Spanish Wedding Toasts: Cheers, Speeches, and Customs

Who speaks, and when

• Formal speeches are not the tradition. The padrinos, usually the groom's mother and the bride's father, have a role in the ceremony rather than at the microphone.
• Friends often take the microphone for something short and funny, or a video, during the long meal.
• The couple may thank everyone, briefly, before the cake or the first dance.

How long

A sentence and a glass. If a friend speaks, two minutes is long. The celebration runs until the early morning and no one is waiting on speeches.

What you’ll see

• '¡Vivan los novios!' is called out by anyone, at any time, and the room answers '¡Vivan!'
• The groom's friends may cut his tie into pieces and sell them to guests; the bride's friends do the same with her garter. The money goes to the couple.
• Thirteen gold coins, the arras, pass between the couple during the ceremony as a promise to share what they have.
• Dinner starts late and goes on for hours. Dancing starts later still, and the 'recena' at two in the morning is a second meal.
• In some regions guests throw rice or flower petals as the couple leaves the church.

If you’re the guest from somewhere else

• Eat before you arrive if the invitation says eight. Dinner may not start until ten.
• Learn '¡Vivan los novios!' and the answer, '¡Vivan!' You will be asked to join in.
• A toast is welcome. A speech is a surprise. Keep it to a few sentences.

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.

I came a long way for this and I would come twice as far. Carmen and Diego, you make it look easy, and everyone here knows it is not. Salud, and ¡vivan los novios!