Birthday Toast Wording: Short Toasts For Any Age
Birthday toast wording
A birthday toast is thirty seconds, not a speech. Get everyone's attention, say one true thing about the person, and raise the glass.
Below: toasts by tone, then by milestone age, plus the three-line structure that works every time.
Birthday cards to go with it
Blank inside, designed in house, posted first class.
You Old Bastard (Funny Birthday Card)
£3.87
Sixty Looks Pretty Good On You (60th Birthday Card)
£3.87
Top Trumps 60th Birthday Card for Dad
£3.87
Fifty & Even More Fabulous Than Ever (50th Birthday Card)
£3.87
Happy Birthday Bab (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
£3.87
Happy Birthday Papa (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
£3.87
The three-line structure
- Line one: get attention - 'Can I say a quick word?'
- Line two: one specific, true thing about them.
- Line three: the toast - 'To [name].'
- That is it. Sit down. Short toasts are remembered fondly; long ones are endured.
Short and heartfelt
- To [name] - the person who makes everything more fun. Happy birthday. Shop this card
- Here's to [name]: kind, generous, and long overdue a night like this.
- To the best of us. Happy birthday, [name].
- To [name] - thank you for every year of putting up with all of us.
- Raise a glass to [name], who deserves every bit of today.
Funny
- To [name] - who is not getting older, just harder to insure.
- Here's to [name]: still the same person, just with better knees than next year.
- To [name], who has aged like fine wine. Which is to say, best kept horizontal in the dark.
- To [name] - proof that you can survive anything, including us.
- Here's to another year of you ignoring all our advice. It's clearly working.
Milestone toasts
- 18th: To [name] - officially an adult, and still our favourite one. Cheers.
- 21st: To [name] - here's to the years ahead and the stories we'll never tell your mother.
- 30th: To [name] - thirty years, and finally starting to make sense. To you.
- 40th: To [name] - forty years of getting it right more often than not.
- 50th: To half a century of [name], and to the next one being even better. Shop this card
- 60th: To [name] - sixty years, and still the first person we ring with good news. Shop this card
- 70th: To [name] - seventy years of doing it your way.
- 80th: To [name], eighty years young, and to every story you've given us.
- 90th: To [name] - ninety years, and a family that exists because of you.
Toasting someone who is not there
- To [name], wherever they're celebrating tonight.
- To absent friends - and to [name], who'd have loved this.
- Raise a glass to [name], missing tonight but never forgotten.
Delivering it
- Stand up. Sitting down makes it a comment, not a toast.
- Wait until glasses are actually full.
- Say the person's name clearly at the end - it is the cue for everyone to drink.
- Thirty seconds. Any longer and it becomes a speech nobody was warned about.
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How to write it so it lands
- Say one specific true thing. Generic praise makes no impression.
- Stand up and wait for full glasses before you start.
Where to shop next
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- Wedding speech one-liners
- Birthday toast wording
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- How to write a eulogy
- How to give a toast
- Maid of honour speech ideas
- Milestone birthday cards
- Funny birthday rhymes
- Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
- Birthday badges & party pins
- How to make a balloon arch
- Photo booth prop ideas
- Party bag ideas for adults
- How much helium do you need for balloons?
- Birthday pin badges
Frequently asked questions
How long should a birthday toast be?
About thirty seconds. Three lines - attention, one true thing, the toast - is the reliable structure.
What do you say when raising a glass?
End with the person's name - 'To [name]' - said clearly. That is everyone's cue to raise glasses and drink.