Wedding Toast Etiqutte

Rehearsal Dinner Toasts

Often people are so tangled up in thinking about the toasting at the wedding that they completely miss the opportunity for toasts at the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner provides the right time for anyone who is involved in the wedding to share their thoughts with the bride and groom in more relaxed environment.

Also, rehearsal toasts at the rehearsal dinner can be spontaneous and can be longer than wedding-day toasts. Perhaps if you don’t want the pressure of making a wedding a wedding toast you can offer it at the rehearsal dinner because there will be less people there like close friends and relatives.

When are the toasts?

For formal weddings, the toasts are generally given after the meal. If the wedding cake the couple is cutting will also be the desert, the toasts are done following the cutting of the cake. If the cake the couple is cutting is not the cake that is going to be served, the toasts may occur immediately after the meal. For less formal weddings and those that are done on the beach or in the afternoon, toasting is generally done after the couple's first dance as husband and wife. Either way, you should talk to the caterer so that they can plan the timing of the dessert course.

What do the bride and groom do during the toasts?

All that the couple usually does during the toast is sit still and smile. The bride and groom cannot toast to themselves. If you desire to, you should get up and return a toast. Returned toasts, if you can imagine, are even briefer than the original toast to ensure things keep moving along. That is it as far as the wedding couple.