Hi kurtg,
Congratulations to the couple, and to you, you lucky dog, you get to
make the toasts! :-) I'm going to provide a smorgasbord (following the
after-dinner theme) of options, as obviously, I don't know your
relationship with the bride and groom, or whether you're more
comfortable with funny, sentimental, or straight-ahead-type toasts.
Second, this is obvious personal preference. I supplied some toasts
that *I* personally wouldn't mind giving, but my recommendation is you
go straight to the linked source and find something *you're* going to
be comfortable with giving...
First, here's some overall tips on toasting, that you might find
useful...
"Tips For the Perfect Toast: If you'll be proposing a wedding toast,
be sure to: 1) stand to deliver your toast, 2) maintain eye contact
with the bride and groom as you deliver the toast, 3) keep the toast
between 3 to 5 minutes long so you won't lose your audience, and 4)
use personal anecdotes to spice up the toast. Feel free to use humor,
but end the toast on a serious note."
from http://www.blissweddings.com/articles/art042.asp
I liked the "blissedweedings.com" site quite a bit. One of its more
unique features is a free "Toast Generator" that allows you to build
your own toast, selecting from "serious" to "funny" phrases. Try it
at...
http://www.blissweddings.com/library/toast_generator.asp
They also have some toasts ranging (in my opinion) from strange (using
toliet paper as a prop?) to nice at...
http://www.blissweddings.com/library/toasts2.asp
A good grouping of love/marriage toasts is at the about.com site...
http://cocktails.about.com/library/bllove.htm
The WeddingBells.com site also provides a listing of "classic" toasts
at...
http://www.weddingbells.com/toast/classic.html
...you can pretty much ignore the "from <blah> to <blah>" or "before
wedding" "after wedding" notations. Almost any of those toasts could
be adapted by anyone for anyone.
I also liked a group of toasts I found at...
http://www.smartmarriages.com/marriage.quotes.html#wedding.toasts
...especially this one...
"...We can all see that youre madly in love. Thats definitely the
first
challenge - to find someone with whom you want to spend the rest of
your life. But the trick and challenge I want to propose to you is
that you set out
with the goal of falling a little more in love every day. So that by
the time
youre eighty youre so in love that you wobble when you walk..."
There's also a nice one there, supposedly adapted from an Apache
Blessing.
Finally, returning to weddingbliss.com, if the couple and/or
acquaintances happen to be fans of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show",
you might want to try the idea given here, IF you're sure everyone
involved will a sense of humor.
http://www.blissweddings.com/community/toasttips.asp
regards,
rico |