“Let’s raise our glasses and say cheers to the happy couple.” With these words, the crowd breaks out into loud cheer, followed by the clinking of glasses, even as the married couple gets into a celebratory mood at their wedding. This is an age-old tradition at every Catholic wedding. This special honour of welcoming the newly-wed couple is done by the toastmaster. Besides weddings, toasts are also raised at birthdays, anniversaries and baptisms.
Traditionally, toastmasters either belonged to the girl’s or boy’s family. But, with new-age traditions becoming popular, nowadays a toast is raised by a good friend, boss, priest and in special circumstances, an emcee too.
“The toastmaster, who happened to be the groom’s boss, was so late, that I was asked to raise the toast. Once he arrived, he raised the toast again. After all, you cannot say no to your boss; your increment depends on it,” jokes Savio D'Sa, emcee and director of Celeste Stones Entertainment. On occasions, when he’s asked to raise a toast, D’Sa has one rule — use lots of humour and sarcasm. “It should have a fun factor, revealing subtly embarrassing information about the couple,” he says.
Humour finds a place in many a toast in the form of oft-repeated jokes and one-liners on marriage. A common joke is, ‘Marriage involves three rings — engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering.’ Anotherinvolves the groom putting his hand on the bride’s shoulder, accompanied by the line, ‘it’s the last time you will get the upper hand’.
A toast follows two basic rules — introducing the couple and giving them marriage advice. And, the line between a great toast and a boring one depends entirely on the person chosen.
Prof Rosily Thomas, a communication skills teacher at VJTI, does not believe in reading out a toast. “It should be spontaneous and from the heart,” she says. Thomas prefers raising toasts only for known people so that she can add a personal touch. “I usually introduce the couple, speak about their qualities and then give them advice,” she says.
Musician Kieran Athaide has raised toasts only for close friends. He speaks to his friends before the wedding to ask what points should be covered, and then goes ahead. “My toasts have no unnecessary stories and introductions of the couple,” he says, adding that he talks for no more than four minutes. Short and sweet is his mantra, “After all, you are toasting a couples’ good health and bright future, not giving a speech.”
Some unique toasting innovations include giving a PowerPoint presentation on the couple, filled with childhood pictures. There are also occasions where one person from the bride’s and one fromthe groom’s side come together for a joint toast. Hilarious situations may arise when the toastmaster is nervous and spills champagne or gets entangled in wires.
This wedding season, look out for the toastmasters, the people who add that special flavour to every wedding.
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