Toasts are an integral part of almost every wedding and, depending on how they are delivered, are often remembered long into the future by the happy couple. With many speeches likely to be delivered at a wedding, Emma Cullen, Creative Content Producer at the online, interactive presentation platform, Mentimeter, provides expert tips on you can make your toast unique.
Make the speeches spontaneous
While traditionally, just one or two individuals give a speech on the big day, an alternative and more unique way to hold your wedding toast may be to provide the opportunity for anyone to stand up and speak. Giving all guests the chance say a few words, helps prevent the toasts from becoming too regimented or formal. It also avoids placing pressure on just a few individuals and enables all guests to feel included in the celebration, with the added benefit of providing the bride and groom with the opportunity to hear an array of heartfelt messages and thoughts.
Perform your toast
If you want to ensure that your wedding speech stands out, consider choosing a less traditional format when you deliver the speech. Think creatively, if you are a good singer, then perhaps you should deliver your speech as a song to the happy couple, or even as a poem. Alternatively, if you want to speak, you could consider creating a video accompaniment to your speech. This could be a compilation of clips of the bride and groom, or perhaps messages from people unable to attend the wedding. Not only is this a nice visual for the audience, if you are nervous about delivering a speech, it can help to take the spotlight off you.
Make your speech interactive
A good way to ensure that your speech is like no other, is to incorporate interactive elements into the speech. If you are already planning to deliver a presentation, then consider using a tool such as as Mentimeter, an interactive presentation platform, which enables you to add features such as multiple choice questions, quizzes and polls in to your presentation. You can use this to pose questions to audience members about the bride and groom, and encourage them to interact with the content of your speech, obtaining their answers to your questions and polls in real time, as they vote on their smartphones. Making your speech interactive creates a unique experience for all of the wedding guests, and you can even export the results of the quizzes and polls and share this with guests as a fun momento.
Include props
If you want to deliver a unique speech but are unsure how, then it can be a good idea to incorporate props into your toast. This can be anything from pictures, to items that bring back memories to the 
couple. The addition of a good prop can help to enhance your speech, making it funnier or perhaps more sentimental for the audience and the bride and groom. This is also a good tactic if you are nervous, as props can act as a great ice breaker and gives you something to do with your hands as you speak.
Personalise your toasting drink
When you finish your speech, it is of course customary for the audience to toast the happy couple; however, rather than sticking to the traditional drink of champagne, consider opting for something a little more personalised. Instead you could offer guests a cocktail that has some significance to the bride and groom, perhaps it was their first drink together, or reminds them of a special occasion. Alternatively you could consider giving all guests a mini shot of the bride and groom’s favourite liquor or spirit.
Mentimeter (www.mentimeter.com) is a free-to-use, online platform that allows real-time interaction between presenters and their audiences: making meetings enjoyable, engaging, and more productive. Founded in Stockholm in 2014, and recognised by The Next Webin 2018 as the fastest-growing startup in Sweden (with over 20 million people in 100 countries having already benefited from its innovations to date), Mentimeter enables speakers at lectures, corporate events, workshops, and other formal and informal meeting types, to truly engage with their audiences by providing them with easy-to-use tools, such as polls, quizzes, word clouds, multiple choice questions, to make presentations interactive.
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