Wedding Toasts Made Easy!

It’s the big day. The rings are exchanged. The Bride looks radiant; the Groom looks dapper; and their parents are bursting with pride. Everything is going according to plan. The reception facility is buzzing with professional caterers, photographers and musicians. Weeks of work have gone into orchestrating a one-time event that will cost upwards of $20,000 to pull together.

But despite all the work that’s gone into this gala affair, it’s about to become an embarrassment for everyone involved.

You see, the Uncle of the Bride is already on his fourth trip to the bar. He’s a nervous wreck, turning his tuxedo pockets inside out in search of the “Toast to the Bride” notes he jotted down on a cocktail napkin earlier that day. With the notes nowhere to be found, he panics even more and orders another double-scotch.

By the time he’s called upon to offer a special tribute to his favorite niece, he’s totally swacked. He weaves his way to the podium, stumbles, then proceeds to deliver a rambling, inappropriate toast that leaves the Bride in tears and her family ready to lynch him.

"I'm sure you'll all agree. The Bride looks as radiant as
her plastic surgeon's bank account!"

Unfortunately, that kind of scenario unfolds far too often at otherwise perfect weddings. And that’s precisely why “Wedding Toasts Made Easy!” author Tom Haibeck wrote his bestselling book (see WeddingToasts.com).

With more than 75,000 copies sold world-wide, it would appear his advice is being well-received. It’s a quick read – just 96 pages –  and offers a concise, to-the-point approach that has proven exceptionally popular with panicked wedding speakers (including Regis Philbin, who raved about the book on-air while talking about his own jitters before and after his daughter’s wedding).

The book is based on Haibeck’s 25+ years of experience in speaking at weddings and other special events. He also incorporates the knowledge and insights he has gained as a communications professional and speaker-trainer for business executives throughout North America.

“Public speaking is the number one fear of the greatest number of people,” says Haibeck. “And while it’s a tremendous honor to be asked to make a wedding toast, standing before several hundred of your closest friends and family members to offer that toast can be an incredibly traumatic experience for most of us.”

He speaks from experience. As he relates in his book, his first attempt at delivering a wedding toast (as the 15-year-old Best Man at his older brother’s wedding) left him so overcome with stage fright that he literally shook with fear and forgot the name of the Bride!

Having had to work exceptionally hard to overcome his own fear of public speaking, Haibeck maintains that preparation is the key to success for any public presentation. “Far too many people, in my experience, think they will be able to ‘wing it’ at the wedding – then suddenly realize (when it’s too late) that they really have no idea what they’re going to say when it’s their turn in the spotlight. And that can lead to the drunken, inappropriate ramblings that are so often devastating to the wedding couple and their families.”

To prevent those kinds of blunders, Haibeck walks readers through each step in the process of preparing and delivering an outstanding wedding toast. He includes tips, templates and sample speeches for the Best Man, Maid of Honor, Father of the Bride and others who may be called upon to honor the new couple.

The book also includes a series of hilarious “New Yorker” style cartoons by award-winning editorial cartoonist Grahame Arnould to help illustrate “how not” to make a wedding toast.

On that, Haibeck also offers words of wisdom to younger people who are often asked to make a toast at a friend or sibling’s wedding but end up treating the experience as a kind of ribald roast for the Bride and Groom.

“A little good-natured ribbing is acceptable,” says Haibeck, “but it’s important to remember that your main purpose is to honor and acknowledge the wedding couple (and not leave them deeply offended and embarrassed).”

Wedding Toasts Made Easy! is available at bookstores throughout North America ($9.95 US/$12.95 CDN). An eBook version, speech templates and a guided relaxation recording for nervous wedding speakers can also be downloaded from WeddingToasts.com.