Toasting Flutes – Cheers To The New Bride And Groom

Raising a glass towards someone or something after giving a short anecdote or message and then drinking the content of the glass by sip or in totality is part of honoring someone or somebody. In popular culture this is called a toast.

The purpose of the toast is to send a message of goodwill to the person or persons concerned. And this is especially done with use of a glass called the toasting flutes. The toasts can be observed in many important occasions like a wedding where the bride’s father makes a speech to give his blessing and wish his daughter and son-in-law good tidings as they pursue their married life together. Aside from the bride’s father, the groom, the best man or the bride’s maid are also given the opportunity to speak in many instances.

The toasts can also be done during victory parties or send-off parties. These instances can often be raucous and noisy as the participants are drunk with joy and happiness over their good fortune as well as drunk with liquor. An example of a celebration is the so-called Oktoberfest in Germany where aside from beer, loads of food are consumed. A toast can also be done to honor a dearly departed person, and in these instances the mood is rather on the somber side.

This practice of toasting was started in ancient Greece. In those days to assure that the drink has no poison in it and is safe to drink, the host takes his drink from the common container, raises his glass and is usually the first to drink the content. This shows that the drink is safe and free from poison. Then afterwards the rest of the guest would follow suit and likewise drink because it is now presumed to be safe and free from poison.

There are several etiquettes to follow whenever one finds himself in a toast. One is to look the person directly in the eye while making the toast because this shows sincerity and trust in the person. The other etiquette is to empty the content of the glass after making the toast. Again this shows sincerity and courtesy towards the host. However, in certain toasts which are somewhat political in nature especially during a large convention, some people were observed to be participating in lifting and clinking their toasting flutes but are not inclined to drink its content. According to them this is a form of protest or a subtle form of disagreement to what was just said. Another thing to consider is the touching of glasses. People participating in the toast should touch glasses and failure to do so is considered inappropriate or impolite.

Traditionally, there are three parts in a toast. One of them is the so-called Verbalization, where several people speak and give their blessings, goodwill or congratulations in honoring somebody. The speech may last for a couple of minutes only and in most instances there is a punch line in the end. For the more somber speeches, it may take longer depending on the person speaking. The other part is called the Agreement, where everyone raises their glasses to signify their concurrence to what was said in the verbalization or speech part. By most practices it is courteous to raise the toasting flutes while the speech is being delivered (for short speeches only) before they all together do the agreement or the touching of glasses. The last part is called Imbibing, where everyone participating in the toast either takes a sip or totally consumes the drinks in their glasses in one gulp. The people literally and figuratively take in what was said in the toast.

During weddings the toasting flutes can also have the engraved names of both bride and groom and the date of the wedding to make it more personal and unique.

The most common toasting cheers around the world today include the phrases: Good luck!, Good health!, kanpai! (Japan), salud! (Spanish), prost! (Germany), or cin cin! (Italy). Toasting is a tradition practiced around the world and being sensitive to each other’s cultural preferences especially on the matter of toasting is important to be called civilized and proper.