I have to propose this toast +/- 5 minutes.Have done this over the
years for 4 other brides ...all friends of the current bride,and am
running out of ideas.Would like something with good Irish content.The
couple are intelligent,university graduates,full of fun and game for
anything I might say!
Groom is a Corporate Lawyer,Bride an HR Consultant.Both live and work in London.

---

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 04 Feb 2006 03:47 PST

Dear Whyru, 

How did you get to know them? Are they good friends of yours (do you
have any special stories about them)? Is "Irishness" of importance to
them? Is the wedding an "Irish" one?

---

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 04 Feb 2006 03:48 PST

And another question if you don't mind: quotes would be OK (as part of the toast)?

---

Clarification of Question by whyru-ga on 05 Feb 2006 06:45 PST

Good start!!
Molly is now 32,the daughter of very old friends and I have known her
since she was 8 .I have many "stories" and would weave them into the
text of the speech. Her mother and father live in South Africa,where
the wedding will take place.She met Michael in London.His parents live
in Belfast and he has two married sisters living in New Zealand.I have
spent but a few days in Michael's company and he certainly has kissed
the stone!Like him very much and they should be good for one
another.He plays rugby for the London Irish.
Several of his family and an undetermined number of his Irish pals
will fly out for the wedding,and there will be a local Irish
attendance of her parents'friends.So, the "Irishness" is is of
some,but not excessive importance.
Don't think the wedding is "Irish" but will check.Quotes are very acceptable.

Dear Whyru, 

I have here two versions. However, I also added some links to help you
find further quotes, blessings and the such.

Version I
---------
If I may have your attention ? I?d like to express our gratitude to
Mr. and Mrs. [Smith], who have invited us to this lovely ceremony for
Molly and Michael, in sunny [Johannesburg]. I have known Molly since
the 1970s. Do you remember this decade? I mostly remember horrible
platform shoes and disco music. And that was the good part. Molly got
over this bleak period in history, however. She also survived the
1980s. [Here you can say something about her childhood]. In the 1990s,
when asked, most kids would say that Queen Victoria was married to
David Beckham, and that politicians are at home at ?Big Brother?.
Molly and Michael managed through these horrible times as well.

In fact, both Molly and Michael have done pretty well, given those sad
circumstances, and managed not to read one piece of rubbish about
Brittney Spears throughout college. Molly became a human resources
consultant. She is an excellent human resource consultants ? this is
evident by her choice of Michael. Not only that this lucky charm of
hers is best candidate for the job, but he had also managed to pass
all of the screenings that HR consultants run these days. No, he also
doesn?t listen to Brittney Spears.

Michael is also blessed with wit. As a rugby player, he knows that one
should catch the opportunities that the game poses to you. As a
corporate lawyer, he immediately understood that Molly is such catch,
one that should be held with a good contract. How about that ?till
death do us part? contract? Clever choice!

As John Wesley?s said, "an ounce of love is worth a pound of
knowledge". In this case, knowledge invested in love brings the best
results. And in this case, may you have many prosperous years to get
to love each other together, and as the Irish proverb goes:
[May you live as long as you want/And never want as long as you live. 
I am torn between this one and: 
May there be a generation of children
On the children of your children.] To Molly and Michael! 

***
Version II: 
----------

If I may, I would like to express my gratitude to my good friends
[Molly?s parents] and to [Mrs. And Mrs. Michael?s parents] for this
wonderful wedding. Plato once said, that ?At the touch of love,
everyone becomes a poet?. Well, I guess that I am actually not at
Molly and Michael?s wedding, but at a poetry convention!

A famous physicist had once said: /
Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love/
You see, Michael and Molly wed/ 
And it seems that every blessing falls from above

People came from the other end of the earth/
To share this joy and bliss/ 
To witness this ? almost a rebirth/
And of course to see them kiss! 

Molly and Michael, what a pair! / 
Professional, successful, attractive and beautiful/ 
And let us not forget ? love is in the air/ 
Together they are three-quarters Irish ? luck is bountiful! 

So let me propose this toast. Tolstoy has once said, that everything
he understand, he does because he loves. I wish you many years of
mutual understanding and happy marriage. To Michael and Molly!

****
Further Resources
===========
Quotes for Wedding Toasts
http://www.aphids.com/cgi-bin/quotes.pl?act=ShowWedCategories  

Irish Blessings
http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/irish.html 

Best Short Wedding Toasts
http://weddings.about.com/od/theweddingparty/a/toastsamples.htm 

Love ? Wikiquote
< http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Love> 

Wedding Toast Generator
< http://www.blissweddings.com/library/toasts_engine.asp> 

I hope this answers your question. Naturally, I will be happy to
clarify my answer and help you further, before you rate it.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by whyru-ga on 11 Feb 2006 00:33 PST

I am now somewhat confused ...am I dealing with politicalguru or with
probonopublico..or with both??

---

Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 11 Feb 2006 03:05 PST

You are dealing with me, but I'm pretty sure that Probonopublico was
trying to help. He has given a comment that might have been the best
toast.

I would like to send $50:00 to probonopublico-ga for his help freely
offered.He can donate this to his favourite charity if he doesnt want
it!!
The wedding is in December 2006 so I am in good time...Thank you both.

$200 bucks and no takers!

My heart has gone out to you and so I am delighted to provide you with
your speech of a lifetime, ABSOLUTELY FREE.

For the purposes of your speech, I have called the groom ?Michael? and
the bride ?Molly? but PLEASE NOTE you should substitute their real
names in your address or it will look as though you picked your speech
up off GA for free.

Here goes:

Ladies and Gentlemen

It will soon be my pleasure to propose the toast of the Bride and
Groom but first let me tell you a bit about the happy couple.

Michael is an Irish thoroughbred which means he was born with a silver
shillelagh in his mouth; he has kissed the Blarney Stone; and he has
been weaned on Guinness by the bucketful. In other words, he has all
the charm for which the Irish are famous.

He could have been an artist, a poet, a writer, or a politician but no
? Michael chose to become a lawyer. But not a mere high street lawyer,
I hasten to add, but a Corporate Lawyer. The very cream of his chosen
profession.

You might ask ?What is a Corporate Lawyer??

Well, whether you ask or not, I am going to tell you.

A Corporate Lawyer writes those interminable Guarantees that you get
whenever you buy any household gadget. The gadget itself will have
been made in China but the Guarantee will have been printed in a
typeface so small that it can only be read with the aid of a powerful
microscope.

Michael?s job is to ensure that the Guarantee is absolutely worthless.

Those of you who have attempted to make a claim under Guarantee will
be aware that Michael is very, very good at his job.

I have to report that Molly, the lovely bride, is only half-Irish and
this presents a problem for our happy couple whenever they do an Irish
jig.

Whereas Michael can perform with all the aplomb of a Michael Flatley,
poor Molly can only jig around on one leg. Sadly, I understand that
this is an accident of birth that is totally incurable.

Happily, Molly has compensated for her lack of jigability by become a
Human Resource Consultant. Yes a Human Resource Consultant, as opposed
to the Inhuman variety that is far more common these days.

And what does Molly do as a Human Resource Consultant? 

Mainly, Molly is concerned with Outsourcing which is an academic term
for setting up Call Centres in India.

As you may know, all calls to Call Centres are now ?recorded for
training purposes? and - you?ve guessed it - all those records go to
Molly, whose job is to listen to them and advise.

Most Indians in Call Centres have degrees and they speak impeccable
English and it?s Molly?s job to teach them to talk like Indians are
supposed to talk and to act stupid. The idea being of course is to
keep the Callers on the line for as long as possible.

I am sure that most of you can vouch from personal experience that
Molly is eminently successful in her work.

And now these two young professionals are joined together as a couple
and I would ask you to raise your glasses of Guinness, Irish Whisky or
Baileys and join me in the toast ?The Bride and Groom?.

The Bride and Groom.

(Sound of drinking.)

(Prolonged applause.)

Wow Bryan, I wish you were at my wedding... 

I am awaiting for the client's clarifications on these two matters,
before I proceeed. I would be rude to start otherwise, would it?

Wow PG I would have been/would be honoured and delighted to attend
your own wedding. All you have to do is ask!

I rather suspect that whyru is hoping that you will honour and delight
the Bride and Groom (as well as him/herself) by attending the upcoming
event in London.

If so, please let me know the Date, Time and Venue.

I shall be visiting the Astral Plane around midnight tonight (GMT) so
I can meet you at the usual place (Salon Kitty's) if this is OK.

Auf wiedersehen

Bryan

Hi Whyru

The additional info is really useful.

I will now let the talented Polly (Politicalguru) piece all the bits
together and dazzle you with her ideas for your speech.

Good Luck!

Bryan

Hi Whyru

Polly (Politicalguru) is the lady who deserves all the credit because
I only chipped in to help.

If I helped a little then that's good enough for me.

Hope that you've now got enough to sail through the toast.

All the Best

Bryan

Wow, whyru, Many thanks!

I am so pleased to have contributed.

My favourite charity is Macmillan Cancer Relief:

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/

I am sure that they will appreciate your generosity.

Should you wish you can attribute your gift to 'Bryan C of Hove'.

All the Very Best & Have a Great Time in South Africa in December.

Bryan

(My Mother's Father was Irish.)

Bryan, Congratulations!  
I have been wondering all along if your comment was the result of
being the experienced father of the bride or whether you are still
practicing for the occasion.  Let it stay a secret.
Regards, Myo