The traditional toasts at the reception following the wedding are an essential part of every wedding celebration. You will find many different versions of the “traditional” order for toasts in any Internet search for wedding toasts. What follows here is what occurred at a wedding I have been attending from some years ago until now. It made such an impression on me that, since them, I have recommended this to many couples.
Although no one knows for sure, toasts are believed to have originated from an old custom of poisoning one's enemy by slipping poison into their glass of wine.
With an evil smile, such hosts would toast to the health and happiness of the guest, only to watch their demise. But honorable hosts began showing their good intentions by pouring from a common pitcher and sipping the wine first. Then a toast was offered to the health and happiness of his guest...with true intentions!
Toasting also has a long history through many cultures. Offering a toast was deemed a gesture of good faith, but also had its twists. As history reveals, toasting started with the ancient Greeks who had a strange and often deadly habit of spiking the ale with a poison. It is said that by clinking the glasses together after the toast, you could slosh the poison that another may have put into your glass of ale, back into their glass. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
The term toasting comes from the Roman practice of putting a piece of burnt bread (toast) into a goblet of wine to mellow the sometimes harsh flavor. On the other hand; in Old England, a piece of toast was placed in the bottom of your glass to soak up the residue as a result of the heavy sediments in the bottom of the bottle.
Clinking of the glasses has many theories of its own. The most common belief is that the bell-like sound of clinking glasses was thought to drive the devil and other evil spirits out of the wine or champagne, making it safe to drink. As previously stated, another theory was to slosh poison from ones glass into another’s. Clinking could have also come around as a way to make contact since we no longer all drink from the same bowl or goblet.
Eventually this evolved into today's wedding toasts that offer congratulations and best wishes to the Bride and Groom. Yet even that simple toast of congratulations and best wishes has become less than a 5 minute speech, including other things such as stories from the Groom's past and thanks to the wedding attendants, guests, and parents for helping to make the day a success.
History of the Wedding Toasts Tradition
