Rehearsal Dinner Toast Speech – Creating a Masterpiece
Weddings are a time of chaos and insanity. With so much going on, many people often forget details that they normally wouldn’t, even with the best intentions. Often, this can include preparing a rehearsal dinner toast speech. We’re all so focused on the big wedding day speeches that we forget how important the rehearsal dinner can be. The rehearsal dinner is usually made of the couples’ closest friends and family and is a very personal event. So whether you are the engaged couple who would like to ask one of their family members or friends to give a speech, or a family member or friend who wants to give a speech, don’t forget the speeches for the rehearsal dinner.
And for the speech givers, don’t let the stress of feeling like you just don’t know what you will say bring you down, speeches can actually be quite easy to write! And you can have fun while doing it. So fear not if you’re feeling like a chicken with its head cut off or a fish out of water (too many clichés there), because you definitely are not alone. Get out your pen, shake up your creative mind (yes, you have one), and craft the masterpiece you see in your head.
There are a few options that lie before you in the rehearsal dinner toast speech category. If you want to knock your speech out in record time, consider doing a little web surfing and finding one that’s already been written for you. For many, this can provide a solid foundation to start with and allow you to tweak it here and there to suit your fancy and your style. With a little tweaking and very little time, you can have a perfect speech prepared in no time flat. After all, most wedding speeches follow the same guidelines so this quick and easy method is quite popular!
Once you have your speech ready to go, consider having a run through of your rehearsal dinner toast speech. At dinner some night with your wife, your sister, your roommate, your mother, anyone – cling your spoon to your glass and announce you would like a make a toast, then lift your glass and “spit it out.” You’ll be more relaxed when it’s the real deal if you’ve practiced it a couple times on “real people,” not just in front of the mirror. Speeches should be warmhearted and funny, but also consider the newlyweds personalities – the more personal your speech is, the better! Reminisce with a story – storytelling about either the bride or the groom or about them together as a couple will surely put smiles on the faces, or “oohs and aahs” on the lips, of the guests.
Another big part of the rehearsal dinner toast speech is to consider how long it should be. If it’s too long you may lose the interest of your audience unless you have a natural gift for entertainment. They’ll be waiting for you to stop gabbing so they can get back to the party. If it’s too short, they’ll feel like it was cut-off and wonder what your point was. As a rule of thumb, your great speech need only be about two minutes long. This is plenty of storytelling time to get out the details out you want to elaborate on but still touch on other things that may come to mind as you start talking.
Again, don’t feel like you have to do this from scratch. I mean if you don’t consider yourself a natural writer, comedian or entertainer, then seeking help is the smart thing to do! Finding words from another source and then building on those words with personal touches is the way most of us handle these moments. There are many rehearsal dinner toast speech ideas out there, but one of my favorite resources is Instant Wedding Toasts. Their team of professional speechwriters has composed a comprehensive collection of speeches for a wedding, and when looking for a Rehearsal Dinner Toast Speech, you will find these ideas under two of their categories – the one called “Family & Friends” and “The Complete Wedding Speech Package” is the other. Plus any of the speeches are easily changeable to accommodate the situation of speaking at the Rehearsal Dinner.
The main thing is to speak from your heart; if you do that it will be a wonderful speech for sure!
By Cheryl Cox, Editor of YourWeddingDollars.com, See “Note from the Editor” for more information on Cheryl and her credentials.