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"Let's drink to our meeting!"

How would native English speakers suggest celebrating their first time together by having a drink "in honor of the meeting"?

Say, a man met a woman while on vacation in some country, say, in a bar near a beach. And, after they have spent some time together, he tells her:

1) "Let's celebrate our meeting!"

2) "Let's celebrate our acquaintance!"

3) "Let's celebrate our encounter!"

4) "Let's drink to our meeting!"

5) "Let's drink to our acquaintance!"

6) "Let's drink to our encounter!"

7) "Let's have a drink to mark our meeting!"

8) "Let's have a drink to honor our acquaintance!"

or what?

It should be a phrase that, on one hand, implies having a drink, but, on the other hand, it implies that there is a special reason for that - their first time together.

Is there any idiomatic way in English to express that thought?

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  • Unless either or both parties already knew about the other, and had wanted to meet (a pair of separated-at-birth twins comes to mind), it seems a bit odd to suggest celebrating a first encounter. Apart from anything else, that implies there will be further meetings in future - but if they haven't even had a drink together yet, what makes either of them suppose the other will be interested in seeing them again? Just say Let's have a drink! (and see if we get on well enough to want to meet again). Leave the "celebration" for another day if things go well the first time.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 12:36
  • @FumbleFingers - They have already spent some time together and both are willing to continue this relationship in the future. Perhaps, this is their last day at that place and they, while planning to meet many more times again back in their country, would want to wrap up this vacation by having a drink. So, is there a way to express it more precisely besides just saying "Let's have a drink!"?
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 12:41

1 Answer 1

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The most natural ways I would say it, as a native British English speaker, would be:

Let's drink to our meeting
A drink to our meeting
A toast to our meeting

It would be a not usual, but not weird way to say "I'm glad we met, it is worth marking/celebrating", but would only be done relatively soon after meeting (say, on the same day) or before parting if they have spent a while (days) together and are now going in different directions.

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  • Thanks, but can you, please, clarify the quote of your words in your answer. I understand the upper line ("Let's drink to our meeting."), but I don't get the lower one, which doesn't even look like a sentence ("A drink to our meeting A toast to our meeting"). Did you mean to say that "A" must be replaced with "Let's have a..."?
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 16:32
  • @brilliant Nope. When proposing a toast, one often simply says "a drink to X" or "a toast to X". You can even just raise a glass and say "to X".
    – SamBC
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 16:42
  • Ah! I got it now. But I guess those two phrases would be said already at the table and with filled glasses in hands, right? What about if they are just sitting on a beach bench near a bar and one of them says, "Though the vacation is almost over, I'm not sad. I am glad we met!" In that situation, would it be natural for the other one to nod his hand toward the bar and say, "A drink to our meeting then!"?
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 16:50
  • @brilliant yes, that would be fine. Though actually that's more because you can judge gesture to a bar and say "a drink?" to mean "shall we get a drink?". That then works to combine with the idea of proposing a toast.
    – SamBC
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 17:35
  • I see. Thank you. (I meant to say "nod his head" instead of "nod his hand" :) )
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 9, 2019 at 17:38

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