Congratulating the bride and groom, and assorted other wedding party members, is a traditional part of most wedding ceremonies, so being called upon to give a wedding toast speech is quite an honor.

Many modern couples have dispensed with the formal wedding speeches in favor of a more casual wedding toast speech to the bride and groom, to which the groom or the bride and groom respond. Other couples opt for a master of ceremonies, who leads each party into their toast.

If the thought of giving a wedding speech makes you cringe, or worse still, makes you break out in a cold sweat, take heart, we've got a collection of ideas and hints, as well as an immediate problem solver, which my just help you get through it.

Best Man Wedding Toasts

The best man offers his congratulations to the bride and groom, and then toasts to their health and happiness.

It's generally a good idea to start by introducing yourself, maybe by way of a story about how you came to know the groom (or bride) or how you came to be the best man. Some helpful ideas for what you can say to personalize your wedding toast include:

• How did the bride and groom meet? Were you involved?

• How long have the bride and groom been together?

• How did the groom propose to his bride?

• What are the bride and groom's mutual interests?

• What is the funniest moment the bride and groom have shared?

Conclude your best man wedding toast by offering a resounding "Congratulations" with a wish or blessing for the future of the happy couple.

Groom's Wedding Toast

The groom usually responds on behalf of the happy couple once the best man has given his speech. It's traditional that the groom thanks the bride's parents (particularly if they paid for the reception), the best man and bridesmaids, then offers a toast to his beautiful new wife.

Once again, try to personalize your toast by including a memorable story the two of you have shared - how you met, a funny incident, something that occurred during preparation for the wedding, or a shared pastime.

Bride's Wedding Toast

The bride may choose to respond to the toast from her new husband, in which she thanks the groom's parents then toasts her dashing groom. Alternatively, the groom can lead a toast to the bride's parents, where the father of the bride is called upon to make a wedding toast speech.

Father of the Bride's Speech

The father of the bride gets the opportunity to commiserate over the loss of his daughter and/or congratulate the arrival of a new son. Traditionally it is the job of the father of the bride to officially welcome the groom into the family and to thank the wedding guests for attending.

If you still feel stuck for words, Instant Wedding Toasts have wedding speech templates that take all the hard work out of trying to find inspiration. The semi-customized templates have done all the hard work for you and include tons of full speech examples for the entire wedding party.