There are as many ways for guests to convey their wishes to the new couple with a wedding toast as the roads to travel from one end of Riga to the other. They are countless! And yet - on a wedding day full of events and emotions, it is important to say what is really important and also to remember to drive on the smoothest road so that there are no unnecessary snags.

I share some insights and recommendations that have helped me in the process of creating poetry, both when I write it for myself and when I write it for clients.

How to make a wedding toast so that it does not get lost in the rich range of emotions of the wedding day?

Creativity is definitely one of the keys! Sounding authentic and original to a large or small group of guests is a good goal, but how do you actually do it?

In the process of creative writing, I have come across the realization that creativity also likes structure. The creative process is not absolutely chaotic and extremely abstract. Everything in this universe has its own unique order, even if we don't always notice it. Excellent creative works in literature are always built on the basis of a well-thought-out structure.

Naturalness is the second key! Energetically, we feel each other much better than intellectually. You must have noticed it in your life, at various stages, from school presentations to work networking events. A free-flowing speech (with the essentials in mind, of course) always sounds better than a carefully thought-out one, without forgetting digressions and room for interpretation.

Keeping these two keys to writing a toast in mind will make it a breeze!

Poetry , which I create, is based on internally felt or externally received impulses.

I will ask you some questions so that they also stimulate the movement of impulses in you. They will serve as the basis and structure for creating your unique wedding toast, so that on the day of the celebration you can tell the couple what you really want!

Read these prompts, write down your impulses on the page.

Next, you will be able to write your own toast from them!

• What is the most important thing you wish for a young couple when they start their marriage?
• What feelings does the couple evoke in you as a whole and each of them separately?
• What feeling do you want to convey in a toast? Fun? Romantic? Sentimental?
• And what would be the complimentary words that would convey the corresponding feeling?
• Are there any bright life events in your life that you have experienced with one or the other of your wedding partners and you want to mention them in your wish?
• What is it that these people as a couple inspire you to do, experience?

Remember that nature and its elements are always a great help in creating creative works.

• Can you attribute any of the natural elements to the couple? Maybe each of them is something different and together they form a new phenomenon / element / manifestation?
• Are there colors, foods, seasons and rhythms of the day - anything that you can attribute to the couple?

Now look at the list of current impulses/words. Find the common element in all of this and keep it as your main message, imbuing it with your feelings, with how exactly you see this couple as unique. If you want to challenge yourself to create poetry, find words for some of the impulses that make rhymes. And, above all, feel your own harmonious way of putting this into a wish of a few minutes.

Here are a few lines of poetry for inspiration, you will find the impulse words I used below the verse:

when thunder comes to thunder in the apple orchard

and rain - to cover the heated earth begins

all the air then gently vibrates even in the distance

just like your home, in the early autumn light

// your home / tenderness / thunder

everyone has their weaknesses and everyone has their strengths

together you know how to be warm and take shelter in the rain

you know how to cross boring and even wild rivers

how not to run away in floods of anger and open up quietly in acceptance

// open up / strengths and weaknesses

Author of the article: Lita Mežavilka