If you do not retain a wedding planner and elect to plan your own wedding, there are lots of details to think about. Toast giving is one of the most critical decisions and should be well thought out. Giving a toast is a task that puts anxiety in the speaking hearts of most members of a wedding party. While it’s not ordinarily something that is particularly long or complex, it’s public speaking (which doesn’t sit well with lots of people) and really puts individuals on the spot.
If you are planning your own wedding and ascertain that most members of this wedding party are hams who won’t mind the entire “public speaking” thing, then by all means keep the toasts customary with dad, the best man and others taking their expected turns at the microphone.
But if you’re looking for something different, either because you would like to prevent putting individuals on the spot, or you merely want to do something different and fun, read on.
To begin with, you can certainly take the whole toast thing off the plan if you wish. There are no rules requiring a toast at any wedding. Weddings ought to be distinctive events and reflect the personalities of the bride and groom.
But if you would like to do something a trifling distinctive, there are options. You can go the video route, which asks individuals to basically make a toast on camera and then the video is given to the bride and groom later on. This isn’t a particularly unique idea, but it does resolve the matter of not wanting to place people on the spot and still gives everybody a chance to verbalize something special to the bride and groom.
If your guest list includes lots of outgoing people then consider “pass the microphone”. This method of giving toasts does put individuals on the spot, but it might also be a lot of fun. Getting people at the time they least expect it and then asking them to think of something humorous or significant concerning the bride and groom can possibly result in interesting, humorous and candid results.
You can also decide that one person at every table be required to give a toast. Number the tables and at various intervals, have the MC or DJ call a number, which will require guests at that table to determine between themselves who will offer the toast at that table. Of course, more than one individual can if they like, however there will probably be at least one ham at each table who will get pleasure from standing up and toasting the newlyweds.
Say you have lots of public speakers in the group, and locating willing toast participants will not be a problem. But you think the subject matter might be. There’s an easy resolution to this problem. You can provide open-ended topics for the toast speakers. Say you are providing an “open mike” toast arrangement, where any person can request the microphone and offer a toast. The DJ, MC or someone else in the wedding party (perhaps the maid of honor or best man) can offer the speaker a surprise topic, which might be pulled from a champagne flute or drawn out of the flower arrangement on the head table. There can be slips of paper to pick, or only one sheet of paper with several ideas.
The speaker might opt to finish this sentence, “I remember when (groom’s name here) was a young boy, he always …” or answer this question, “When was (insert bride’s name here) at her silliest? Tell us the story”. You might have to grant every speaker a minute or two to assemble their thoughts, but you’re sure to come up with some attention-grabbing stories, a number of unique anecdotes and several unique perspectives on the bride and groom.
