Social Etiquette Tip of the Week - Toasting Etiquette and Protocol

[Maria Brady]

As a wedding planner I get to attend many weddings and I am constantly reminded of how little most people know about the proper etiquette of a toast.

Offering a toast is a fabulous way to show gratitude, praise, or admiration to someone special. That person may be the guest of honor at a celebration or a business function, a guest in your home, or your host at a dinner party. Below are some accepted forms of behavior when giving or receiving a toast.

Unless it is a very small informal group, maybe six people at a restaurant, you should always stand when offering a toast. Standing will help you to get the attention of the group while quieting them down. NEVER hit your glass with a utensil as this is inappropriate and a severe breach of etiquette.

While speaking hold your glass at chest level or sit it on the table.

Clearly define the end of the toast by raising your glass to eye level and, while making eye contact with the honoree, ask your audience to raise their glasses.

Etiquette calls for all to participate in a toast. Even nondrinkers should at least raise the glass to their lips and place it back down on the table without drinking.

Never offer a toast to the guest of honor until the host has had the opportunity to do so. If it appears the host has no plan of offering a toast, you may ask the host's permission to do so yourself.

Never drink a toast, or stand, when it's being offered to you as that’s like saying ‘hooray for me’. However, the etiquette of receiving a toast includes returning the toast. Immediately after the toast to you has been completed, you should stand up, raise your glass and return the toast with a very short “thank- you” and then proceed to take a sip.

Also, is not considered customary to applaud toasts.

So why is it called a toast? The term comes from a Roman custom of dropping a piece of burnt bread into their cheap wine to reduce the acidity before drinking an offering to the emperor as was required by law. Eventually the piece of burnt bread (toast) gave its name to the practice of making the offering.

[Val Filipski]

Does the charcoal from the burning remove the bad taste of cheap wine? If so, I am all for selling LOAVES of bread next to the Ripple :>)
I didn't know I was going to learn etiquette when I joined WQ online. Thank you for a great gem!

[mary ann Rihm-Swinson]

Looking forward to hearing more etiquette advice as we seem to be lacking in that regard. No one wants to look like a fool in public. Hopefully we can look forward to more help with the social graces!

[Elizabeth Bell]

This is a great article. Everyone could benefit from it. Cheers to Maria Brady!