Toasts

Dear Wedding Planner,
I have a huge crush on the couple. Not either of them specifically per se, but more as a unit.
I want to deliver a toast at the cocktail hour on the 22nd, but I am afraid that once I get up there to do it I will freeze, babble incoherently or worse yet weep like a baby.
You've been to so many occasions of this ilk. How can I keep my cool, but say something meaningful? (And keep the crush under wraps.)

-Besotted in Brooklyn

Dear Besotted,

Being called upon to say something witty, eloquent, touching, and profound before a room full of people can make even the calmest person tongue-tied. Just remember that the term "toast" originated from the piece of bread placed in a cup of wine to absorb the sediment that settled at the bottom. The cup would be passed around and the "toast" became the prize of whoever reached it first. So, if you can top a soggy, dirt soaked piece of old bread, you are doing okay.

That said, your situation may make you even more vulnerable to the pre-toast jitters. My advice to you is to take a deep whiff of this "unit" you adore right before your toast - this will certainly wear away some, if not all, of the magic. If that doesn't work, in more casual weddings such as this, it is not entirely inappropriate to suggest a three-way.

Good Luck!

-The Wedding Planner