Here’s a sampling of some wonderful quotations that are perfect for use in wedding vows or wedding toasts. 

“The love we give away is the only love we keep.” ~ Elbert Hubbard 1927

“Where love reigns the impossible may be attained.” ~ Indian proverb

“Unable are the loved to die, For Love is Immortality.” ~ Emily Dickinson 1864

“To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still.” ~ William Shakespeare 1600

“All thoughts, all passions, all delights, Whatever stirs this mortal frame, All are ministers of Love, And feed his sacred flame.” ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1799

“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery 1943

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.  It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.  If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” ~ Song of Solomon 8:6-7

If you use a quotation or a Bible verse in your wedding vows, consider copying that verse onto a small die-cut piece of parchment card-stock and attaching them with ribbons to your wedding favors.  This not only gives your guests a wonderful keepsake, but they will also take home a reminder of the vows you shared.

Every good wedding toast includes some borrowed wisdom in the form of a quote. Following are some famous and not-so-famous quotes that you may find helpful when composing your toast.

  *  My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each
      other will so deepen and grow, that years from now you will look back on this
      day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least.

   *  Here’s to the groom, a man who keeps his head though he loses his heart.

   *  May we all live to be present at their Golden Wedding.
       May your love be as endless as your wedding rings.

  *  Let us toast the health of the bride; Let us toast the health of the groom,
      Let us toast the person that tied; Let us toast every guest in the room.
 

  *  To the newlyweds: May “for better or worse” be far better than worse.

  *  “Here’s to marriage, that happy estate that resembles a pair of scissors:
      ’So joined that they cannot be separated, often moving in opposite directions, yet
      punishing anyone who comes between them.” ~ Sydney Smith

  *  It is written:  when children find true love, parents find true joy.  Here’s to your
      joy and ours, from this day forward.

  *  “Seek a happy marriage with wholeness of heart, but do not expect to reach the
      promised land without going through some wilderness together.” ~
      Charlie W. Shedd

  *  “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the
      same direction.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

  *  “There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye
      to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting
      their friends.” ~ Homer

  *  To the lamp of love - may it burn brightest in the darkest hours and never
      flicker in the winds of trial.

  *  “In our life there is a single color, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the
      meaning of life and art.  It is the color of love.” ~ Marc Chagall

  *  For better or for worse, but never for granted.

  *  “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress, working
      together is success.” ~ Henry Ford

  *  May you never forget what is worth remembering and never remember what
      is best forgotten.

  *  “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt,
       but only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa

  *  To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the wedding cup, whenever
      you’re wrong, admit it; whenever you’re right, shut up.” ~ Ogden Nash

  *  “The man who puts into the marriage only half of what he owns will get that 
      out.” ~ Ronald Reagan

  *  “A good marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” ~ Ruth Bell Graham

  *  “There are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of 
       these is love.” ~ I Corinthians 13:13

It is customary for the father of the bride and the best man to propose a toast to the newlyweds at their reception, however, this is not a hard fast rule.  Anyone may propose a toast in honor of the bride and groom.  If you’ve been asked to ‘do the honors’ there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

First of all, a toast is not a speech and should be kept short and sweet.  Confine the total length of your toast to less than one minute.  A wish for health, happiness and prosperity is always appropriate, but try to make it personal too.  Touch the hearts of your audience with sentiment, poetry or a fond memory of the bride and groom.  There are many websites out there that offer free wedding toast quotes.  One of my favorites is, “You don’t just marry someone you can live with, you marry the person you can’t live without.” ~ Anonymous

A toast is also not a ‘roast’.  Your job is not to poke fun at the couple’s habits, bring up past romances, or perform a comedy routine filled with in-law jokes.  Make your toast memorable for all the right reasons.  Remember, when you lift that champagne flute, you want to create the right kind of memory.

Finally, once you’ve gotten your toast down on paper ~ practice giving the toast in front of a mirror.  Knowing what you’re going to say will help keep you relaxed and make you more confident.