Maid of Honor Toast: How to write it

Writing a Maid of Honor toast is a lot different from writing a speech. Generally a Maid of Honor toast is only about one to two minutes tops, while a speech would be more like five minutes. If you're at all unsure which the Bride would like you to present, ask her! You don't want the Bride to be surprised during the wedding reception!

While the Maid of Honor speech structure tends to vary more widely, a toast has three distinct elements: the welcome, a personal anecdote, and happy wishes for the Bride and Groom.

Maid of Honor Toast: the Welcome

The first element of a Maid of Honor toast is the welcome. It's a time for the Maid of Honor to greet the wedding guests and welcome them to the reception. As a vital part of the wedding party, the Maid of Honor is in part a hostess of the wedding and should act accordingly. As part of the toast, you could express how happy you are to be part of the wedding. Or you could briefly mention some of the locations from which guests traveled to the wedding, thereby "inviting" everyone in for your Maid of Honor toast.

Maid of Honor Toast: Personal Anecdote

The personal anecdote is the meat of the Maid of Honor toast. Keep in mind, however, that unlike the Maid of Honor speech, the toast is designed to be a brief expression of good will toward the Bride and Groom. You should keep it short and sweet.

For the personal anecdote, try to include the Bride and Groom if possible. The wedding day is about both of them, and there's nothing worse than hearing the Best Man spend ten minutes telling drinking stories about the Groom! So, for example, the Maid of Honor could explain how she first met the Groom, how the Bride first told her about the Groom, or fun she's had with both the Bride and Groom together.

If you don't really know the Groom all that well, tell a story about the Bride and use it to explain why she'll be happy with the Groom. For instance, you could talk about the Bride's love of the outdoors and how she will have many happy hiking trips with the Groom. As a rule of thumb, the Maid of Honor should try to tie in both the Bride and Groom into the toast.

Maid of Honor Toast: the Wish

As the "toast" part of Maid of Honor toast implies, the final element is a wishing of good things to come for the Bride and Groom after which guests will raise their glasses and toast. The wish part of the Maid of Honor toast could simply be for a long happy life. It could also be more specific, like many Sunday mornings spent drinking coffee together, or much happiness as the Bride and Groom travel the world together. Feel free to personalize your wish as much as you want.

At the very end of the Maid of Honor toast, be sure to make a gesture indicating clearly that it's time to toast! At the end, the Maid of Honor should raise her glass toward the Bride and Groom, and perhaps say, "Cheers," or "Salud," to indicate that her toast is complete and everyone should clink and drink.

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