New Year's Eve · The host · Warm · under a minute
Midnight Toast at a New Year's Eve Wedding (Under 45 Sec)
The bride's father had the job of the midnight toast at his daughter's December 31 wedding. He had three minutes before the DJ's countdown and wanted one line about her, one about the guests, and then out of the way.
Given by Duncan, father of the bride at a New Year's Eve wedding. 92 words. The names are made up.
The toast
Everybody, find a glass. We have about two minutes.
When Romy was six, she announced she was staying up for midnight. She had a paper hat and a kazoo, and she sat on the stairs to wait. At twenty to twelve I found her asleep, still holding the kazoo.
She tried every year after that. The kazoo usually made it further than she did.
Tonight she's wide awake, and she's married to Navid. Thank you all for spending this night with us.
Glasses up. To Romy and Navid, and to staying up.
Why it works: The kazoo is a childhood New Year's story that makes tonight's midnight feel earned, and it takes about fifteen seconds to tell. The thank-you to the room is one sentence, and the last line hands the night back to the DJ with time to spare.
Make it yours
Borrow the shape, not the lines. Put your own people, your own year and your own detail in each spot, or answer a few questions and get a first draft built from them.