Eastern Europe · Czech
Czech Wedding Toasts: Cheers, Speeches, and Customs
A broken plate to sweep, a soup to share from one bowl, and a log to saw.
Raise a glass
Na zdraví
nah ZDRAH-vee · To health
To the couple
Ať žijí novomanželé!
at ZHEE-yee NO-vo-man-zheh-leh · Long live the newlyweds
Who speaks, and when
- A parent or the witnesses open with a short toast. There is no long speech tradition.
- A friend may read a poem or run a game. The couple thanks the guests at the cake.
- Most of the talking is the room shouting 'Ať žijí novomanželé!'
How long
A sentence and a glass. Two minutes is a long toast. The games and the dancing are the evening.
What you’ll see
- A plate is smashed at the couple's feet and they sweep up the pieces together, with a broom and dustpan, while guests make it harder.
- The couple eats soup from a single bowl with one spoon, tied together with a cloth, to show they will share everything.
- A log is sawn in half by the couple with a two-handled saw.
- Friends may kidnap the bride during the evening; the groom pays the bar tab to get her back.
- Guests throw rice, lentils, or coins as the couple leaves the ceremony.
If you’re the guest from somewhere else
- Watch the sweeping. Guests kick the shards back under the broom and it is funnier than it sounds.
- 'Na zdraví' with eye contact, as in much of central Europe.
- A short, warm toast in English fits well. Finish with 'ať žijí novomanželé.'
A toast you could give
Short, warm, specific to the couple, and ending on the phrase. Swap in your own names and your own detail; the shape is what matters.
Tereza beat me at chess the first night we met and has let me win exactly once since, which was my birthday. Jakub, play for fun. To Tereza and Jakub. Na zdraví, a ať žijí novomanželé!
Speaking at a Czech wedding?
Whatever the tradition, the speech that lands has the same bones: one story, a turn, a word to the partner, a toast. The guides have it for every role, and the free check reads your draft and tells you how it lands.