having toasts?
Are you having speeches and toasts at your wedding? Does the thought fill you with dread or is it going to be one of the highlights of your whole day?
if you do have speeches, you’re probably having toasts. Drinking toasts that is. Not the kind you put butter on. But I know you know that. You’re in the wedding mindset so you know which toasts we’re talking about. AmI right?
One of my brides emailed me yesterday to ask how much she needs to plan for her wedding toasts. So in this post we’re going to look at some of the questions you might have about toasting drinks including what to serve, when, how and crucially, how much. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
when do you serve toasting drinks?
Traditionally it’s at the end of the wedding breakfast, after dessert. Doesn’t have to be. You can have toasts during the drinks reception or before the start of the wedding breakfast.
Often the timing of the toasts is to do with the timing of the speeches. If you’ve got nervous speech makers who want to get their wedding speech over with, they might not want to wait til after dessert.
I’ll talk about speech timings in another post but for now, let’s get back to the toasts themselves – the bit that happens immediately after the speeches.
Do I need to provide drinks for toasts?
We’re used to thinking wedding toasts are always made with bubbles. Either champagne or Prosecco or some other sparkling wine. Can do. Personally I never turn down a glass of proper champagne. But you don’t have to.
You can definitely get guests to raise the glass they’ve already got. So no need for separate drinks to be served. You might have some guests who don’t drink at all, you might have guests who don’t like fizz (who even are those people?). Depends how traditional you wanna be. A speechmaker can definitely stand up and say, ‘Raise your glasses!’ and your guests will just pick up whatever glass they have – job done. Easy peasy.
So the answer is, no you don’t necessarily have to provide separate drinks for toasts.
do I need more glasses for toasting?
If you decide to serve a separate toasting drink then you might need to provide guests with another glass. Some couples have the toasting drink as the wedding favour, I’ve seen limoncello or other liqueur. Up side, you don’t usually need an extra glass for those drinks, most guests will drink from a tiny bottle. Downside? Not everyone will drink hard liquor so some guests may not toast. They’ll use whatever drink they do have. You know your guests.
If you’re having bubbles for toasting then yes, you’ll need more glasses. Flutes for fizz. If you’re getting married here, we take care of that for you – we provide the glasses and will also pour the toasts at the right time.
when are the toasting drinks poured?
That depends on when you’re having the toasts. If you’re having them before the food is served then we make sure the toasts are poured and each guest has a glass with their place setting when they take their seat.
If you’re having toasts after dessert then we time the pouring so that they’re all ready to go when the first speaker stands up to make their speech. Sure you might get the odd thirsty guest who’ll take a sip before they should (guests! <rolleyes>) but most guests will know they’re for speeches and will wait til they’re asked to raise their glasses.
do we need to refill toasting glasses?
If you spread your speeches out so you’ve got some before the food and some at the end, what if guests drink all their toast? Don’t worry about it. They’ll toast with whatever drink(s) they’ve got left in front of them. We don’t refill glasses between speeches, you just need to provide one and guests will take care of the rest. Most guests know toasts are for toasting when they’re asked to do that, they’re not for general guzzling down.
How many bottles do we need for a toast?
Standard size wine, champagne & Prosecco are 750cl in a bottle. We expect to get 6 glasses out of 1 bottle. Our crystal flute glasses are very tall so we typically fill them about half full which is definitely enough for a toast or two.
So here’s a little ready reckoner for you:
50 guests = 10 bottles
60 guests = 11 bottles
70 guests = 13 bottles
80 guests = 15 bottles
90 guests = 16 bottles
100 guests = 18 bottles
You can also find more info about wedding drinks elsewhere here on the blog. You can also download our edible flowers drinks suggestions right here.
If you want more help with quantities, Majestic have a handy calculator you might find useful.
Cheers!
