No couple could possibly omit the wedding toast from their cinematic wedding film! Wedding toasts are there to remind the bride and groom of their love and the beautiful moments that lie ahead.
As filmographers and videographers, we love to capture the wedding toast. It gives us an insight into the couple and helps us understand what brought them together. When we edit the wedding film to create the final piece, we always include the wedding toast and the effect it has on everyone. Alongside the wedding ceremony and the exchange of vows, it is one of the most significant and emotional moments of a wedding.
We have listened to hundreds if not thousands of wedding toasts. Do you know what moves us every time? The authentic, honest and genuine love that emanates from a heartfelt toast. Whether it’s the best man, the brother of the bride, or a close friend, their wedding toasts are testimony to the newlyweds’ love and dedication to each other.
A wedding toast congratulates a couple and wishes them happiness in their common future. However, writing a wedding toast can be a daunting task indeed. So, if you have been asked to deliver one, follow these tips to write the perfect one!
When Writing a Wedding Toast, Be Genuine
Before embarking on wedding toast writing, think of who you are and how you relate to the couple. Remind yourself of how you met the couple, the bride, or the groom, and how this relationship has evolved.
Include your own feelings about the couple and be as genuine as possible. Everyone will know whether you are talking from your heart or are just delivering a speech. Be genuine to engage your audience, help them identify with you, and realize what makes this couple special.
Start by Introducing Yourself
A lot of the people at the wedding will probably know you. Some won’t. The easiest way to start your wedding toast is by introducing yourself and explaining your relationship to the couple. After all, you may know part of the audience, but many of the guests might not know who you are. You need to tell them.
So, start by stating your name, explaining how you met the couple or each one of them, and expressing how happy—or anxious—you are to be there giving this speech. Thank the couple for giving you this opportunity to introduce them and wish them a wonderful life together. However, don’t waste time thanking everyone in the room: these are not the Oscars. Your audience doesn’t want to hear you thank your parents, the caterers, or the wedding officiant.
Choose a Theme
Is there a theme that best represents the couple? For example, maybe the bride’s love for animals helped them meet. Or, perhaps, the groom’s appreciation for cooking led them to open their restaurant.
Find the common theme that permeates their relationship and build your speech around that. It will give you a principal subject to run through your wedding toast.
Follow a Tone
To strike the right tone for your wedding toast, follow your heart. Are you the sentimental type or the entertaining one? Whichever tone works best for you, grab it and write your speech in that tone. Funny, emotional, sentimental, romantic, joyful, or sweet: there is no right and wrong tone. Write your wedding toast from your own perspective and it will flow seamlessly.
Wedding Toast Jokes
Most audiences expect jokes. Everyone uses them in their wedding toast. Your audience wants to hear the unexpected, the funny, the emotional, and even the embarrassing. They want to get a gentle inside peek into the couple.
As a close friend or relative who has been asked to deliver the wedding toast, you will probably have many funny anecdotes about the couple or either of them. You can include a couple of jokes, as long as they are not naughty: remember that your audience includes the elderly and children.
Whether it’s a weekend you all spent in a cabin without electricity in the middle of a blizzard or a holiday that turned into a nightmare (which, with hindsight, was funny), gently weave your jokes into your theme. You’re not a standup comedian, so don’t place too much emphasis on the jokes. Make them effortless and don’t try to make people laugh uncontrollably.
You Write for the Bride and Groom
It doesn’t matter if you have been best friends with the groom since he was in diapers or that the bride is your closest friend from kindergarten. The wedding toast is not about you. When writing your wedding toast, you are highlighting how they work as a couple.
You can briefly mention your relationship to either or both of them at the beginning of your wedding toast. However, this should not be the focus of your toast. Include anecdotes and mention both of them, concentrating on their relationship to each other—not you.
Be Brief
By the time you give the wedding toast, people have already been at the ceremony and have waited for the photos to be taken. They have probably been sitting for a while, are getting tired, and will lack the attention span to listen to a long-winded, rambling wedding toast.
To capture your audience’s attention while also showing your affection and care for the couple, prepare a wedding toast that lasts between 3 to 5 minutes at the most.
You will be surprised at how fast this goes. Once you start jotting down ideas, you will probably end up with a much longer wedding toast. Cut it down to the essential, funny, and heartwarming parts. Include just a few memorable moments to show how they care for each other.
Stay Positive and Happy
You have been chosen because you care about the couple and their happiness. Your wedding toast should reflect that.
Even if you are going through an introspective phase that questions everything about love, life, and the world, your wedding toast should be positive, happy, and forward-looking. Nobody wants to listen about the difficulties that lie ahead or how couples divorce, even if it is to say that this particular couple never will. Keep your toast light, heartfelt, and simple.
Raise Your Glass
At the end of your toast, thank the couple for choosing you to give the wedding toast, raise your glass, and congratulate them for their dedication to each other. Create a happy memory for the couple and a celebration of their relationship.
As for us, we will be there to film your wedding toast and make sure it fits snuggly into our amazing wedding film.
To give yourself a cinematic wedding film you will enjoy for years to come, check our availability online or call now 832-536-1897. We film weddings in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, New Braunfels, and San Antonio, Texas, as well as destination weddings all over the world.
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