Sarasota Wedding Planner

As a wedding planner I get to attend many weddings and I am constantly reminded of how little most people know about the proper etiquette of a toast. 

Offering a toast is a fabulous way to show gratitude, praise, or admiration to someone special.  That person may be the guest of honor at a celebration or a business function, a guest in your home, or your host at a dinner party. Below are some accepted forms of behavior when giving or receiving a toast.

You should always stand when offering a toast.  Standing will help you to get the attention of the group while quieting them down.  NEVER hit your glass with a utensil as this is inappropriate and a severe breach of etiquette.

While speaking hold your glass at chest level or sit it on the table.

Clearly define the end of the toast by raising your glass to eye level and, while making eye contact with the guest(s) of honor, ask your audience to raise their glasses.

Etiquette calls for all to participate in a toast.  Even nondrinkers should raise the glass to their lips and place it back down on the table without drinking.

Never offer a toast to the guest of honor until the host has had the opportunity to do so.  If it appears the host has no plan of offering a toast, you may ask the host’s permission to do so yourself.

Also, is not considered customary to applaud toasts.

So why is it called a toast?  The term comes from a Roman custom of dropping a piece of burnt bread into their cheap wine to reduce the acidity before drinking an offering to the emperor as was required by law.  Eventually the piece of burnt bread (toast) gave its name to the practice of making the offering.