Part 1 of 2. (Photo: READER'S DIGEST, GETTY IMAGES)
As the clock ticks down toward midnight on Dec. 31, it’s easy to just yell, “Cheers!” and throw back your drink before moving on to the next person. But if you do that, you’re missing the chance to have a truly amazing moment. New Year’s toasts aren’t an excuse to check a few proverbial boxes and take swig after swig—they’re an opportunity to bond and share some heartfelt emotion, express thanks, get a laugh or roast your friends.
The key to a good toast is a little bit of pre-planning. After all, when you’re put on the spot, it can be hard to think of anything to say—and really easy to put your foot in your mouth. Shoutout to 2015, the year I toasted, “Whew. Good thing we never have to live that year again!” and was met with a terribly awkward silence. Don’t be me. You want a funny or inspirational toast that says, “I put actual thought into this moment” … but without going full motivational speaker at a corporate conference in Phoenix.
Sure, they might forget the toast five minutes later, but they’ll always remember the way they felt with you. Whatever vibe you want to convey this year, we’ve got you covered. Read on for a list of perfectly crafted New Year’s Eve toasts, Irish blessings and funny quips.
The best New Year’s toasts
1. Cheers to a year of adventure, love and stories worth telling. Happy New Year!
2. May the new year be like this party—full of laughter, good friends, bad dancing and no regrets.
3. May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.
4. Here’s to the year past and the friends we’ve made. Here’s to the year ahead and the friends we have yet to make.
5. Here’s to new beginnings, good friends and great memories.
6. May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.
7. To health, happiness and peace in the new year.
8. May the new year bring you joy—and the joy bring you laughter.
9. Tomorrow will be the first page of your new book, so choose your words wisely. Happy New Year!
10. Let’s resolve to treat our friends with more kindness and our enemies with more grace.
11. Here’s to a happy new year and a loving farewell to the old. Here’s to the good things that are yet to come and to the memories that we hold.
12. Let’s toast to love and laughter and living happily ever after.
13. A toast to all of our friends and family who know us well … and love us anyway.
14. Cheers to making better bad decisions this year!
15. To all the memories we’ve made and all the ones yet to come. Happy New Year!
16. May your heart be light, your drinks be strong and your friends be near.
17. Cheers to 12 new chapters and 365 second chances.
18. May this new year bring love, luck and laughter to us all.
19. Out with the old, in with the new. Here’s to a beautiful future with you.
20. Here’s to nights we won’t remember with friends we’ll never forget.
Funny New Year’s toasts
21. I’d like to offer a French toast: Cheers to bread, eggs, milk, vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
22. May the coming year be better than a Disney vacation: filled with magic and fun but without all the lines.
23. I’m the only thing standing between you and drinking Champagne, so … cheers to everything—let’s get to the good part!
24. May the new year bring you as much joy as liking your own Instagram posts.
25. May bad luck and misfortune follow you for all of your days … and never catch up. Good luck, and Happy New Year!
26. Here’s to Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.
27. I drink to your good health, and I drink to her good health. In fact, I drink to others so much that now I’m worried about my own good health!
28. May those who love us truly love us. To those who don’t, may God turn their hearts. And if he can’t turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles—so we’ll know them by their limping.
29. I used to know a clever toast, but now I can’t remember it, so raise your glass to anything, and we’ll all drink it together!
30. Here’s a toast to the future, a toast to the past, a toast to moving slowly and living fast.
31. Cheers to bread—for without bread, there would be no toast.
32. Here’s to Champagne and, well, more Champagne!
33. Here’s hoping this is the year we finally figure out what we want to be when we grow up.
34. May your worries be as fleeting as your gym membership in January.
35. Here’s to a fresh new year and a fresh new group chat.
36. Here’s to lying, cheating, stealing, fighting and drinking: If you lie, may you lie with a lover. If you cheat, may you cheat death. If you steal, may you steal the heart of another. If you fight, may you fight for a brother. And if you drink, may you drink with me!
37. Here’s to pretending we’ll stick to our resolutions past Jan. 2!
38. May your year be filled with more free Wi-Fi and fewer awkward Zoom calls.
Ren Ecosystem