We never thought he would find someone to marry him, yet here we are.”
- “It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” — Rita Rudner
- “Marriages are made in heaven. But so again, are thunder and lightning.” — Clint Eastwood
Toasting Your New Spouse
Sometimes newlyweds choose to toast one another at the wedding. Here are some lovely
- “And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you, and I’d choose you.” —Kiersten White
- “Grow old with me. The best is yet to be, the last of life for which the first was made.” — Robert Browning
- “You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss
An Anniversary
- “We have been blessed beyond measure to have found one another and to have lived and loved this long. A toast to marriage.”
- “If two people love each other, nothing is impossible. Except deciding where to eat.” — Anonymous
- “To find someone who will love you for no reason, and to shower that person with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness.” — Robert Brault
- “Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” – Franz Schubert
A Retirement Party
When offering a toast at a retirement party, it would be lovely to speak to the work ethic and accomplishments of the retiree. It can be simple or go into some detail.
- “Although we are happy for you to be retiring, we will all miss seeing you each day.”
- “May you have more fun in retirement than we did here at work!”
- “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” – Abe Lemons
- “Retirement, a time to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, where you want to do it and how you want to do it,” – Catherine Pulsifer