Wedding
Toasts and Your Master of Ceremony
The order of the wedding toasts varies from wedding
to wedding. Remind everyone that 
will
be making a speech at your wedding
of their responsibility about a month before the wedding
date. This will give them enough time to get their thoughts together.
Let them know that you would like the speeches to be both respectful
and no more than 5 minutes long. Toasts should be short, witty,
even sentimental, but people loose interest if speeches
go on much longer than 5 minutes each.
Usually, the first wedding toast
is done by the Best Man, then the Groom, then the Bride, the Maid
of Honor, followed by the Bride's parents, the Groom's parents,
and then any other guests. The Master of Ceremonies, also known
as the MC, is to introduce each of the wedding toasters.
Make sure the MC has a list of people wishing to make a speech
in the order you would like the wedding speeches
to occur. Also include a list of what and when you would like
them to make any announcements. The Master of Ceremony
may do the introduction of the Bride and Groom as they arrive
to the reception, introduce the wedding party
as they arrive or before the toasts begin, help
with announcing dinner, special dances, throwing of the garter
and/or bouquet and/or announce the sendoff of the Bride and Groom
at the 
end
of the evening. Make sure the list they have has the full names
of people being announced and that the MC has the proper pronunciation
of difficult names to read. This way the MC isn't embarrassed
and family members aren't offended.
Your wedding MC should
be someone who is very comfortable with public speaking, motivating
and respectful. Usually a close friend or family member is chosen.
Try not to pick someone who is involved with the wedding.
It will make things too crazy and stressful for them if they have
two roles to fill. Most wedding disc jockeys offer MC services
but you should still choose a MC for special
announcements and for times when the disc jockey isn't there.
Alternative
to Clinking of the Glasses
The tradition at a wedding is to have the wedding
guests clink their glasses to have the Bride
and Groom kiss. Some people find the sound of
clinking glasses a little annoying. Or if you just want to do
something a little different, a couple of alternatives to this
tradition are to have your wedding guests at
a table, stand and sing a song with the word love in it or to
have your guests stand and tell a funny or meaningful story about
the Bride and/or Groom. Both of these options are much more entertaining
and memorable than just clinking of glasses.
