Vietnamese Wedding Toasts: Cheers, Speeches, and Customs

Who speaks, and when

• A master of ceremonies opens the reception with a formal introduction of the couple and both families, and the parents speak briefly.
• The couple, with their parents, toasts every table. That is the toasting.
• Friends rarely give speeches; friends sing, and the hall may have a stage for it.

How long

A parent's speech is a minute or two. The table toasts are 'một, hai, ba, dô' and a wish. A hall of fifty tables takes time.

What you’ll see

• 'Một, hai, ba, dô!' is the countdown and the cheer, shouted at every toast and every table.
• The engagement and the wedding each have a procession of the groom's family bringing gifts in red boxes to the bride's home.
• The tea ceremony with the ancestors' altar and the parents is the heart of the wedding day.
• Money in red envelopes, given at a reception table where it is recorded, often with a lucky number.
• The bride often wears a red áo dài for the ceremony and a white dress for the reception.

If you’re the guest from somewhere else

• Learn the countdown. You will be expected to shout the 'dô.'
• Bring a red envelope; the amount should at least cover your meal and more for close friends.
• When the couple reaches your table, stand and raise the glass. Say 'trăm năm hạnh phúc.'

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.

Linh once drove across Hanoi at midnight to bring me soup when I was sick, then stayed to make sure I ate it. Nam, she will never let you be hungry or alone. A hundred years of happiness. Trăm năm hạnh phúc. Một, hai, ba, dô!