How do you say cheers at a Jewish and Israeli wedding?

L'chaim (leh-KHY-eem), meaning "To life." The toast to the couple is "Mazel tov!" (MAH-zel tov), which means "Good luck, congratulations, shouted as the glass breaks."

Who gives speeches at a Jewish and Israeli wedding?

At the ceremony, the sheva brachot, seven blessings, are read, often by honored friends and relatives, one blessing each. At the reception, parents and close friends give toasts. Speeches are common and often warm and funny, in the American or British style, depending on the family. The week after, at sheva brachot dinners, friends host the couple and more blessings and toasts are given.

Mediterranean and Middle East · Hebrew

Jewish and Israeli Wedding Toasts: Cheers, Speeches, and Customs

A glass breaks, the room shouts, and the dancing lifts the couple on chairs.

Raise a glass

L'chaim

leh-KHY-eem · To life

To the couple

Mazel tov!

MAH-zel tov · Good luck, congratulations, shouted as the glass breaks

Who speaks, and when

At the ceremony, the sheva brachot, seven blessings, are read, often by honored friends and relatives, one blessing each.
At the reception, parents and close friends give toasts. Speeches are common and often warm and funny, in the American or British style, depending on the family.
The week after, at sheva brachot dinners, friends host the couple and more blessings and toasts are given.

How long

Reception toasts run two to four minutes. The blessings are set texts. The dancing, which is the center of the evening, waits for no one.

What you’ll see

The groom, and often the bride, breaks a glass under foot at the end of the ceremony, and the room shouts 'Mazel tov!'
The hora: guests dance in circles and lift the couple on chairs above the crowd, each holding an end of a napkin.
The ketubah, the marriage contract, is signed and read aloud, and often framed as art.
The couple may spend their first minutes married alone together, the yichud, before joining the party.
'L'chaim' is the toast, raised with wine, and 'mazel tov' is said to the couple and their parents by everyone.

If you’re the guest from somewhere else

Shout 'mazel tov' when the glass breaks. It is the loudest moment of the day.
Get into the hora circle. You will be pulled in anyway.
If you are asked to read a blessing, practice it. They are short but they matter.

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.

Noa is the person who remembers everyone's birthday and makes it look effortless. Ari, you will never miss one again. To the two of you, to your families, and to a long life together. L'chaim!

Speaking at a Jewish and Israeli 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.

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