Why three minutes?
Three minutes holds one scene and a wish. It is the length the wedding toast guide on this site plans for, before the room is ready for the next glass.
Speech timer
How long should a wedding toast be
Plan a wedding toast at about three minutes: one scene, a wish, and the glass. The word range uses the same 130 and 150 words per minute planning speeds as the speech timer.
Start with your name and one plain link to the couple. Tell one scene both of them can hear in a mixed room. End on a wish that could only fit them, raise the glass, and stop. A second scene usually repeats the first one with new nouns.
Three minutes at the slower planning speed is 390 words. At the faster speed it is 450 words. If the draft is already past 750 words, it is a five minute speech dressed up as a toast. Cut the apology, the vendor list, and the story that needs a disclaimer.
The word count is a planning range, not a rule for how you should sound. A laugh, a name the room cheers, or a shaky line will change the clock. Say the toast once while standing, then cut whatever you cannot land on one breath.
Check the toast in the speech timer · Wedding toast guide · Words in a 5 minute speech
How many words is that?
At the planning speeds, three minutes is 390 to 450 words. Five minutes is 650 to 750 words, which is a long time to keep a glass up.
Should I read it from a phone?
Say it once out loud before the day, from the card you will actually hold. A draft that only lives on a screen will fight you when the room laughs.