Life Is A Celebration

Grace Kelly Poster

MaryCatherine always says, "if you don't make it special no one else will either."  Toasts aren't just for weddings.  Make your entertaining much more special by doing toasts.   Champagne toasts are fun and festive.  But toasts can be done with anything, including non-alcoholic beverages.  But I still love this vintage poster featuring the stylish and refined Grace Kelly.

Set the tone and create the mood for a fabulous get-together at your home with a "welcome toast".   Make your guest of honor feel special with a heartfelt toast at the dessert course.   If your guest of honor is marvelously well-mannered they will do a "reciprocal toast" where they thank you for your hospitality.  

But public speaking often scares people - even when it is in front of friends and family.   We all have witnessed (and possibly given) toasts that have bombed.  To help avoid that in the future, remember the golden rule for toasts - begin, be brief, then be seated.  (One should stand if you are toasting at a table larger than 8).    Look at the people you are with - not at your glass - when giving a toast.

What to say?  It takes a lot of effort to make something look effortless, including giving a marvelous toast.  At the very least, and contrary to some of the sophomoric and tasteless best-man toasts many of us have witnessed, please keep it tasteful.

So do some thinking, make it personal, and it is perfectly appropriate to get some help and inspiration.   I have always liked the following poem as part of a toast:

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

What was the best toast you remember giving, receiving or witnessing?