STAR-BULLETIN / JULY 2002 The glasses have been filled, but what do you say to toast the happy couple on their special day?

Get toast ideas from Internet and books

A WEDDING toast may be as simple as this: "May your lives together be long and fulfilling" or "May your love endure."

What more can you say?

Much more, it turns out. Shakespeare did, and Milton before him, and if you're writing a toast, you might include quotations such as poet Ogden Nash's declaration, "Marriage is the only known example of the happy meeting of the immovable object and the irresistible force."

Web sites and books carry "epigrams," pithy sayings like Nash's that offer thoughts for toasts (Google "wedding toasts" online and you'll find thousands): Ambrose Bierce's definition of marriage as "A community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves -- making in all, two"; Benjamin Franklin's "Keep your eyes open before marriage -- half closed afterwards"; and Groucho Marx's quip that "Marriage is a wonderful institution ... but who wants to live in an institution?"

Use these to trigger ideas, then say what's in your heart.

Not a writer? Online resources also deliver sample sentiments that can be personalized with a click. Or look for June Cotner's anthology, "Wedding Blessings: Prayers and Poems Celebrating Love, Marriage and Anniversaries" (Broadway, 2003, $16). Books such as these make thoughtful gifts for brides and or anyone considering wedding poetry, prayers and toasts.

THE IRISH ARE masters of toasting, and this traditional example, while not necessarily a wedding toast, incorporates a benediction (meaning "speaking goodness") that is at the heart of all good toasts. Quote it, or just learn from it, and you will be on your way to toasting with the very best: