How to Avoid Getting Too Drunk Before Giving Your Wedding Toast

The drunken toast, especially the drunken wedding toast, is a perennial standard of SNL sketches, movie comedies, and sitcoms. The awkwardness and irreverence of these scenes are side splittingly funny.
However, in real life it is akin to watching a great battleship go down
in flames. Embarrassing as it is for the couple, our hearts go out to
the speaker. Certainly that person did not wake up on the morning of the
big day hoping their speech/toast would go that way.

We know you would like to prevent this type of personal mishap and the moment you get out of bed is the time to start, preferably with a jumbo sized breakfast. This might be your last full meal until the
reception. You think you are the Maid/Matron of Honor or Best Man, but
today you will discover you’re actually a personal assistant to Lady
Gaga or P. Diddy.

Try to find out the schedule of the toasts as far in advance as possible, because this will be the key to pacing your consumption of spirits. There are three common times the toasts are given: 1) between
the first dance and the first course, 2) between courses, or 3) between
the meal and the cutting of the cake. The later the toasts, the more
opportunities you will have to drink which equals more opportunities to
get too drunk.

It is often customary that champagne, wine or other alcoholic beverages be available to the wedding party before the ceremony. In fact, it could be one of your many jobs to stock the Bride’s and
Groom’s chambers. Should you have a libation? Breakfast was only a few
hours ago and maybe there are snacks. What if another makes a toast to
ensure the day will get off to an auspicious start? Then by all means
partake, but only a few sips and put those away slowly. Do eat any
accompanying foods. After all, considering what’s ahead, coffee or water
will do more to raise the odds of the day going smoothly. Have those as
well if possible.

Typically, after the ceremony everyone in the wedding party will feel a tremendous release of tension. Under any other circumstance a good quaff would be perfect. That said, without a doubt this is the best
opportunity to skip. “But why?”,you ask,” The waiters are coming up to
me with pretty looking blue concoctions rimmed in brown sugar…plus it’s
an open bar, and they have 18 year-old scotch!”

The problem is you are already stoned on the adrenaline generated by this action packed day. The rush temporarily delays your awareness of the alcohol’s effect on your brain, negating the buzz but not the
intoxication. Maybe during March Madness you can chug from sunrise to
sunset, but keep in mind you won’t be spending most of the wedding lying
on a couch while screaming at the top of your lungs.

On average it takes 1 hour for your body to process 1 ounce of alcohol. Because the concentration of alcohol in a beverage varies by content and volume, you must think about what you drink now. Cocktails
usually contain 1 ½ ounces of liquor mixed with 6 to 8 ounces of sugary
fruit juices. The sugar masks the flavor of the alcohol, as well as
spikes your insulin, causing you to crave more or crash. Often
bartenders serve doubles at these events, and apply the same generosity
to straight shots of hard liquor. The alcohol content of these drinks
can go as high as 16% or more by volume.

However, if you order a White Wine Spritzer or light beer, they are approximately 3.5 % alcohol by volume; even regular beer is around 7% to 8%. Keep in mind that the only thing worse than having too much of one
type of booze is having too much of many types of booze. Stick to one
choice and one serving. Nurse it. Better yet, you can always order a
soda, seltzer, or juice with a twist of lime to make it look festive.
If you’re still full of nervous energy and need to indulge, pig out on
hors d’oeuvre.

If your toast is not coming up until mid meal or after, you will need to navigate your way through the wine pairings with the various courses. Now is your last chance to avoid disaster pleasantly. If this
is your first “refreshment” since your couple of nips with the wedding
party prior to the ceremony, proceed, but with caution. You’re off to a
good start because we always recommend choosing wine with a full meal
over cocktails with appetizers, but you’re not out of the woods yet.
Make it a single glass of wine and have twice as much water. If you did
imbibe at the cocktail hour, do yourself a favor by skipping the wine,
but still swigging the water. Remember, there will be plenty of
champagne after your toast and with the cake.

Be nice and drink something other than water when the toasts before yours conclude. Should you choose champagne, wet your whistle sparingly then chase it with water.

Now that you have read this article, you have a strategy for staying sober enough to give a great toast. Of course the best of intentions are undone, which is why you might want to read our upcoming post just
for the sake of safety. The tittle is,

“What to Do When You Are Too Drunk Before Giving Your Wedding Toast”